US Express to end service to IPT

[Sig]

Hehe, Wegman's? No way, man.

Pint of Yeungling at Kelly's: 1.25

Ducking into Kelly's because the cops are chasing an "unsavory element" down the sidewalk, and that's the nearest doorway to get the hell outta the way: About 3 minutes of my life.

Discovering a perfect Irish dive with ultra cheap beer on accident: PRICELESS.

 

[jimcfs]

A prime example is the ABE airport, which has had a major decline in traffic over the last 10 years. The area has grown in both population and business, but many in the area don't utilize the airport. Passengers will either drive to EWR or PHL instead of using a nearby convienent airport. In essence they are hurting thier own cause by not using the local facility. Without enough local traffic all of the airlines serving the airport are forced to cut service making the situation worse. If demand were to increase, more service could be offered.

You forget the fare factor. If the fares out of ABE were competitive (or a tad more) than the fares out of EWR or PHL, people would support it.

We had the same thing happen here in BLF. Officially, Colgan said they pulled out of BLF last November because they switched to the Saab 340 and BLF's runway wasn't long enough. Technically that was false. The real reason was that there wasn't enough load to justify it especially given that BLF lost their EAS subsidy (even while pairing it with BKW that still maintained their EAS funding). Why didn't people use BLF? Two reasons... fares and flying to IAD under the US flag (thus limiting connections).

Personally, the only times I used BLF in the last 10 years was on US award tickets, and those were very limited. It's been since the early 90s since I have flown out of BLF/BKW on a revenue generating ticket. I could drive at least 90 minutes each way to CRW, ROA, GSO, TRI or even RDU and come out way ahead because of the difference in fares, even with the added gas, tolls and parking expenses.

Now, I'm not saying ABE fares have to match PHL or EWR fares, but they need to be competitive. In this climate, one would think a $50-75 differential would easily be tolerated, but not $200 or more.

 

[wings396]

The fares at ABE were an issue a few years ago, but attempts were made to closer match those of EWR & PHL,
The Airport is part to blame due to their high landing fees and rent. In some cases the Airport authority has gone as far as subsidizing new entrant carriers to guarentee them a profit for up to a one year period. It seems that in todays market that fares are not the main issue, as Allegiant Air has very low fares and has been forced to reduce service. In the case of any nearby local Airport, I would be willing to pay a bit more to avoid the drive and congestion of a larger airport. Not many people consider this until it is too late. I know that RDG has aslo lost a lot of service of the past few years, but they didn't have Mainline flights. They upgraded the airport, and it is a nice facility for it's size. I think that UA Exp. was in there years ago as well.
Another place that has lost a lot of service is MDT, and I recall US lowered their fares there to combat SWA in BWI to keep the locals from driving there. I don't know what the exact level of service is today in MDT, but they lost Mainline service by several carriers.

 

[robbedagain]

The fares at ABE were an issue a few years ago, but attempts were made to closer match those of EWR & PHL,
The Airport is part to blame due to their high landing fees and rent. In some cases the Airport authority has gone as far as subsidizing new entrant carriers to guarentee them a profit for up to a one year period. It seems that in todays market that fares are not the main issue, as Allegiant Air has very low fares and has been forced to reduce service. In the case of any nearby local Airport, I would be willing to pay a bit more to avoid the drive and congestion of a larger airport. Not many people consider this until it is too late. I know that RDG has aslo lost a lot of service of the past few years, but they didn't have Mainline flights. They upgraded the airport, and it is a nice facility for it's size. I think that UA Exp. was in there years ago as well.
Another place that has lost a lot of service is MDT, and I recall US lowered their fares there to combat SWA in BWI to keep the locals from driving there. I don't know what the exact level of service is today in MDT, but they lost Mainline service by several carriers.

Allegiant Air is still getting their free landing rights here at ABE and as for MDT, Only UAL has two or three mainline jets-all B-737--with the rest being rjs and express. American has 2 or 3 ERJs to ORD and one or two to DFW. We Have nothing but rjs and express out of MDT to BOS LGA CLT and PHL.

 

[rvolkcpa]

The fares at ABE were an issue a few years ago, but attempts were made to closer match those of EWR & PHL,
The Airport is part to blame due to their high landing fees and rent. In some cases the Airport authority has gone as far as subsidizing new entrant carriers to guarentee them a profit for up to a one year period. It seems that in todays market that fares are not the main issue, as Allegiant Air has very low fares and has been forced to reduce service. In the case of any nearby local Airport, I would be willing to pay a bit more to avoid the drive and congestion of a larger airport. Not many people consider this until it is too late. I know that RDG has aslo lost a lot of service of the past few years, but they didn't have Mainline flights. They upgraded the airport, and it is a nice facility for it's size. I think that UA Exp. was in there years ago as well.
Another place that has lost a lot of service is MDT, and I recall US lowered their fares there to combat SWA in BWI to keep the locals from driving there. I don't know what the exact level of service is today in MDT, but they lost Mainline service by several carriers.

ABE is our airport of choice, but there are times when it is not feasible to use it.

In September we flew to Vancouver BC on Alaska Air. It made more sense to use EWR because of nonstop service to SEA on Alaska. About half of our flights from ABE to SEA on United have resulted in lenghty delays in ORD.

We just returned from a trip to Tampa. The US fares out of PHL were about $80 per person less than ABE. It was a longer drive for us, but we flew non-stop, so the overall travel time was less. A fare savings of $160 compensated for higher parking fees. We miss the US non-stop from ABE to MCO. Orlando is further from our final destination, but a non-stop flight would justify the extra driving distance.

 

[FM2436]

You forget the fare factor. If the fares out of ABE were competitive (or a tad more) than the fares out of EWR or PHL, people would support it.

In this climate, one would think a $50-75 differential would easily be tolerated, but not $200 or more.

For selfish reasons, I wish this was economically feasible. The harsh reality is that no regional market can be competitive with fares charges at the airline’s hub airport. There is always the actual cost associated with the regional flight.

Piedmont’s second proposal is interesting in that it claims an annual expense of $3,475,645 to fly 620 RT’s per year, or 1,240 flights per year. At a 100% load factor, (36 passengers) the break even fare needs to be $77 one-way (50% LF @ $154 one-way). Someone’s got to pay this cost or the airline would need to drain funds from profitable market to subsidize these small markets. There is no-way the airline can provide these small markets with competitive (Southwest) fares.

I think what we’re seeing is just the beginning of many-many smaller non-hub airport across the county losing air service, or airlines looking at nearby non-hubs that they currently provide same carrier service and choosing one of those airports to serve the entire region.

I’d like to see US Airways take a good look at Piedmont and determine/identify small-hub and/or medium-hub market combinations in the northeast and mid-Atlantic regions where Piedmont could operate non-stop hub-bypass service and charge a fare that would generate Piedmont’s desire 5% profit. I think that’s what Colgan and Continental are attempting to do with their new fleet of Q-400s.

 

[Atlantic]

Too bad. AAA serviced IPT first with DC 3's, C 580's , BAC1-11's. The DC 9-30 may have had a run through. In '77 AAA had a pilot and F/A base there for a few years. Piper Aircraft was just 20 miles down the valley. It is one beautiful place to live and rase kids.