What Will The Flight Schedule Look Like In Sept?

[deltawatch]

Any predictions on what the schedules will look like in cities like ORF, RIC when the new plan kicks in and only 25% of the mainline fleet is used to feed the hubs in September?

How will the new Usairways, the point to point airline, serve these cities?

 

[mweiss]

Assuming service with 737s or A319s...

ORF would barely support MCO and ATL with two flights a day, and SAN, JAX, LAX, LAS, and FLL with one apiece.

RIC would, similarly, barely support ATL and ORD with two flights a day, and LGA and DFW with one apiece.

These are not especially high O&D cities.

 

[ISP]

It is my understanding that with less hub-feed flying, the mainline assets will primarily be redeployed to the 3 focus cities (LGA/DCA/BOS) where we will see a mixture of new routes and Express equipment being upgraded to mainline. As has been proven with JetBlue, mainline flights are justified on routes such as LGA-BUF/ROC/SYR - if the fares are reasonable.

I would not expect to see cities which are close to being "mainline express" gain any mainline A/C. ORF, RIC, etc. can very easily have no mainline on the Sept. schedule and have MidAtlantic/Express only, thus enabling the company to classify these stations as mainline express and reduce costs. I understand that the stations that are in extreme danger are ILM, GSO, EWR, & PNS.

If the company is successful with the "transformation plan," expect to see a continued increase in Carribbean flying, as well as shifting some assets to more transcon/west coast markets. Do not be suprised to see the opening of some new mid-con/west coast stations. With just 2-3 flights/day, these stations can be mainline express as well.

Unfortunately, this is the sad reality of US Airways today.

 

[USFlyer]

Unfortunately, this is the sad reality of US Airways today.

From a passenger's standpoint, I'm failing to see why this is sad. Having more O&D flights and less connecting headaches seems like a win, unless I'm missing something.

 

[Dont call me Shirley]

Mainline Express...coming to an aiport near you!

It still surprises me how many employees (even CWA/IAM ) do not know about Mainline Express ("ME"). Or how truly awful it is for those brave souls who work under its conditions.

When the concessions come: Keep "ME" out of it!

 

[<./']>]

It still surprises me how many employees (even CWA/IAM ) do not know about Mainline Express ("ME").

They will real soon!

 

[Air conditioned]

What exactly constitutes a station being called "mainline express"? I'm the first to admit that I am not sure.

Are they Express stations that work mainline planes every now and then or what?

:unsure:

 

[deltawatch]

If we use go-fares I think you could see three mainline flights ORF-LGA. Two ORF-BOS. Two ORF-JAX. One ORF-MCO. A couple ORF-PHL. A couple ORF-CLT, with lots of RJ's in between.

RIC could see three RIC-LGA. Two RIC-BOS. Two RIC-MCO. One RIC-MIA. A couple RIC-PHL. A couple RIC-CLT, and lots of RJ's in between.

I expect you will see some pretty good direct one stoppers like RIC-BOS-YYZ. And ORF-PHL-SAN. RJ service from both cities to CLT and PHL will be frequent.

I agree small markets like ILM and PNS will go express, don't think you will see that in EWR or GSO. Both huge markets in the heart of U country.

Go-fares are the ticket, mweiss you forgot the Southwest effect, people that never fly will start showing up, loads will sore. Will need more aircraft soon...

 

[robbedagain]

What exactly constitutes a station being called "mainline express"? I'm the first to admit that I am not sure.

Are they Express stations that work mainline planes every now and then or what?

:unsure:

i work in a mainline express city and we work 1 mainline plane a day everyday outbound to clt. the top scale after 12 yrs is 13.00 an hr and we handle a lot of express flts as well as the new emb 170 starting next week. it is not fun to work for the mainline express and then have to hear that more concessions are coming.
some of the people in my city went from 23. an hr down to 13 an hr if a 10.oo dollar savings aint enough to help then i have no idea what is. mainline express is where the company can operate up to but no more than 2 jets a day and still pay you 13.00 an hr if there is 3 jets you are classified as mainline city. unfotruantly we had 5 or 6 jet diverted last week and a few commuters but at a cost of only 13 an hr

 

[ITRADE]

From a passenger's standpoint, I'm failing to see why this is sad. Having more O&D flights and less connecting headaches seems like a win, unless I'm missing something.

Yah, if the frequency increases, the business types are going to like it.

 

[Rob]

... only 25% of the mainline fleet is used to feed the hubs in September? ...

Wasn't this 25% number a reporter's interpretation - NOT a company release?

I simply don't believe it. The numbers don't work even if the company scrapped CLT as well as PIT. It's a misrepresentation ginned up by some numerically illiterate reporter.

 

[morepower]

Rob:

I think you hit it on the head. US has already sold seats for a great number of flights in Sept. Re-accommodating these passengers would be a monumental task if we cut our hub departures in half over the next three months.

If the point-to-point model does more forward, I think January, after the holidays are over, would be more realistic for the start of implementation.

 

[Air conditioned]

i work in a mainline express city and we work 1 mainline plane a day everyday outbound to clt. the top scale after 12 yrs is 13.00 an hr and we handle a lot of express flts as well as the new emb 170 starting next week. it is not fun to work for the mainline express and then have to hear that more concessions are coming.
some of the people in my city went from 23. an hr down to 13 an hr if a 10.oo dollar savings aint enough to help then i have no idea what is. mainline express is where the company can operate up to but no more than 2 jets a day and still pay you 13.00 an hr if there is 3 jets you are classified as mainline city. unfotruantly we had 5 or 6 jet diverted last week and a few commuters but at a cost of only 13 an hr

robbedagain,

Thanks for the explanation. Are there lots of mailine express cities or just a few?
I can't believe that some of your coworkers had to take a $10 an hour pay cut ($23 down to $13) after twenty some years. That really sucks. Are there plans in the works to make more cities mainline express? :huh:

 

[robbedagain]

robbedagain,

Thanks for the explanation. Are there lots of mailine express cities or just a few?
I can't believe that some of your coworkers had to take a $10 an hour pay cut ($23 down to $13) after twenty some years. That really sucks. Are there plans in the works to make more cities mainline express? :huh:

as of now there is avp abe pwm dtw cle srq i dont know if there are any that i missed but this is what i know. unfotrunately no one knows yet if there will be any more cities added. i would suspect that however, the mainline express will probably become mid atlantic airways cities.

 

[apofurlough]

BTV is also mainline express and I am also sure more will follow.