US wins slot exemption fight for DCA-SRQ

US and USX will begin service DCA-SRQ after being granted a pair of within-perimeter slot exemptions for Washington National-Sarasota service.

The DOT decision is here: http://dmses.dot.gov/docimages/pdf96/401343_web.pdf

During the winter season, the service will be operated with EMB-190s on weekdays and A319s on weekends. In the summer, it'll be downgraded to USX EMB-170s on weekdays and mainline EMB-190s on weekends.
 
Woo Hoo! Non-stop service to Grandma's house out of DCA. Glad I was holding off buying tickets connecting through CLT on the horrible CR900s!!!

Now publish the schedule and some cheapo fares please!!!
 
Tempe issued a press release. Well, tried to, anyway:

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US AIRWAYS AWARDED FIRST-EVER NONSTOP SERVICE

Airline receives DOT permission to link communities with year-round service

TEMPE, Ariz., June 12, 2006 - US Airways (NYSE: LCC) today was awarded authority by the Department of Transportation (DOT) to begin nonstop, year-round service between Sarasota-Bradenton, Fla. and Washington, D.C. The airline will operate one daily roundtrip flight. More information regarding the start of service and the flight schedule will issued at a later date.

"We applaud the DOT for approving our application to provide service between Sarasota-Bradenton and Washington D.C. and for recognizing the overwhelming support for this service put forth by community and civic leaders," said C.A. Howlett, senior vice president of public affairs for the airline. "This service is designed to increase competition and give customers more choices in air travel. Consumers who today drive to Ft. Myers or Tampa for flights to Washington, D.C. now have a much more convenient air travel option."

US Airways and America West's recent merger creates the fifth largest domestic airline employing nearly 35,000 aviation professionals. US Airways, US Airways Shuttle and US Airways Express operate approximately 3,800 flights per day and serve more than 230 communities in the U.S., Canada, Europe, the Caribbean and Latin America. US Airways is a member of Star Alliance, which provides connections for our customers to 842 destinations in 152 countries worldwide. This press release and additional information on US Airways can be found at www.usairways.com.

-Fly with US-

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Yep, read the title again. "US AIRWAYS AWARDED FIRST-EVER NONSTOP SERVICE". That tells you a whole lot. :rolleyes: The subtitle? Nope, still doesn't tell you where the service is to/from.

If you do go through the trouble of reading the whole press release, it tells you the service is Washington, D.C.-Sarasota. NOWHERE in the press release does it tell you which Washington airport the service is operating from. Maybe some people would be interested to know that the service is from DCA, the most convenient Washington-area airport, where US is the largest carrier, with nearly 200 flights a day to ~50 destinations. Maybe some people would just like to know which airport to show up to. :blink:

The folks in Tempe finally have gotten around to issuing press releases--only took them nine freaking months after the merger--but they still haven't figured out that while Phoenix and Las Vegas might only have one large airport each, Washington DC has three airports, including DCA, which only happens to be US's fourth largest station by seats and mainline flights. :down:
 
A for effort, F for execution. I saw that headline in the list of press releases and was like "WTF, new service where?"

I'm starting to think they need to hire me to do their PR, I know I'd do a better job than that! :lol:
an outsourced res. agent in manilla could do a better job than that!!!
 
A for effort, F for execution. I saw that headline in the list of press releases and was like "WTF, new service where?"

It's just like this press release here, touting lower fares at GSO, when they didn't use the word "Greensboro" one single lousy time in the press release or the title. Idiots... :down:

But hey, more stock options and more kool-aid for everyone.

I'm starting to think they need to hire me to do their PR, I know I'd do a better job than that! :lol:

I already wrote a BOS-PUJ press release for them. :p

And it looks better by the minute. The folks in Tempe would have their heads explode if they had to put that much detail into a press release.
 
an outsourced res. agent in manilla could do a better job than that!!!
Are you sure about that...? They seem to have many problems. Hopefully the outsourced Manilla agent will soon be a thing of the past..along with those in Mexico City.
 
Are you sure about that...? They seem to have many problems. Hopefully the outsourced Manilla agent will soon be a thing of the past..along with those in Mexico City.



come on now, they get SRQ and SDQ confused and didn't want to make a mistake. They were just playing it safe as to not get egg on their collective faces, lol.

As for GSO and PTI....go figure.
 
So is this a good move or not? What's the market opportunity?

I've often wondered if US could make significant money inter FL in the current environment? I know SWA & CO still fly around FLA.

I'd say it is. US had cut it down to 3 flights a day to CLT. It's now up to 4/day 6/Sat. And they are basically full. 70/90 seaters. 737's in the winter, full. Airtran got a 1.6mill grant from SRQ to start flying, and they have been doing pretty well. Their is a company down here that just relocated from DC to SRQ, and they did a big write in campaign for the flight. As usual, if the fares are reasonable, the flight will be full.
 
It's just like this press release here, touting lower fares at GSO, when they didn't use the word "Greensboro" one single lousy time in the press release or the title. Idiots... :down:

But hey, more stock options and more kool-aid for everyone.
I already wrote a BOS-PUJ press release for them. :p

And it looks better by the minute. The folks in Tempe would have their heads explode if they had to put that much detail into a press release.
I missed that PUJ thread. Your press release was excellent! If nothing else, keep writing them (when you have time) and post them here. At least some of us will know what's going on (and maybe forward your well-written info to Tempe).