Kent George comes a-knockin'

[oldiebutgoody]

Huh?

The whole point to having a hub airport is to
have an efficient connecting point for customers
from the spokes.

PIT is at least as efficient as CLT, if not
more so. PHL is downright inefficient.

Wow, somebody gets it! I actually think that PIT is perfectly placed for a hub and spoke operation. PHL is a great standalone long haul and international hub. Why not have both? Seem to me that PIT is at least as good a place to service the east coast, most of which is within an hour flying time, than just about anywhere else. Sort of like what DL does with SLC. Plus, the facilities were specifically designed for such an operation. I believe that increasing flying at PIT or even IND to serve the east/midwest, along with some kind of central US hub would be a very smart thing to do. My plan would include higher frequency operations out of the hubs with medium sized airplanes (junk the RJs right now; they were and remain a lousy idea aimed almost exclusively at lowering labor costs) to get the business travellers back, with fewer flights out of the long haul hubs like PHL, mostly morning, evening and red-eye. Increased utilization is the key to making money, not parking your large and medium jets and flying routes with high cost little toy airplanes.

 

[ClueByFour]

Allegheny county did not pay for the airport. The taxpayers of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania paid for it.

You are incorrect on point. The bonds were floated by the ACAA, not the Commonwealth. Care to try again?

And it's a damn good thing, cause where would WN be without this beautiful facility?

WN will go into underserved and overpriced markets. PIT was, for a long time, properly served and overpriced. It then became underserved and overpriced. Enter WN.

In case you missed it, LUV just browbeat SEA into scaling back on grand and expensive expansion plans. It's in the process of doing the same in SJC. They follow the market. The facility is not really relevent.

The people of Pittsburgh got what they wanted...cheaper fares. I'm sure they are happy, right? Oh no, wait...it wasn't cheaper fares they wanted, it was convenience....but not willing to pay for convenience.....dayum....they cant figure out what the hell they want. Perhaps WN will hub PIT, and the people of the burgh will be happy once again....lol

If PIT becomes the next RDU or BNA for LUV (both cities that had hubs and lost them), it will be the best possible scenario for PIT. How has US-East done in terms of financial performance, on time performance, or customer satisfaction since dumping PIT, eh? The O&D traffic in PIT has suddenly grown by leaps and bounds after being stagnant for years under the US monopoloy hubs.

Take a hint from this: PIT as an airport and market is and will continue to fare (pardon the pun) far better than the old or new US will.

 

[Prince of PAWOBs]

Face it folks, stick a fork in it, PIT's done.

Glad to see how much you really care.

 

[Prince of PAWOBs]

I'm pretty sure some of you remember some of the profitable flights Express used to have out of PIT, flights which were almost always full or oversold:

GRR SBN MSP MKE ATL BNA and...in the winter PWM BTV BGR

All of them had decent originating and connecting traffic. Word on the ramp was that you couldn't convince a bankruptcy judge your airline was doomed in PIT if you had full flights like those, so out they went.

 

[EyeInTheSky]

Parker stated at the PIT dog-and-pony-show two weeks ago that if PIT makes money it will grow -- if it loses money it will shrink. Seems simple to me. Don't bash the people of PIT for flying other carriers. No offense, but I was here and saw $800 r/t fares to PHL. What do you expect people to think with fares like that?