Go Specter! Save PIT and Our Integrety!

[Travelpro72]

You know when you ask if the people of Pittsburgh and surrounding area would EVER be happy you'd probably get a NO from most. Regardless of the feelings of Pittsburgh, this airline has done NOTHING more that dirty business. I ALSO don't understand how people BASH the Post Gazette for the stories they print about Usairways. As an employee do YOU have any "good news" stories to post on here? What GOOD has the company done for YOU over the years? Post away. I'll go make a pot of coffee, feed the dog, do lunch with a friend and maybe shop for dinner. I'll give it all day to see what ya come up with. Bottom line here is Usairways couldn't manage their airline BEFORE 9/11 WAAAAAAAY before and it didn't really have all that much to do with PITTSBURGH being responsible. This whole situation about the competition between cities to win the OCC is a perfect example. Do you seriously think the government is not going to look at the history here and turn the other way when it comes to the airline wanting something else? it's ONLY a matter of time before they do.

 

[Be Careful What You Wish For.]

. As an employee do YOU have any "good news" stories to post on here?

Yeah, the OCC? is staying in PIT - not displacing many people who don't want to leave the area.

 

[avion]

The bottom line no matter why or how and when and where is this... ITS STILL BEING BUILT.. the politics of it all is the concern of those being employed there. Please talk to WN B6 FL F9 NK E9 SX DL AA UA AS NW CO . the scheduled charter airlines.. these companies in the same situation would have done the same thing. it called POLITICS and when it works for some great but when it works for an underdog who has been in the playing field for over 60 years and provided Essential Air Service to communities to areas in PA and did not have to.. but did...then when decisions are made hey.. even the CEO of US said.. you have enough so called low cost carriers here to pick up the slack so the PIT area will not be without service and its up to them to pick up the slack the Senator has made sure of that. not happy with US.. now is all of yours chance.. ENJOY..

 

[AstroLounge]

You know this to be true?

OK let me get this straight - the one good thing that has happened to PIT for the last 4 years and people in the 'burgh don't like it.

You guys aren't happy unless there is something to complain about. The beer is too cold, the wings at WS&S are too expensive, "I want all non-stops but I want to pay WN prices"...etc.

Maybe it would have been better if they chose CLT or PHX (They use to have a PIT/PHL bar on Mill Ave, I think it may have closed by now,though).

The home town paper didn't like the U then and they don't like us now-nothing has changed.

What I find interesting, almost amusing is the sense that The City of Pittsburgh feels slighted by USAirways pull down. When I was based in PIT, I never warmed up to the area because I always felt the Residents despised the airline, bashed it frequently and tried for years to bring in competition at favorable terms to COMPETE with the Hometown Airline. (Let's NOT forget the Mayor encouraged people to drive to CLE for better airfares and service). Yes, a very nice facility was built to USAirways specifications but The City really wasn't or would ever be a major Hub in the grand scheme of things. PIT is not a destination that people are jamming the phonelines to make a reservation to get to........and many businesses have found reasons to leave the area as well. The cutbacks in PIT began well before Doug Parker arrived and HE should not be blamed for making a decision that was long OVERDUE. There are a lot of things going on here (posturing/politics/future mergers, etc) and without actually seeing the books- if they say PIT is unprofitable, believe it.........and move on. Any notion of PIT being entitled to ANY special treatment is ridiculous. Not having ANY ties to the region (other than friends and co-workers) I feel I can look at this situation very objectively..........You didn't like us when We were there, let's see how well You can do without Us. End of story.

 

[Be Careful What You Wish For.]

.. you have enough so called low cost carriers here to pick up the slack so the PIT area will not be without service and its up to them to pick up the slack the Senator has made sure of that. not happy with US.. now is all of yours chance.. ENJOY..

This is a case of be careful what you wish for.

 

[FM2436]

This is a case of be careful what you wish for.

Don't get me wrong, Southwest is a fine airline, but it always surprises me how the public believes Southwest's coming to their hometown is going to free them from the evil former dominate airline. I'd bet at one time US Airways flew non-stop to more than 100 markets from its former hub at PIT. Southwest enters PIT and flies non-stop to only PHL, BWI, MDW, TPA, MCO, PHX, and LAS. Which was/is the most desired of a single carrier? 100 non-stop markets or 7 non-stop markets?

 

[WCT]

What I find interesting, almost amusing is the sense that The City of Pittsburgh feels slighted by USAirways pull down. When I was based in PIT, I never warmed up to the area because I always felt the Residents despised the airline, bashed it frequently and tried for years to bring in competition at favorable terms to COMPETE with the Hometown Airline. (Let's NOT forget the Mayor encouraged people to drive to CLE for better airfares and service). Yes, a very nice facility was built to USAirways specifications but The City really wasn't or would ever be a major Hub in the grand scheme of things. PIT is not a destination that people are jamming the phonelines to make a reservation to get to........and many businesses have found reasons to leave the area as well. The cutbacks in PIT began well before Doug Parker arrived and HE should not be blamed for making a decision that was long OVERDUE. There are a lot of things going on here (posturing/politics/future mergers, etc) and without actually seeing the books- if they say PIT is unprofitable, believe it.........and move on. Any notion of PIT being entitled to ANY special treatment is ridiculous. Not having ANY ties to the region (other than friends and co-workers) I feel I can look at this situation very objectively..........You didn't like us when We were there, let's see how well You can do without Us. End of story.

Sounds like Phoenix. We love having a Hometown Airline, but we just bash every mistake it makes. No good media wise. Find everything bad. But once we merged, oh gosh, heaven forbid we lose our precious airline in Phoenix. Double standards. The media has always been extra harsh with the old airline. Pit all over again.

