- Sep 10, 2003
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Parker w/ Steelers mascot Steely McBeam...the only thing missing is a case of IC Light
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07256/817090-28.stm
More Airline Cuts Ahead?
US Airways chief says Pittsburgh lags in profitability
Thursday, September 13, 2007
By Dan Fitzpatrick, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
US Airways CEO Doug Parker, right, with Pittsburgh Steelers' mascot Steely McBeam at the dedication of the airline's Airbus plane painted in Pittsburgh Steelers'' colors at Greater Pittsburgh International yesterday.
US Airways Chief Executive Officer Doug Parker, in a reversal, hinted yesterday that more flights could be cut from Pittsburgh International Airport as the airline pares unprofitable routes from its system -- yet another sign of how local air service has been altered both by a post-9/11 industry collapse and new competition from Southwest Airlines and JetBlue Airways.
"Pittsburgh is doing worse than the rest of the airline," the CEO said before the dedication of a new Steelers-themed plane in Moon, and "we have to find some solution to that."
The Tempe, Ariz.-based airline currently has 110 daily flights, down from a high of more than 542 before the terrorist attacks of 9/11, and it now serves 46 cities from Pittsburgh, down from a prior high of 112. It is still the region's largest carrier, but its share of total traffic continues to slip, falling below 45 percent in June. This summer the airline cut service to seven more cities -- Baltimore, San Diego, Seattle, Columbus, Buffalo, Altoona and Albany -- and reduced frequency of service to 12 other cities, including Los Angeles, Chicago, Denver, Providence, R.I., Toronto and Fort Lauderdale.
"There is not a whole lot more to go," Mr. Parker admitted, in an interview. But "we are going to have to do something about the unprofitable flying, which generally means cutting it to get it fixed."
The view of Pittsburgh as an unprofitable market conflicts with comments made by Mr. Parker in May 2006, when he referred to Pittsburgh as "marginally profitable" due to cutbacks resulting from a merger with America West Airlines in 2005. At the time, with daily Pittsburgh flights just dipping below 200, he did not predict any more dramatic reductions in local flights. "We feel good about where it is now," he said on May 17, 2006.
Asked about that yesterday, Mr. Parker admitted the results for Pittsburgh were "much improved" but that "the point of the matter is right now I know (Pittsburgh) is marginally unprofitable."
He also acknowledged that some of the carrier's problems in Pittsburgh can be attributed to a surge in competition from low-fare upstarts such as Southwest and JetBlue, both of which entered the market after US Airways pared back its presence. "The city did a really nice job of getting a lot of competition in, which is good," he said. In fact, the new competition "makes it easier" for US Airways to cut back.
"It is not as if we reduce 10-15 flights that means the community won't have service," he added.
Allegheny County Airport Authority Director Kent George, the man largely responsible for attracting the competing carriers, called US Airways' ongoing pullback "almost a self-fulfilling prophecy."
In 2004, before its second bankruptcy, US Airways decided to dismantle its long-standing hub in Pittsburgh and focus more on point-to-point flying up and down the East Coast -- meaning a shift of connecting passengers from Pittsburgh to its other hubs of Charlotte, N.C., and Philadelphia. That strategy, Mr. George said, sapped the profitability of US Airways' smaller feeder flights and invited competition from low-cost upstarts like Southwest, JetBlue, USA3000 and AirTran. Average air fares, traditionally among the highest in the country when US Airways had a monopoly here, dropped from $192 prior to 9/11 to $140 last year -- about $7 below the national average. Local traffic jumped to a record 8.2 million passengers last year, or 9 percent more than in 2001.
"We don't want (US Airways) to cut flights," Mr. George said. "We want them to be successful. But now that competition has been injected into the formula and their passengers have the choice of differing carriers, they are using those different carriers even to the point of connecting on those carriers so they don't have to connect through Philadelphia or Charlotte."
"A market place will dictate what happens ... there was a demand for Southwest; there was a demand for JetBlue, AirTran, United, Continental, Northwest. Those carriers are doing well, all of them are doing well. How come it's only US Airways not doing well?"
