Be Careful What You Wish For.
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Wondering from both sides why there is such a visceral reaction whenever PIT is mentioned.
Seriously.
Seriously.
Why do the non PIT people have such strong opinions?
- Thread starter Be Careful What You Wish For.
- Start date
songbirdstew
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Bottom line w/ me is the disaster that is PHL....
If PHL could run the way the PIT base/airport did in it's past life w/ it's 3000 F/As,1500 pilots, 450+ flights and who knows how many ticket agents, CSAs mechanics, rampers, my apologies to anyone else I missed.................... then I would have no problem with them moving all the time to PHL.
However, PHL is a nightmare for employee and passenger alike. I wish we had count of how many vacations, weddings, business trips, funerals that US messed up because the pax connected through PHL....if PHL ran like PIT used to then I would have no problem w/ PIT being downsized the way it has been.
One of these days PHL will implode on itself as it somewhat has already for example w/ the Christmas meltdown of 2004 and the March Spring Break SHARES debacle of 2007....and that's just counting the HUGE news worthy meltdowns.
In addition, I think a major argument that will dominate this thread is the fact that SW and others have moved in to PIT , taken the routes we abandoned and made them profitable...just like US let them do in BWI. We're all just sick of watching bad management at US bend over and then wonder what just poked them in the rear.
Just my opinion---which of course I have being based in PIT
If PHL could run the way the PIT base/airport did in it's past life w/ it's 3000 F/As,1500 pilots, 450+ flights and who knows how many ticket agents, CSAs mechanics, rampers, my apologies to anyone else I missed.................... then I would have no problem with them moving all the time to PHL.
However, PHL is a nightmare for employee and passenger alike. I wish we had count of how many vacations, weddings, business trips, funerals that US messed up because the pax connected through PHL....if PHL ran like PIT used to then I would have no problem w/ PIT being downsized the way it has been.
One of these days PHL will implode on itself as it somewhat has already for example w/ the Christmas meltdown of 2004 and the March Spring Break SHARES debacle of 2007....and that's just counting the HUGE news worthy meltdowns.
In addition, I think a major argument that will dominate this thread is the fact that SW and others have moved in to PIT , taken the routes we abandoned and made them profitable...just like US let them do in BWI. We're all just sick of watching bad management at US bend over and then wonder what just poked them in the rear.
Just my opinion---which of course I have being based in PIT
Bottom line w/ me is the disaster that is PHL....
If PHL could run the way the PIT base/airport did in it's past life w/ it's 3000 F/As,1500 pilots, 450+ flights and who knows how many ticket agents, CSAs mechanics, rampers, my apologies to anyone else I missed.................... then I would have no problem with them moving all the time to PHL.
However, PHL is a nightmare for employee and passenger alike. I wish we had count of how many vacations, weddings, business trips, funerals that US messed up because the pax connected through PHL....if PHL ran like PIT used to then I would have no problem w/ PIT being downsized the way it has been.
One of these days PHL will implode on itself as it somewhat has already for example w/ the Christmas meltdown of 2004 and the March Spring Break SHARES debacle of 2007....and that's just counting the HUGE news worthy meltdowns.
In addition, I think a major argument that will dominate this thread is the fact that SW and others have moved in to PIT , taken the routes we abandoned and made them profitable...just like US let them do in BWI. We're all just sick of watching bad management at US bend over and then wonder what just poked them in the rear.
Just my opinion---which of course I have being based in PIT
Good post! We help make other airlines profitable.
flybynite
Veteran
I think I read somewhere that the CEO for Southwest stated that the secret of thier success was USairways abandoning routes and cities.
Someone correct me if I'm wrong.
Someone correct me if I'm wrong.
JAMAKE1
Veteran
If PHL could run the way the PIT base/airport did in it's past life w/ it's 3000 F/As,1500 pilots, 450+ flights and who knows how many ticket agents, CSAs mechanics, rampers, my apologies to anyone else I missed.................... then I would have no problem with them moving all the time to PHL.
