- Nov 9, 2003
- 16,512
- 5,865
Air travel from Phila. is taking off
By Tom Belden
Inquirer Staff Writer
Philadelphia is flying.
Philadelphia International Airport, boosted by lower airfares, is expected to set a record for passenger traffic this year, based on statistics released yesterday.
Business for all carriers serving Philadelphia has been stimulated by the start of flights by Southwest Airlines and Frontier Airlines, whose low fares were matched by competitors, airport officials said.
"I think we have a shot at 26 million passengers, which would be quite an achievement," city Aviation Director Charles J. Isdell said in an interview. "We've never had more than 25 million a year."
He attributed the increased traffic to the lower fares and the return of more travelers to the skies as fears of terrorism wane.
"Isn't this what they call 'the Southwest effect?' " Isdell said, referring to a phenomenon identified by the U.S. Department of Transportation a decade ago for the way the discounter's low fares increased business for all airlines when it entered a new market.
Isdell estimated that the airport would be used by at least 25.8 million passengers this year, based on the trend from June 2003 through May, the last month for which statistics were available.
The record for passenger traffic was set in 2000, the last year of an economic boom, when 24.9 million people took off and arrived on scheduled airline flights, airport records show.
The higher traffic has ripple effects across the airport. Sales for airport concessionaires are up by as much as 40 percent in Terminal E, where Southwest launched service May 9, and by 24 percent throughout the airport, the officials said.
US Airways continued to be the airport's dominant carrier, with 65 percent of the passengers in May, an even greater share of the traffic than the average for the airline in recent months. US Airways, which has matched the cheaper prices of other carriers on routes where they compete, had been carrying about 57 percent of Philadelphia passengers in recent months.
US Airways has been adding domestic and international flights from Philadelphia, its second-largest hub after Charlotte, N.C., and now has 409 daily departures here, one fewer than it did before Sept. 11, 2001, spokesman David Castelveter said.
"We're adding capacity where we compete with Southwest," he said. US Airways' GoFares, its marketing name for the discounted prices, have been "very successful in drawing more travelers."
Three major airlines - American, Delta and United - were virtually tied in May for second place among the largest carriers.
Southwest, which flew out of Philadelphia for 23 days in May, had a little more than 60,000 passengers in that time, about 2.5 percent of the airport's total. The airline started with 14 flights a day to six cities and on Tuesday added another 14 a day to seven cities.
Southwest officials have said customer response to its arrival here has exceeded expectations, including selling every available airplane seat on some days. The 60,000 passengers in May means Southwest filled an average of 75 percent to 80 percent of its available seats from Philadelphia, compared to filling 74 percent for its whole network of 59 cities.
"The enthusiasm is continuing in Philadelphia," said spokeswoman Brandy King. "The reaction to the second wave of flights is as good if not better than it was for the first wave."
Frontier, which started service here May 23 with three flights a day, had about 1,500 passengers in the month.
Two other low-fare airlines had some of the biggest increases in business in the first five months of the year. AirTran Airways carried 54 percent more passengers than it did in the same period of 2003, and American Trans Air carried 46 percent more.
The increase in passengers comes as Philadelphia continues to be one of the country's most delay-prone airports, although it's doing a little better this year than it did in 2003.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics, 78.2 percent of flights departed no more than 15 minutes late in the first five months of the year, placing Philadelphia 29th of the 31 largest U.S. airports in on-time performance.
Separately, US Airways president and chief executive Bruce R. Lakefield told employees that the airline might break even in the second quarter, but could have losses in the third and fourth quarters comparable to the $177 million it lost in the first quarter. The company included Lakefield's comments in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
US Airways, which spent eight months in bankruptcy in 2002 and 2003, is in talks with its unions to try to reduce its labor costs.
[from Philadelphia Inquirer}
Jim
By Tom Belden
Inquirer Staff Writer
Philadelphia is flying.
Philadelphia International Airport, boosted by lower airfares, is expected to set a record for passenger traffic this year, based on statistics released yesterday.
Business for all carriers serving Philadelphia has been stimulated by the start of flights by Southwest Airlines and Frontier Airlines, whose low fares were matched by competitors, airport officials said.
"I think we have a shot at 26 million passengers, which would be quite an achievement," city Aviation Director Charles J. Isdell said in an interview. "We've never had more than 25 million a year."
He attributed the increased traffic to the lower fares and the return of more travelers to the skies as fears of terrorism wane.
"Isn't this what they call 'the Southwest effect?' " Isdell said, referring to a phenomenon identified by the U.S. Department of Transportation a decade ago for the way the discounter's low fares increased business for all airlines when it entered a new market.
Isdell estimated that the airport would be used by at least 25.8 million passengers this year, based on the trend from June 2003 through May, the last month for which statistics were available.
The record for passenger traffic was set in 2000, the last year of an economic boom, when 24.9 million people took off and arrived on scheduled airline flights, airport records show.
The higher traffic has ripple effects across the airport. Sales for airport concessionaires are up by as much as 40 percent in Terminal E, where Southwest launched service May 9, and by 24 percent throughout the airport, the officials said.
US Airways continued to be the airport's dominant carrier, with 65 percent of the passengers in May, an even greater share of the traffic than the average for the airline in recent months. US Airways, which has matched the cheaper prices of other carriers on routes where they compete, had been carrying about 57 percent of Philadelphia passengers in recent months.
US Airways has been adding domestic and international flights from Philadelphia, its second-largest hub after Charlotte, N.C., and now has 409 daily departures here, one fewer than it did before Sept. 11, 2001, spokesman David Castelveter said.
"We're adding capacity where we compete with Southwest," he said. US Airways' GoFares, its marketing name for the discounted prices, have been "very successful in drawing more travelers."
Three major airlines - American, Delta and United - were virtually tied in May for second place among the largest carriers.
Southwest, which flew out of Philadelphia for 23 days in May, had a little more than 60,000 passengers in that time, about 2.5 percent of the airport's total. The airline started with 14 flights a day to six cities and on Tuesday added another 14 a day to seven cities.
Southwest officials have said customer response to its arrival here has exceeded expectations, including selling every available airplane seat on some days. The 60,000 passengers in May means Southwest filled an average of 75 percent to 80 percent of its available seats from Philadelphia, compared to filling 74 percent for its whole network of 59 cities.
"The enthusiasm is continuing in Philadelphia," said spokeswoman Brandy King. "The reaction to the second wave of flights is as good if not better than it was for the first wave."
Frontier, which started service here May 23 with three flights a day, had about 1,500 passengers in the month.
Two other low-fare airlines had some of the biggest increases in business in the first five months of the year. AirTran Airways carried 54 percent more passengers than it did in the same period of 2003, and American Trans Air carried 46 percent more.
The increase in passengers comes as Philadelphia continues to be one of the country's most delay-prone airports, although it's doing a little better this year than it did in 2003.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics, 78.2 percent of flights departed no more than 15 minutes late in the first five months of the year, placing Philadelphia 29th of the 31 largest U.S. airports in on-time performance.
Separately, US Airways president and chief executive Bruce R. Lakefield told employees that the airline might break even in the second quarter, but could have losses in the third and fourth quarters comparable to the $177 million it lost in the first quarter. The company included Lakefield's comments in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
US Airways, which spent eight months in bankruptcy in 2002 and 2003, is in talks with its unions to try to reduce its labor costs.
[from Philadelphia Inquirer}
Jim
