Where Next Us

[USA320Pilot]

Cosmo:

Cosmo asked: "You said five cities would be added from PHL in 2005, yet you mentioned only four specifically -- VIE, OSL, CPH and BHX. Do you know which city is #5?"

USA320Pilot answers: No, but the information above was told to me personally by the highest source in the company a few weeks ago. He also said the company wants to add B767-200s to the fleet that may be available shortly on the cheap.

Respectfully,

USA320Pilot

 

[Bud8EE]

I thought in an article not to long back that Stockholm was the most likely canidate after Glasgow.

 

[Piedmont4US]

Just when you think we were not going to get another Boeing. But then again we need those 767s, as the 330s will take forever to get here.

 

[ringmaruf]

With LOT Polish joining, how about PHL-WAW? It would be a good jumping off point for people traveling to Eastern Europe.

I think WAW would be a terrific choice for a few reasons. US would be the only American carrier to fly there. Also, LOT wants to add more service to the US (it was looking at PHL, MIA, and I think somewhere else). But it is not allowed to add any service, because the FAA downgraded Poland's aviation authority to Category 2. So there's some pent-up demand there, and since we'd surely put LOT's code on the flights, they would help fill it up.

As for Continental at EWR, they do fly to some destinations that US would not be successful in. But US has been and is more successful than CO to Germany, for example.

 

[DorkDriver]

WAW is too far north to serve as a gate-way for eastern europe (and LOT isn't that great of an airline).

PRG is perfect for connecting to Eastern Europe - not just geograhicallhy but also that Czech Airlines has great coverage (& service) - unfortunately OK is not a part of *

Next best option is VIE and Austrian Airlines group - not too bad geographically and decent coverage.
One problem is that VIE has the highest (or close to it) landing fees in all of Europe - and hence the success of SkyEurope operating out of BTS - some 30 miles away - but lets not digress.

Saying WAW is too far north is like saying CLT is too far south. I just don't think that is as big a factor in Europe as here in the US. Poland is a growing economy that will join the EU shortly providing even more business ops for US companies.

What do you mean LOT is not that good of an airline? For the past three years LOT has won the "Best Eastern Euro Airline" award. I just flew on them in December in Business Class and the FAs service, food (quality and selection), and cleanliness of the cabin was by far better than U's 767 product. Not to mention that LOT does not charge for beer in Coach! LOT is the national airline of Poland and you can tell that the employees are proud to represent their country.

Like someone else said, U would be the only US carrier to service WAW. It would also be a good PR move for * to have the two newest members code sharing between their hubs, not to mention the demand is there as business in Eastern Europe will grow like crazy during the last half of this decade. One other point I'd like to make is that some US military bases will be moved from Germany to Poland increasing government travel to Poland.