LCC to Bogata-maybe.

The selection of CLT is good since it does not require a 757, whereas PHL or PHX would. The assumption has to be that US can provide adequate yields on the route with primarily connecting traffic and cargo revenue - the better possiblity, since it's unlikely that CLT business interests and local tourist traffic alone could produce acceptable results. Personally, I see the route as a waste of resources to a destination with potentially limited appeal from US's general service areas. Now if it was from the now defunct FLL hub, that would be a whole different matter. IMO, a (re)start of PHL-MEX with a 32x would have been a better use of current resources. I'd assume Parker, etal, have some insight into the route viability and aren't making this decision based on ongoing DL fever (ATL-BOG).
 
It actually makes sense for them to have South American flights depart from Charlotte. There is a large Latino population in and around Charlotte and I know quite a few people from Colombia who live in CLT due to the conflicts in their country. What we complain about here is very miniscule compared to what they live through every day. I'll be curious to see what kind of security precautions they will take because from what I hear Bogota is very unsafe. I'm sure they would never give us overnights there but I would love to visit Bogota anyway. Some of my favorite singers/groups are from there as well - Shakira, Juanes, Soraya, Carlos Vives, Los Aterciopelados and all of my favorite soap operas in Spanish originally came from Colombia. BTW, Juanes and Carlos Vives are SOOOOOOOO HOT! :wub:
Well if we're going to originate from a city with lots of Latinos, that would be LGA and DCA--and PHX too, before CLT I would think.
 
Both LGA and DCA have perimeter rules, the few exceptions of which are mostly already held by US. If any more were available they would almost certainly be used for transcon service.

Most of the Colombian-America population is in South Florida, the New York/NJ area, and the DC metro area. Really either PHL or CLT make sense. I'm thinking CLT is due to it's greater number of connecting cities, and the shorter distance. Neither CLT or PHx's hispanic poulations are predominately Colombian.
 
I would expect more filings beyond Bogota including LIM as the US is expected by early next year to have free trade agreements with both Columbia and Peru. There is alot of money to be made especially in the cargo area (non-cocoa) the passenger yield isnt bad either.
 
It is nice to see US Airways try, but it is also extremely unlikely that US Airways is going to be awarded the Charlotte-Bogotá route, as there are many airlines asking for only 21 frequencies.

Delta is applying for 14 frequencies (7 for JFK-BOG, 4 for ATL-MDE, and 3 for ATL-CLO), jetBlue is applying for 14 as well (7 each for MCO-BOG and FLL-BOG), and Spirit is applying for 7 (for FLL-BOG; they are also going to start FLL-BAQ, but Barranquilla is "open skies" so they don't need to apply to fly there). Continental is also going to apply, but has not decided for what. United might also apply for Dulles-Bogotá flights.

It is an absolute given that Spirit Airlines is going to be awarded seven frequencies, because they are the reason that these 21 new frequencies are being offered. They lobbied for the increased bilateral, they plan on serving what is the largest USA-Colombia market (that accounts for roughly half of traffic between Bogotá and the United States), they are a player in Latin America, and they will be offering true low-fare service.

It is also very likely, given the combination of the DOT's tendency to award highly competitive slots to new entrants and low fare carriers, that jetBlue will be awarded seven frequencies.

The final pair will likely be given to an airline that is established in the region, most likely Delta as they will bring either a) US flag carrier service to JFK-BOG or B) service to Medellin and Cali. While it is nice to have as many new airlines as possible enter Colombia, it also is nice allowing current airlines to beef up service so that one or two airlines (i.e. Avianca and American, who combined offer 14 daily flights between Miami and Colombia alone) don't dominate while that others can only be smaller players.

Don't hold your breath on this route happening unless the US and Colombia further expand the air treaty (which the U.S. would love to do, but Colombia rather not).
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Kinda funny, as Sr. Parker stated US had no plans to fly down south, just 1-2 months ago. So your saying the market has dramatically changed all of a sudden to garner US's interest??? Hmmmm......doubtful. So the question is, did parker just deny this as, they were preparing the application, or did he really not know, which leads to more questions....... His statement was at one of the crew news sessions in Aug, when asked directly about S. America possibilites......


would love to see bogota again, used to get some great roses out of there :) Was my first layover as a pilot.......memories...
 
Kinda funny, as Sr. Parker stated US had no plans to fly down south, just 1-2 months ago. So your saying the market has dramatically changed all of a sudden to garner US's interest??? Hmmmm......doubtful. So the question is, did parker just deny this as, they were preparing the application, or did he really not know, which leads to more questions....... His statement was at one of the crew news sessions in Aug, when asked directly about S. America possibilites......
would love to see bogota again, used to get some great roses out of there :) Was my first layover as a pilot.......memories...


He lied about not having South American routes just like he lied and said he wasn't going to close PIT anytime soon and then a month later made the announcement that PIT was closing beginning 01/08.
 
Kinda funny, as Sr. Parker stated US had no plans to fly down south, just 1-2 months ago. So your saying the market has dramatically changed all of a sudden to garner US's interest??? Hmmmm......doubtful. So the question is, did parker just deny this as, they were preparing the application, or did he really not know, which leads to more questions....... His statement was at one of the crew news sessions in Aug, when asked directly about S. America possibilites......
would love to see bogota again, used to get some great roses out of there :) Was my first layover as a pilot.......memories...

On the earnings conference call a reporter from the Charlotte Business Journal (or some Charlotte paper) asked a follow up question based on earlier comments about possibly having to remove some international flights from Philadelphia if the gates don't come through and if that could mean more international service for CLT. Kirby stated that it could mean that, and that they were definitely looking to expand internationally from CLT in the not too distant future to both Europe AND South America....Doug quickly interjected and threw in an "EVENTUALLY". Then Scott said...."Yeah, eventually". Then this application for CLT service to South America less then one week later.....either they didn't want to let on that they could be filing this or they think Bogota is in a country that is in Latin America or the Carribbean...not South America
 
On the earnings conference call a reporter from the Charlotte Business Journal (or some Charlotte paper) asked a follow up question based on earlier comments about possibly having to remove some international flights from Philadelphia if the gates don't come through and if that could mean more international service for CLT. Kirby stated that it could mean that, and that they were definitely looking to expand internationally from CLT in the not too distant future to both Europe AND South America....Doug quickly interjected and threw in an "EVENTUALLY". Then Scott said...."Yeah, eventually". Then this application for CLT service to South America less then one week later.....either they didn't want to let on that they could be filing this or they think Bogota is in a country that is in Latin America or the Carribbean...not South America

Nah! They thought it was in Europe. LOL!
 
I would expect more filings beyond Bogota including LIM as the US is expected by early next year to have free trade agreements with both Columbia and Peru.

Free trade with Columbia! :up: It's a shame it comes too late to help George Jung.

It is far from a done deal yet. The Dems in Congress are giving these free trade agreements a rough time.
 
With the Latin population here my gut feeling is CLT BOG would do very well.

Since when does having a Latin community automatically make a flight to Bogota a recipe for success. Saying that a city has a large Latin community, and then saying that a flight to Bogota could do well, is like saying that a city has a large Korean community, so a flight to Taipei could do very well.

Charlotte's Hispanic community comes almost entirely from Mexico and Guatemala and could care less about flying to Bogotá.
 

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