US Airways aims to show improvement - Time is running out for the airline to avoid bankruptcy by proving to its creditors that it can cut costs
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US Airways restores Fort Lauderdale-New York service
Complete Story
US Airways Summer air link from Philadelphia to Glasgow set for return
Complete Story
US Airways' hubs 'vulnerable'
Complete Story
US Airways Group reports second quarter results - $34 Million Profit in Company’s Seasonally Strongest Quarter - Loss Year-To-Date Totals $143 Million - High Cost Structure, Increased Low-Fare Competition, Rising Fuel Prices Remain Biggest Challenges
Complete Story
Surprise Profit at US Airways
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US Airways profit rises - Warns cannot sustain momentum under its cost structure
Complete Story
US Airways posts profit, sees more losses ahead
Complete Story
Bombardier extends US Airways delivery schedule
Complete Story
US Airways profits only a blip, airline CEO says
Complete Story
US Airways posts profit, but troubles remain
Complete Story
ALPA MEC code-a-phone update - July 26, 2004
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ALPA MEC code-a-phone update - July 27, 2004
Complete Story
US Airways Second Quarter 2004 Earnings Results Conference Call
Complete Story
US Airways Plans a Major Overhaul of Its Flights
Complete Story
LCCs Lead the Pack
ARLINGTON (theHub.com) - Low-cost carriers have "won the war" -- on pricing, that is -- according to an article in today’s Rocky Mountain News. Discount carriers are leading the industry by initiating fare cuts, forcing legacy carriers to follow suit or lose out on market share. "The low-cost guys are the price leaders now," said Robert Mann, an airline consultant in Port Washington, N.Y. Matching the reduced fares is no easy task for established airlines whose expenses are significantly higher than the LCCs, according to the article.
Fare pressure and from low-cost airlines has grown over time. In 1993 LCCs flew 8.4 percent of the nation's passengers. By 2003 their market share was up to 21.7 percent. More important, they expanded the number of cities they served, giving customers more options to choose from. Legacy carriers have been left to find a way to compete by offering flights at lower prices. As Cambridge, Mass., airline consultant Daniel Kasper puts it, "At the end of the day, low costs prevail."
Low-cost carriers now control about a quarter of the market and influence fares far beyond their direct route networks, and within a year or two, these airlines will be flying to Europe and other international destinations, opening another battle front, predicts Business Travel Coalition Chairman Kevin Mitchell in Saturday’s edition of The Atlanta Journal Constitution.
Seabury Investment Banking Group Chairman John Luth predicts that airline industry competition will only get tougher over the next few years. "Within three to five years, discount carriers will control a third of the market and largely dictate pricing in 85 percent of the U.S. market," Luth said.
PSA Pilots Approve Agreement For Staffing Of 70-Seat Jets
ARLINGTON (Aviation Daily) - Pilot union leaders at US Airways’ wholly owned subsidiary PSA Airlines late last week ratified a deal that establishes staffing and pay rates for the Bombardier 70-seat Bombardier CRJ-701 aircraft.
PSA which started taking delivery of CRJs last fall, currently flies 26 50-seat CRJ-100s/200s and four-701s. Management and the union representing the pilots – the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) have been negotiating staffing of the 70-seat planes for a few weeks, specifically what percentage of US Airways furloughed pilots in the carrier’s Jets for Jobs program would fly the –701s.
Under the deal, 50% of pilots in the Jets For Jobs program are set to fly the –701s. The ALPS Master Executive Council (MEC) ratified the agreement by an eight-to-one vote. "I want to thank the MEC for their hard work in reaching this extremely important agreement," said PSA CEO Richard Pfenning.
US Airways has 21 – 701s remaining on order for delivery to PSA.
IAM, US Air Prepare For Next Steps In Maintenance Dispute
ARLINGTON (Aviation Daily) - US Airways management and the union representing the carrier’s mechanics are preparing briefs in the latest round of the dispute over using third parties for heavy maintenance on Airbus narrowbodies, which centers on contract language interpretation and whether adequate physical space exists at US Air to maintain the planes. An arbitrator is handling the dispute after a judge ruled the case was a "minor dispute" under the Railway Labor Act. The deadline for the latest round of rebuttal briefs is July 31. Both sides — US Airways and the International Association of Machinists (IAM) — recently filed post-hearing briefs after three days of meetings in late April and early May. On the language issue, US Airways argues contract language allows the carrier to outsource work if equipment or facilities are not available. US Airways cited examples of work that was sent out without objections from the IAM — exterior aircraft stripping and painting in the late 1990s after the company determined its facilities wouldn’t comply with new environmental laws and decided to use outside shops to maintain certain types of landing gears and auxiliary power units (APUs).
IAM contends language in the contract "precludes supporting" subcontracting of heavy maintenance, and even if the airline satisfied the provision governing lack of facilities, "it still could not outsource the work if doing so meant there would be a layoff or a loss of straight time pay," the union said. The machinists union also took issue with US Airways’ claim of inadequate facilities to maintain the planes. IAM believes only two hangar bays currently devoted to overnight work are necessary to perform heavy maintenance on the Airbus planes. The union also noted US Airways performed all line maintenance outdoors in Charlotte, N.C., before that location’s hangar became operative in 2001, and "managed to perform line maintenance on 43% more aircraft than it has now without that Charlotte hangar." IAM claims similar capacity exists in Pittsburgh, "given the current diminished volume of aircraft needing line maintenance work," arriving at the airport. In its argument, US Airways claimed it had a 23% improvement in the rate of aircraft out of service after building line maintenance hangars in Charlotte and Pittsburgh to maintain the planes indoors. It also said it would need to buy tail, wing and nose stands for the Airbus heavy maintenance that could take nine months to buy at a cost of $2.2 million.
