PHL still needs more

[DesertFA66]

www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/business/articles/0229biz-usairways0229.html

I don't know how to paste a link, but here is the link to an article in the Arizona Republic today. 🙄

If someone can fix this link..please do, i'm not very computer literate

 

[WCT]

www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/business/articles/0229biz-usairways0229.html

I don't know how to paste a link, but here is the link to an article in the Arizona Republic today. 🙄

If someone can fix this link..please do, i'm not very computer literate

Explain. What does does PHL need? 🙄

 

[Dissent Equals Patriotism]

www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/business/articles/0229biz-usairways0229.html


US Airways boosts spending, staff at Philadelphia airport
9 executives to oversee efforts at business-travel hotbed

Dawn Gilbertson
The Arizona Republic
Feb. 29, 2008 12:00 AM
US Airways is creating a regional headquarters in Philadelphia, another acknowledgement that it can't manage its most critical and complex hub from its Tempe headquarters.

In addition to the two executives it recently hired to run the Philadelphia hub, the airline now plans to add seven executives in support areas including human resources, real estate, finance and information technology. Some will be transfers, others new hires.

"We recognize that we need more executive leadership on the ground, there all the time," President Scott Kirby said Thursday at the airline's annual media day.
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The Philadelphia hub, which US Airways dominates, has 441 daily departures (compared with 296 in Phoenix) and 6,300 employees.

It is the airline's international gateway and a business-travel hotbed.

It also has been US Airways' longtime problem child, partly because of East Coast congestion, partly because of its own missteps and lack of spending.

The airline's on-time performance and baggage handling in Philadelphia are significantly worse than in the rest of US Airways' system.

Since the America West-US Airways merger 2 1/2 years ago, the new US Airways has invested $15 million in equipment and facilities at the airport. It will spend nearly double that this year in Philadelphia.

The airline hopes the additional management focus on Philadelphia helps it run a smoother operation, as well as develop better relationships with the airport authority and the community.

"We've done a poor job of that from here," Kirby said.

The airline has had some high-profile tussles with the airport and Philadelphia's former mayor over gates and other issues.

US Airways is due to start service between Philadelphia and Beijing next year, but executives said Thursday that they are having a hard time leasing the planes they planned to initially use on the route because of heavy demand for the long-range planes.

Andrew Nocella, the airline's senior vice president of schedule planning, said the airline's Airbus A330s aren't ideal for the route but could make the trip, so that might be a temporary solution.

The newly formed US Airways Labor Coalition, which involves all major labor groups at the airline except the splinter US Airline Pilots Association, staged a morning rally and picketed at the airline's Tempe headquarters to coincide with the start of media day.

US Airways CEO Doug Parker acknowledged the picketing and said, "We're well aware of each others' issues and are working hard to get them resolved."



Reach the reporter at dawn.gilbertson@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-8617.

 

[Dog Wonder]

I think US Airways needs less PHL.

 

[crusher]

It seems Tempe may have actually woken up , at least a little. The east employees could have told them this 3 years ago. You can not run the east coast operation from the west coast with a bunch of neophytes with a regional airline mentality. Now they just need to get on the ball with China and additional Europe. The mere fact that we use a 757 to Europe is an embarrassment when compared to the competition. There should be nothing but wide bodies to Europe.

 

[Coffee_Tea_Or_Me]

I think US Airways needs less PHL.

Great suggestion! Cut back on US's biggest money maker and presence in the fourth largest city in the United States! Increase PIT or PHX where yields are lower and business travel is less! With that kind of thinking, you are a shoe-in for an upper-level executive management position in Tempe! 😛

 

[rvolkcpa]

It seems Tempe may have actually woken up , at least a little. The east employees could have told them this 3 years ago. You can not run the east coast operation from the west coast with a bunch of neophytes with a regional airline mentality. Now they just need to get on the ball with China and additional Europe. The mere fact that we use a 757 to Europe is an embarrassment when compared to the competition. There should be nothing but wide bodies to Europe.

