Supply And Demand

[mwereplanes]

News from an employee forwarded to me:

Near Full

US Airways Shuttle was busy this weekend, especially in Washington and New York, where a large percentage of customers originated their travel.

On Friday, April 22, the LaGuardia markets reached an 89.1 percent load factor, while Washington markets posted an 84.3 percent load factor. On Saturday, Washington customers traveling to Boston filled 99.1 percent of seats available, and the LaGuardia load factor for Shuttle topped 92 percent.

Yesterday, the Shuttle’s load factor was once again led by the Washington-Boston market, which operated at 97.5 percent of seat capacity. Sunday’s LaGuardia departures had a 93.8 percent load factor.

Shuttle’s departure completion factor also was strong throughout the weekend, with 100 percent completion days on Friday and Saturday, and 73 of the 77 scheduled departures completed on Sunday.

Do you wonder if your airline management understands the concept of pricing the product to make a profit? Does Economics 101 enter into the equation here?

mr

 

[Harry Callahan]

& We are not making money. What's up with that ?

 

[Bear96]

Don't forget the shuttle numbers will be out of whack for a while due to Amtrak taking Acela out of service in the NE Corridor.

 

[ITRADE]

Good point. With Acela on the fritz, the airlines benefit.

Makes you realize what an impact Acela has had.

 

[700UW]

Acela is going to be out of service for months, they can't get the replacement parts.

 

[RowUnderDCA]

i didnt think Acela was all that.

actually, could this be a bigger break for U than just a few months of higher load factors?

Maybe customers will discover that some of the headaches of air travel have dissapated a bit. And any positive news about U's franchise and presence in the NE can only help in the impression that U is something worth purchasing.

I still think that U is more interested in advertising an enticing business plan, not a fully perfect operation. Accomodating this influx of passengers without disruption, even if the product is a bit threadbare and grimy, is an important reminder of U's potential value. Impressions matter right about now, false, fleeting or otherwise.

 

[tadjr]

The load factors on everything heading North of Philly should have been great this past weekend with it being Patriots Weekend. They even added extra sections from CLT to BOS. When trying to reroute there were no seats on most flights in the afternoon to ALB/SWF/HPN/BDL/HVN and anything North of that line and just a couple of seats to LGA and EWR. Great to see some more full planes, just wish we were busting our a**es for $ and not just to move people. :down:

 

[ITRADE]

My coworkers are split on Acela. Most are wedded to US Shuttle or AA service to LGA.

A couple love Acela and the ability to work the entire time up to New York. What they don't like is not being able to get into the quiet car and having to deal with loud-mouthed SOBs on their cell phones who'd rather have a one sided conference call.

 

[PHL]

Given the choice travelling an Acela trip up to 3-3.5 hrs vs. flying, I'll often pick the Acela.

The tried and true faithful Metroliner, which was to be completely retired from the Spring/Summer schedules that went into effect yesterday, is back in full force and will be running hourly starting next week to make up all the lost Acela runs.

WAS-NYP will take about 2hrs 45min (vs. the Acela 2hrs 30min) and there will even be a few NYP-BOS runs, taking around 3 1/2 hrs (vs. Acela 3 hrs). That's the first time I think the Metroliner has ever run all the way to Boston, by the way.

So, the shuttle loads will probably stabillize a bit when the regular Amtrak customers go back to Amtrak, even taking the "downgrade" to the Metroliner equipment in lieu of dealing with airport and TSA headaches.

 

[usair_begins_with_u]

Does Economics 101 enter into the equation here?

Yeah.. it's called the economics of survival..

As critical as most have been [including me] of U's mgmt team, you still have to have total respect for their skill to keep Uair afloat as long as they have.. Practicallly speaking, they almost defy logic, and planes are still flying, and they are full!! Uair keeps living to fly another day.. Face it, these folks are some pretty savvy business people, who gain more and more of my respect each day..

Imagine the battle they are fighting, and even still they are on the brink of coming out of BK II. Yeah.. they wont save everyones job, but its not for lack of effort. Also, the guys running the show now didn't get U in this mess, they are just trying thier best to get it out, the fact that U is still operating means they are doing something right.. Most of you ingrates should be thanking these guys, not calling them out and whining like little bitches.

 

[funguy2]

There was another thread last week which suggested average daily demand for the LGA Shuttle routes was around 600 pax/day and US Airways offers 1600 seats/day.

Something between this thread and that thread is amiss.

 

[tadjr]

suggested average daily demand


Something between this thread and that thread is amiss.

[post="264791"][/post]​

This past weekend was the last weekend for Spring Breakers in New England. The loads would have been heavy even without Acela not running. You cant take the high numbers from this weekend and say its that way ALL the time because it isnt. It was a holiday weekend and demand would have been on the high side.

 

[luvn737s]

Yeah.. it's called the economics of survival..

As critical as most have been [including me] of U's mgmt team, you still have to have total respect for their skill to keep Uair afloat as long as they have.. Practicallly speaking, they almost defy logic, and planes are still flying, and they are full!! Uair keeps living to fly another day.. Face it, these folks are some pretty savvy business people, who gain more and more of my respect each day..

Instead of just surviving, why not thrive? If a major competitor (Amtrak) has just handed you additional passengers on a primarily-business route, why not increase fares. Economics 101 states that you should charge the highest price that yields the highest total revenue. Shuttle traffic is far less price-sensitive than MCO traffic and it should be priced accordingly. If it has, and these load factors stay high, great.

The airline industry could use a lot less "managers" and a few more "leaders".

 

[sfb]

Actually, Patriots' Day was the Monday before last (i.e. April 18); it's always the third Monday in April and is a state holiday in Massachusetts. It marks the battles of Lexington and Concord; it is the day when the Boston Marathon is run; and the Spring school vacation week in Massachusetts is the week of Patriots' Day. So, part of the reason why the Shuttles to BOS were so full is the fact that many families were returning from vacations. Moreover, Passover was this past weekend and I'm fairly sure there was a significant spike in traffic due to persons of the Jewish faith traveling to be with their families.

luvn737s-

Economics 101 says that you should charge the price that yields the highest total profit, not the highest price that does so. But I'd also point out that economics teaches us that high prices and profitable markets also eventually lead to competitors entering those markets. It is sometimes better to accept somewhat lower margins in the interest of making a specific market less attractive to potential competitors.

 

[insp89]

Yeah.. it's called the economics of survival..

As critical as most have been [including me] of U's mgmt team, you still have to have total respect for their skill to keep Uair afloat as long as they have.. Practicallly speaking, they almost defy logic, and planes are still flying, and they are full!! Uair keeps living to fly another day.. Face it, these folks are some pretty savvy business people, who gain more and more of my respect each day..

Imagine the battle they are fighting, and even still they are on the brink of coming out of BK II. Yeah.. they wont save everyones job, but its not for lack of effort. Also, the guys running the show now didn't get U in this mess, they are just trying thier best to get it out, the fact that U is still operating means they are doing something right.. Most of you ingrates should be thanking these guys, not calling them out and whining like little bitches.

[post="264788"][/post]​

You forgot to mention one of the main characters,,, Stephen Mitchell, The Bankrupcy Judge....