US Airways to discontinue PIT-LGW service in October

[USAirBoyA330]

Let Chip respond if he wants without putting words in his mouth and looks who''s talking. You put a negative spin on it. If the route isn''t making MONEY then buh bye. We can use the plane elsewhere to hopefully have a profitable route. Just because it''s PIT doesn''t mean it''s sacred.

 

[DCAflyer]

ARLINGTON, Va., July 16, 2003 -- US Airways will discontinue its daily nonstop roundtrip service between Pittsburgh and London Gatwick Airport in late October.

The last London flight will depart Pittsburgh on Oct. 28, 2003. From London, the last flight will depart for Pittsburgh on Oct. 29, 2003.

We have notified local officials that we are moving forward with our plans to discontinue the Pittsburgh-London service, which was brought back on a seasonal basis to accommodate the peak summer travel period, said Douglas D. Leo, US Airways vice president of international.

Customers still will be able to travel to London Gatwick Airport on US Airways from both the Charlotte, N.C., and Philadelphia hubs.

US Airways plans to continue to operate its once daily nonstop roundtrip flight between Pittsburgh and Frankfurt, linking seamlessly to new destinations as a result of the US Airways-Lufthansa marketing agreement which begins later this year. From its Frankfurt and Munich hubs, Lufthansa provides one of the most extensive global networks of any major airline, flying to 340 destinations in nearly 90 countries worldwide, including 18 cities throughout North America.

Currently, US Airways operates 399 daily departures from Pittsburgh International Airport.

Reporters needing additional information should contact US Airways Corporate Communications at (703) 872-5100.

 

[Bear96]

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On 7/16/2003 4:05:05 PM USAirBoyA330 wrote:

Let Chip respond if he wants without putting words in his mouth and looks who''s talking. You put a negative spin on it. If the route isn''t making MONEY then buh bye. We can use the plane elsewhere to hopefully have a profitable route...

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Airboy, I don''t quite understand the "look who''s talking," but I have no beef with you, so sorry if it sounded like I do. But I do think you will see many of U''s international flying end up being done by the foreign *A carriers now that U is part of *A. That has been the trend at UA.

My comment towards Chip has to do with the fact that when U announces a reduction in service or route cutbacks, he usually responds with what a brilliant move it is on the part of U management to reduce capacity or pull out of unprofitable routes and reallocate resources. When UA does the same, on the other hand, he usually is right there saying that is another indication of how UA management has no idea what they are doing, how UA is floundering, how UA is desparate, and on and on and on.

For example, would Chip''s reaction be the same to the news that U is pulling out of PIT-LGW as it would be should UA announce it is pulling out of IAD-LHR?

Doubt it.

 

[Bear96]

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On 7/16/2003 351 PM USAirBoyA330 wrote:

...I bet that PHL will eventually have ALL the international routes.

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Maybe briefly... but ultimately, other DeathStar Alliance carriers will probably be flying all the int'l routes from PHL to Europe, with very little U metal left on them.

Hello Chip... Waiting for you to put a positive spin on this! We know you're out there!

 

[PITbull]

USA330,

You have to stop and think for a moment without "jumping". PIT is definitely going down with mainline flying probably all of International. We here at Pit are not deludding ourselves. You are aware folks from PIW will be going to PHW to fly those routes. PIT will be the RJ feeder for the Star Alliance and United. The Star Alliance service hundreds of cities world wide. The concept that I see (hope I am wrong) is what is U incentive to fly across the pond, pay for big planes, maintenance, crews and compete, when they can get a piece of the ticketing action by feeding the routes with no overhead expense?

I don't know....hell, who knows. Things change from month to month with this company. Just have to "roll with it".

 

[USAirBoyA330]

Well....the writing on the wall for PIT is coming true. Was it just me or didn''t I read something a while back on the Ireland service about experimenting with other European destinations in 2004? I think one of our VP''s said something about it in a newspaper interview. I knew these aircraft would come from somewhere and I bet that PHL will eventually have ALL the international routes.

 

[PITbull]

USA330,

That''s the point. Who knows what will happen in 2-3 years. Look what has happened in just the past year....

Who could predict or imagine all our lives to end up "helter skelter", with no end or stability in view.

Hang in there, though. Council 70 is having a union meeting tomorrow. The local 40 PIT President will be in attendance and as a guest.

 

[PITbull]

Bear,

You "hit" it on the mark.

 

[RowUnderDCA]

I''m not so sure that "DeathStar" will get all the International flying. Didn''t U upgrade a lot of Airbus orders to A330''s at the same time it was pursuing Star Alliance membership. I guess that doesn''t say much other than they don''t look like they were thinking ''no International.'' Well, maybe. I''m going to LGW on Friday. Wish me upgrade luck!

 

[USAirBoyA330]

PITBull:

Thanks for the post but I know full well that PIT people will come into PHL/PHW. For the past year we thought at any moment PIT would close and we expect everyone to flood into PHL causing furloughs. I fully expect something like that to happen but my point was PIT IS NOT the sacred ground it used to be. The old management would keep a money losing route just because PIT was the center of all things great but this new management couldn''t care less. PIT has gone from being the "mecca" to being a stepchild and I really feel for my coworkers. I can''t imagine what it must be like.
We don''t know what will happen with International. None of us have a crystal ball so I wish people would just stop being negative off the bat. We could be United or God only knows who in 2-3 years. We just don''t know.
We are for sale and we WILL be sold. Consolidation is inevitable.

 

[USAirBoyA330]

Well, I guess we will see the PIT Local Pres. tommorrow. I wouldn't miss it and am bringing several other F/A's. I am sure the Local 70 will make me feel real "welcome"

They said they wanted involvement....then they got it.

 

[DCAflyer]

I agree with Row. I don''t think there is writing on the wall that transoceanic is going away. First, we just build up flying there adding new destinations. And as Row pointed out, the Airbus order conversions to A330-200 took place just a few months ago. AS far as I know, STAR membership is a two way street... we feed to them and they feed to us. Perhaps we will see increased flights into PIT from the other STAR carriers, any maybe that is why LH began codesharing with us before the rest of STAR. But nothing in what''s going on indicates to me that we will see a complete shutdown of transoceanic ops.

In any event, my thoughts are with the displaced PIW folks.

 

[USA320Pilot]

The only way US gets code share revenue, whether its with UA or in the future with Star, is when passengers fly on our aircraft. Considering the high PIT passenger processing costs and the ability to reallocate the aircraft used in the PIT-LGW market, it appears the company can create greater profits -- especially in the slow winter travel period by eliminating the PIT-LGW service.

Today theHub.com issued a news report and said "We have notified local officials that we are moving forward with our plans to discontinue the Pittsburgh-London service, which was brought back on a seasonal basis to accommodate the peak summer travel period," said Doug Leo, vice president of international. Customers still will be able to travel to London Gatwick Airport on US Airways from both the Charlotte and Philadelphia hubs. US Airways plans to continue to operate its once daily nonstop roundtrip flight between Pittsburgh and Frankfurt, linking seamlessly to new destinations as a result of the US Airways-Lufthansa marketing agreement, which will begin later this year.

In my opinion, if the company can make more money with the aircraft used on the PIT-LGW route by redeploying the aircraft, then that is a smart business move.

Best regards,

Chip

 

[ClueByFour]

Does anybody else but me remember when US Airways and the elder Rep. Bud Shuster beat the crap out of the brits to modify Bermuda II to permit the PIT-LGW flight?

Operation Ungrateful Bastards rears it''s ugly head.

 

[N628AU]

Yep, keep losing money on a route just because it was tough to get in the past. That is a quick way to dig yourself a financial hole.