I agree that widebodies are preferable to Europe (and Hawaii as well). On the other hand Continental, which is regarded as one of the most successful major airlines, also has 757 service to some destinations in Europe.

 

[Coffee_Tea_Or_Me]

I agree that widebodies are preferable to Europe (and Hawaii as well). On the other hand Continental, which is regarded as one of the most successful major airlines, also has 757 service to some destinations in Europe.

Agreed 100%. A bit off topic, but something else that Continetnal does is use Houston as a gateway to every city in Mexica and Central America. US should mirror this VERY SUCCESSFUL money maker for Continental and use Phoenix as the gateway. Just my two cents... CO uses a mix of RJs and 737s to do this...

 

[orioleman]

"In addition to the two executives it recently hired to run the Philadelphia hub, the airline now plans to add seven executives in support areas including human resources, real estate, finance and information technology. Some will be transfers, others new hires.

"We recognize that we need more executive leadership on the ground, there all the time," President Scott Kirby said Thursday at the airline's annual media day.
advertisement "

Hey scott if you think you can beef of your management team and try to tighten control in phl Think again phl ain't the sandbox you have in phx . it's more like a playground

on the southside.. Your scare and intimidation tactics won't fly here, nice try though

"It is the airline's international gateway and a business-travel hot bed"

Geez what does tempe know about business travel. isn't that an oxymoron.. and international gateway yes . international service , are you kidding me
I guess someone finally told the tempe kids that hey there is an airline out there you might want to start really thinking about how to run it..

 

[Non Rev]

I agree that widebodies are preferable to Europe (and Hawaii as well). On the other hand Continental, which is regarded as one of the most successful major airlines, also has 757 service to some destinations in Europe.

As does AA & NW!

 

[Hey.. Chill Out]

Philly still needs more..... Corrections officers hahah!

Score one for me!

 

[daltnpapi4u]

It seems Tempe may have actually woken up , at least a little. The east employees could have told them this 3 years ago. You can not run the east coast operation from the west coast with a bunch of neophytes with a regional airline mentality. Now they just need to get on the ball with China and additional Europe. The mere fact that we use a 757 to Europe is an embarrassment when compared to the competition. There should be nothing but wide bodies to Europe.

Actually CO uses mostly 757's accross the pond nearly over 60% of their TA flights are on 752's

 

[flyingcat]

PHL infrastrucutre necessitates that US has to dedicate more people in that hub than most airlines would normally have to in other hubs. As anyone here can attest to, getting this management to throw money at any problem is a very hard argument.

In reference to the PHX as a latin hub a la IAH. I think this is a big gap that US can fill. US serves a lot of regional southewstern US destinations that have a significant latin population. A IAH can add more time also. PHX could easily serve GUA and SAL.

However the stumbling black that US may face is that it has to focus on non US originating pax. CO invests a lot in ticketing offices in Latin countries and strong travel agency relationships. Latin online bookings are growing but the bulk is still through older methods. At least do spanish ads!

 

[crusher]

But compare CO service etc to ours and ours is still an embarrassment thanks to the Tempe nitwits.

 

[Onestep2flt]

This is interesting news. They are going to put management on the east coast where 2/3rds of the countries residents reside. Looks great on paper! What are they calling it, a satellite? We know it won't take the United States Navy to destroy that one. A PHL Satellite will implode from within do to lack of support. A lot of people call management incompetent I call them calculated. Every decision that has been made to this date is by design in my opinion. All of this is an experiment to see how cheaply we can do it and still work. Of course those type of decisions are usually more costly than stated on paper because you always get what you pay for. They do the baggage fee to see if people are willing to do it. If they are not we will eliminate the fee. Sounds easy but you loose a lot of passengers in the mean time. I think the A340 was just a way of getting the China route. I do not believe there was ever any intention on actually getting any. We will kick the tires on a few and in the end blame it on Boeing. Never mind that we ordered an aircraft that is in eternal redesign and at the earliest will be received by 2015. Anyway, just my thoughts!