 

[US1YFARE]

Sounds like Phoenix. We love having a Hometown Airline, but we just bash every mistake it makes. No good media wise. Find everything bad. But once we merged, oh gosh, heaven forbid we lose our precious airline in Phoenix. Double standards. The media has always been extra harsh with the old airline. Pit all over again.

Please. The legacies gouged customers for years and they got themselves into this mess with the fares. They can't blame the customer. Then, when the fares dropped so dramatically and bottomed out, they left some consumers with an expectation that is just unreasonable. If they had charged reasonable fares all along, like WN, they wouldn't be in this mess. The fares I paid out of PHL pre-WN were ridiculous to the point that the ticket agents and gate agents couldn't believe the fares that were being charged. $1000 plus in Y to places like IND, BOS, PVD out of PHL. $2000 plus in Y to the West Coast from PHL. And, at that time, US offered a real first class and a real product. Now, you just charge outrageous fares with no value proposition. WN is not cheap, and from what I've seen, they usually aren't the cheapest fare around...they just offer a product that is predictable and reliable. They also bring some of the higher fares more in line with what they should be. While CO and AA fill their FC cabins with paid FC tickets, US fills its so-called FC with Silvers and Ma and Pa Kettles. Few people in their right mind would PAY for FC on US as they offer no value. I don't even see how you can justify paying for J class on US these days.

PHL could care less if US left town--someone would jump in right away to fill their shoes. US has done PHL no favors. They are there because the $$$ is there. This is not a goodwill gesture to the city.

 

[GoldenRam94]

PHL could care less if US left town--someone would jump in right away to fill their shoes. US has done PHL no favors. They are there because the $$$ is there. This is not a goodwill gesture to the city.

I agree with this assessment. US MGT has always taken PHL for granted, and used it to line their pocket at the expense of the customers. If US left PHL tomorrow the city would not suffer, in fact the paying public would be better served financially in less than 6 months time.

 

[Be Careful What You Wish For.]

The legacies gouged customers for years and they got themselves into this mess with the fares. They can't blame the customer. Then, when the fares dropped so dramatically and bottomed out, they left some consumers with an expectation that is just unreasonable.

This is what happened to PIT and many other closed bases.

As a PIT based F/A once said "You should live where you work" and they didn't say it in a "good way".

 

[avion]

the hub in PHL as long a US is around will always belong to US. dont blame US or ANY OTHER AIRLINE for gouging the flying public for out of this world air fares until someone comes in to lower them.. The goverment allows it its called free enterprise. and yes everyone under the sun would be in PHL within a matter of months just as they were all ready to when it looked like US would not make it the second time around. other hubs for other airlines for example the hub in CLE for CO would also suffer the same fate if anyting happended to CO or CO decided that CLE is not working anymore. HP tried in CMH to make something of it it did not work and like PIT in some degree there is no O/D. now almost 6 years you have Skybus there ... what a joke... and WN has been there the whole time but did not make CMH much of anything like WN wont make PIT much of anything either. WN is not always the cheapest but you know what to expect from them a good price and a consistent product... nothing to complain about ala nbr 1 in no least complaints. what is surprising is the US charged crazy prices before competition WN came to PHL and lost money now US makes big time money there and is making more money than ever and WN is back tracking on PHL service come Nov 17. WN competes with almost 40pct with US and US is doing pretty good. should be interesting what happens with the gate situation in PHL . will the city kiss up to WN because they feel guilty about all those promiese they made to them during the US bk2 and dealings with DL gate situation .. will PHL say ok WN we need more service to Florida atleast 10 more per day or lets continue to become a major international hub with US providing more exposure to international destinations and with its Star Alliance membership offering over 360 cities around the world and with US planning more international expansion next year and new China service coming up hmm should be interesting but then everyone will say.. Yeah US flys international out of PHL and is the biggest airline there and always will be and they are raping us price wise.. MAN YOU CANT WIN FOR LOSING SOMETIMES>

 

[Be Careful What You Wish For.]

Making money instead of going BK #3 might get me back some of that stuff I lost under BK#1 and BK#2.

 

[wnbubbleboy]

I got the vibe that Spector is really mad for the loss of small community air sevice. All sorts of people will replace the florida and big city stuff but lets not forget that the vast majority of reduction was regional jet service. Southwest will never fly to Franklin etc.

If he does not know that Southwest will not serve these markets someone needs to tell him about their service patterns. Small comunities need to pull in hub carriers and/or allegiant.

It amazes me how many small towns forget that Southwest does not start off with one route and/or one flight. They have a minimum number of flights and cities that the town must have enough O&D for.

If you have a huge population good for you, but if you are a town of 30,000 get your head out of the clouds and be realistic.

I have been with Southwest for a while and the company does what it does best getting you from point A to point B.

So if you are trying to get from Latrobe to PHX you will have to drive to BWI or PIT and that is that.

There are several thousand of us employed here in BWI by Southwest. Many commute to PA. I work in BWI but my house is in Pittsburgh. I will not vote for Sepectre because of his stance on Immigration, but I am one of his constituants none the less. Any support he can give my company the better. Usairways in Pittsburgh is gone forever, as a political move this is great on his part. Southwest has the resources to move in and make his voters happy.

 

[Be Careful What You Wish For.]

Southwest has the resources to move in and make his voters happy.

So what do you think your company will do?

 

[Travelpro72]

I don't expect to see any growth from Southwest in Pittsburgh that over the top but I'm sure it will be more than "two" flights in a year. Again, something is up for the airport to be spending the money to renovate gate space adjacent to the current gates that Southwest occupies.