SW and others have moved in to PIT , taken the routes we abandoned and made them profitable...
Just my opinion---which of course I have being based in PIT
Let's just say, you had no emotional ties to PIT. You don't reside there. You didn't grow up there. You've never even traveled through there. Let's just say that you're a revenue management analyst that has to decide how to best optimally maximize US' limited resources (number of aircraft, for example), so that the company's bottom line (net income) is maximized. You, as a revenue management analyst will understand, having looked at past revenue data, passenger purchasing habits, load factors, O&D numbers, etc.; that PHL, in spite of poor connecting facilities, customer service breakdowns, chronic ATC delays, and whether problems, overwhelmingly produces the greatest amount of revenue premium compared to any other city that your company serves. What are you going to do? You are going to allocate those resources to the part of your company's operations, that yield the greatest return to the company's bottom line, net income. PHL is geographically situated in an area with a large population base in which to draw from. PIT is not. PHL produces far greater O&D traffic numbers than PIT does, in addition to connecting traffic. US, historically, was never right-sized ever since acquiring Piedmont back in the late 1980's, to achieve a route network that is/was strategically well balanced. With the large operation at DCA, the close proximity to PHL, it probably made sense to close the BWI hub when US' cost structure was disproportionately higher than Southwest's. BWI was pehaps, a very effective place in which to situate a hub operation when US wasn't part of the equation (with nearby hubs in PIT, and later PHL). It is difficult to compare Southwest to US because SWA operates one aircraft type over mostly point-to-point routes. It's apples and oranges. If you consider the different fleet types that US has to operate and maintain; the costs associated with operating PIT as a traditionally east-west connecting point, the different products that US offers to different customers, one can probably see how the efficiencies that are built into SWA's operation, allow for them to make their PIT/BWI operations profitable, when US could not. It is not personal, it is business. There, I am finished bashing PIT.
JAMAKE1
Veteran
CynicalResAgent
Veteran
I think EMBFA must always loose her sudoku when flying thru PIT or something.
No conspiracy. The PIT pulldown, however, is strictly personal. AND political. PIT reeeeeealy makes money hand over fist.
:mf_boff:
Travelpro72
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Well what I find interesting is while there may be some "unprofitable" flying WHAT would make it profitable for the worlds largest "LCC"? I mean really? Too much competition so you can't cram the high fares down the publics throats anymore? So this pulling out to me basically seem like Usairways doing what they have ALWAYS done best. RUN AND HIDE. I'm not debating the issue at hand BUT to say that this didn't have anything POLITICAL behind it in the beginning is a joke. Also while not a HUB nobody seems to rationally give a reason why this company can't find a way to relieve PHL a bit with sending some connections somewhere else be it express OR mainline. The only thing that makes sense to me is when someone said that this may be all Republic (gagging) flying in the future doing business in PIT on the cheap. As for the word POLITICAL, it is public knowledge that there was some REAL personality issues and big mouths that couldn't keep shut long enough to hammer out a deal successfully. I think this company AND Allegheny county were both at fault. It is what it is though.
That's not PIT specific. Look out the window taxiing into PHL. More Republic planes parked at the mainline gates than mainline ones sometimes. Same deal in CLT except it's Mesa. RP has 30 175s coming for a total of almost 60 aircraft. Scope allows 93 aircraft of that size operated by outside companies under our brand. 93 aircraft is a lot- that's an airline's worth of flying. To put that in perspective, America West had 140 aircraft. JetBlue has about 100...
Travelpro72
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If anything we can all agree that the PIT situation has been written on the wall for a VERY long time. Whether anyone agrees with the pulldown/closure is beside the point. Some though are still stunned when they announce anything. My only problem with this is that I don't believe they know how to run a company. That includes all of east and west. Oh wait we're ONE now. 🙄