After Mr. Parker orchestrated US Airways' merger with America West and took over as CEO, there were predictions from some airline observers that he might shift some flying back to Pittsburgh International as a way of easing congestion in traffic-choked Philadelphia International Airport, which suffers from some of the longest delays in the country. But that has not happened, and in that sense Mr. Parker is honoring a strategy put in place by his predecessors, starting with former US Airways Chief Executive Officer David Siegel, who led the airline through its first bankruptcy and its painful recovery from the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.
"We are always going to have some presence here, flying to all our hubs," Mr. Parker said. But "we have some unprofitable flights there today and we have to figure out what to do about them."
For Mr. Parker, figuring out what to cut in Pittsburgh appears to be the least of his problems.
The company is in the black again, and it announced yesterday the hiring of more than 350 new pilots, but two years after completing the merger of the old US Airways and America West, Mr. Parker still lacks single union contracts covering his pilots, flight attendants and mechanics.
Pilots have split among lines dividing east (the old US Airways) and west (the old America West). Within the east group, there are divisions as well. More than two dozen pilots have broken away to form a new in-house union, the US Airline Pilots Association. Their goal is to collect enough pilot signatures and win enough votes to decertify the Air Line Pilots Association as their national representative. These pilots cite a series of events as reason for the split, from the loss of their pension to severe pay cuts to a recent seniority award favoring younger pilots at America West.
"We have had it," said pilot Scott Theuer, 51, of Cranberry, a volunteer involved in the new union effort.
Asked whether the union discord is more severe than he expected, Mr. Parker said, "we knew it was going to be difficult ... we are not coming together as one company and that's not enjoyable. You don't want to have a company with two factions."
As a result, Mr. Parker "can't imagine" completing single contracts by the end of the year. "The pilots have to agree they actually want to get it done."
First published on September 13, 2007 at 12:00 am
Dan Fitzpatrick can be reached at [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> or 412-263-1752.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07256/817090-28.stm
More Airline Cuts Ahead?
US Airways chief says Pittsburgh lags in profitability
Thursday, September 13, 2007
By Dan Fitzpatrick, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
US Airways CEO Doug Parker, right, with Pittsburgh Steelers' mascot Steely McBeam at the dedication of the airline's Airbus plane painted in Pittsburgh Steelers'' colors at Greater Pittsburgh International yesterday.
US Airways Chief Executive Officer Doug Parker, in a reversal, hinted yesterday that more flights could be cut from Pittsburgh International Airport as the airline pares unprofitable routes from its system -- yet another sign of how local air service has been altered both by a post-9/11 industry collapse and new competition from Southwest Airlines and JetBlue Airways.
"Pittsburgh is doing worse than the rest of the airline," the CEO said before the dedication of a new Steelers-themed plane in Moon, and "we have to find some solution to that."
The Tempe, Ariz.-based airline currently has 110 daily flights, down from a high of more than 542 before the terrorist attacks of 9/11, and it now serves 46 cities from Pittsburgh, down from a prior high of 112. It is still the region's largest carrier, but its share of total traffic continues to slip, falling below 45 percent in June. This summer the airline cut service to seven more cities -- Baltimore, San Diego, Seattle, Columbus, Buffalo, Altoona and Albany -- and reduced frequency of service to 12 other cities, including Los Angeles, Chicago, Denver, Providence, R.I., Toronto and Fort Lauderdale.
"There is not a whole lot more to go," Mr. Parker admitted, in an interview. But "we are going to have to do something about the unprofitable flying, which generally means cutting it to get it fixed."
The view of Pittsburgh as an unprofitable market conflicts with comments made by Mr. Parker in May 2006, when he referred to Pittsburgh as "marginally profitable" due to cutbacks resulting from a merger with America West Airlines in 2005. At the time, with daily Pittsburgh flights just dipping below 200, he did not predict any more dramatic reductions in local flights. "We feel good about where it is now," he said on May 17, 2006.
Asked about that yesterday, Mr. Parker admitted the results for Pittsburgh were "much improved" but that "the point of the matter is right now I know (Pittsburgh) is marginally unprofitable."