Complete Story
US Airways restores Fort Lauderdale-New York service
Complete Story
US Airways Summer air link from Philadelphia to Glasgow set for return
Complete Story
US Airways' hubs 'vulnerable'
Complete Story
US Airways Group reports second quarter results - $34 Million Profit in Company’s Seasonally Strongest Quarter - Loss Year-To-Date Totals $143 Million - High Cost Structure, Increased Low-Fare Competition, Rising Fuel Prices Remain Biggest Challenges
Complete Story
Surprise Profit at US Airways
Complete Story
US Airways profit rises - Warns cannot sustain momentum under its cost structure
Complete Story
US Airways posts profit, sees more losses ahead
Complete Story
Bombardier extends US Airways delivery schedule
Complete Story
US Airways profits only a blip, airline CEO says
Complete Story
US Airways posts profit, but troubles remain
Complete Story
ALPA MEC code-a-phone update - July 26, 2004
Complete Story
ALPA MEC code-a-phone update - July 27, 2004
Complete Story
US Airways Second Quarter 2004 Earnings Results Conference Call
Complete Story
US Airways Plans a Major Overhaul of Its Flights
Complete Story
LCCs Lead the Pack
ARLINGTON (theHub.com) - Low-cost carriers have "won the war" -- on pricing, that is -- according to an article in today’s Rocky Mountain News. Discount carriers are leading the industry by initiating fare cuts, forcing legacy carriers to follow suit or lose out on market share. "The low-cost guys are the price leaders now," said Robert Mann, an airline consultant in Port Washington, N.Y. Matching the reduced fares is no easy task for established airlines whose expenses are significantly higher than the LCCs, according to the article.
Fare pressure and from low-cost airlines has grown over time. In 1993 LCCs flew 8.4 percent of the nation's passengers. By 2003 their market share was up to 21.7 percent. More important, they expanded the number of cities they served, giving customers more options to choose from. Legacy carriers have been left to find a way to compete by offering flights at lower prices. As Cambridge, Mass., airline consultant Daniel Kasper puts it, "At the end of the day, low costs prevail."
Low-cost carriers now control about a quarter of the market and influence fares far beyond their direct route networks, and within a year or two, these airlines will be flying to Europe and other international destinations, opening another battle front, predicts Business Travel Coalition Chairman Kevin Mitchell in Saturday’s edition of The Atlanta Journal Constitution.
Seabury Investment Banking Group Chairman John Luth predicts that airline industry competition will only get tougher over the next few years. "Within three to five years, discount carriers will control a third of the market and largely dictate pricing in 85 percent of the U.S. market," Luth said.
PSA Pilots Approve Agreement For Staffing Of 70-Seat Jets
ARLINGTON (Aviation Daily) - Pilot union leaders at US Airways’ wholly owned subsidiary PSA Airlines late last week ratified a deal that establishes staffing and pay rates for the Bombardier 70-seat Bombardier CRJ-701 aircraft.
PSA which started taking delivery of CRJs last fall, currently flies 26 50-seat CRJ-100s/200s and four-701s. Management and the union representing the pilots – the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) have been negotiating staffing of the 70-seat planes for a few weeks, specifically what percentage of US Airways furloughed pilots in the carrier’s Jets for Jobs program would fly the –701s.
Under the deal, 50% of pilots in the Jets For Jobs program are set to fly the –701s. The ALPS Master Executive Council (MEC) ratified the agreement by an eight-to-one vote. "I want to thank the MEC for their hard work in reaching this extremely important agreement," said PSA CEO Richard Pfenning.
US Airways has 21 – 701s remaining on order for delivery to PSA.
IAM, US Air Prepare For Next Steps In Maintenance Dispute
ARLINGTON (Aviation Daily) - US Airways management and the union representing the carrier’s mechanics are preparing briefs in the latest round of the dispute over using third parties for heavy maintenance on Airbus narrowbodies, which centers on contract language interpretation and whether adequate physical space exists at US Air to maintain the planes. An arbitrator is handling the dispute after a judge ruled the case was a "minor dispute" under the Railway Labor Act. The deadline for the latest round of rebuttal briefs is July 31. Both sides — US Airways and the International Association of Machinists (IAM) — recently filed post-hearing briefs after three days of meetings in late April and early May. On the language issue, US Airways argues contract language allows the carrier to outsource work if equipment or facilities are not available. US Airways cited examples of work that was sent out without objections from the IAM — exterior aircraft stripping and painting in the late 1990s after the company determined its facilities wouldn’t comply with new environmental laws and decided to use outside shops to maintain certain types of landing gears and auxiliary power units (APUs).
IAM contends language in the contract "precludes supporting" subcontracting of heavy maintenance, and even if the airline satisfied the provision governing lack of facilities, "it still could not outsource the work if doing so meant there would be a layoff or a loss of straight time pay," the union said. The machinists union also took issue with US Airways’ claim of inadequate facilities to maintain the planes. IAM believes only two hangar bays currently devoted to overnight work are necessary to perform heavy maintenance on the Airbus planes. The union also noted US Airways performed all line maintenance outdoors in Charlotte, N.C., before that location’s hangar became operative in 2001, and "managed to perform line maintenance on 43% more aircraft than it has now without that Charlotte hangar." IAM claims similar capacity exists in Pittsburgh, "given the current diminished volume of aircraft needing line maintenance work," arriving at the airport. In its argument, US Airways claimed it had a 23% improvement in the rate of aircraft out of service after building line maintenance hangars in Charlotte and Pittsburgh to maintain the planes indoors. It also said it would need to buy tail, wing and nose stands for the Airbus heavy maintenance that could take nine months to buy at a cost of $2.2 million.