He also acknowledged that some of the carrier's problems in Pittsburgh can be attributed to a surge in competition from low-fare upstarts such as Southwest and JetBlue, both of which entered the market after US Airways pared back its presence. "The city did a really nice job of getting a lot of competition in, which is good," he said. In fact, the new competition "makes it easier" for US Airways to cut back.
"It is not as if we reduce 10-15 flights that means the community won't have service," he added.
Allegheny County Airport Authority Director Kent George, the man largely responsible for attracting the competing carriers, called US Airways' ongoing pullback "almost a self-fulfilling prophecy."
In 2004, before its second bankruptcy, US Airways decided to dismantle its long-standing hub in Pittsburgh and focus more on point-to-point flying up and down the East Coast -- meaning a shift of connecting passengers from Pittsburgh to its other hubs of Charlotte, N.C., and Philadelphia. That strategy, Mr. George said, sapped the profitability of US Airways' smaller feeder flights and invited competition from low-cost upstarts like Southwest, JetBlue, USA3000 and AirTran. Average air fares, traditionally among the highest in the country when US Airways had a monopoly here, dropped from $192 prior to 9/11 to $140 last year -- about $7 below the national average. Local traffic jumped to a record 8.2 million passengers last year, or 9 percent more than in 2001.
"We don't want (US Airways) to cut flights," Mr. George said. "We want them to be successful. But now that competition has been injected into the formula and their passengers have the choice of differing carriers, they are using those different carriers even to the point of connecting on those carriers so they don't have to connect through Philadelphia or Charlotte."
"A market place will dictate what happens ... there was a demand for Southwest; there was a demand for JetBlue, AirTran, United, Continental, Northwest. Those carriers are doing well, all of them are doing well. How come it's only US Airways not doing well?"
After Mr. Parker orchestrated US Airways' merger with America West and took over as CEO, there were predictions from some airline observers that he might shift some flying back to Pittsburgh International as a way of easing congestion in traffic-choked Philadelphia International Airport, which suffers from some of the longest delays in the country. But that has not happened, and in that sense Mr. Parker is honoring a strategy put in place by his predecessors, starting with former US Airways Chief Executive Officer David Siegel, who led the airline through its first bankruptcy and its painful recovery from the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.
"We are always going to have some presence here, flying to all our hubs," Mr. Parker said. But "we have some unprofitable flights there today and we have to figure out what to do about them."
For Mr. Parker, figuring out what to cut in Pittsburgh appears to be the least of his problems.
The company is in the black again, and it announced yesterday the hiring of more than 350 new pilots, but two years after completing the merger of the old US Airways and America West, Mr. Parker still lacks single union contracts covering his pilots, flight attendants and mechanics.
Pilots have split among lines dividing east (the old US Airways) and west (the old America West). Within the east group, there are divisions as well. More than two dozen pilots have broken away to form a new in-house union, the US Airline Pilots Association. Their goal is to collect enough pilot signatures and win enough votes to decertify the Air Line Pilots Association as their national representative. These pilots cite a series of events as reason for the split, from the loss of their pension to severe pay cuts to a recent seniority award favoring younger pilots at America West.
"We have had it," said pilot Scott Theuer, 51, of Cranberry, a volunteer involved in the new union effort.
Asked whether the union discord is more severe than he expected, Mr. Parker said, "we knew it was going to be difficult ... we are not coming together as one company and that's not enjoyable. You don't want to have a company with two factions."
As a result, Mr. Parker "can't imagine" completing single contracts by the end of the year. "The pilots have to agree they actually want to get it done."
First published on September 13, 2007 at 12:00 am
Dan Fitzpatrick can be reached at [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> or 412-263-1752.
People in The Burgh are probably saying "Nice Plane" but really........"Why the hell don't you get out of town and STAY OUT". (I get sick to my stomach everytime I even fly thru PIT anymore. I have no connection or loyalty to The City, but the locals are GOOD People and deserve better. The airport is one of the best in the world and SITS idle while PHL continues to burst at its seams and the operation flounders. WAKE UP ALREADY!) :angry:
