Charlotte would be new Delta’s No. 3 hub
Steve Harrison
US Airways plans to meet this week with Delta Air Lines executives and the airline’s unsecured creditors committee this week to discuss US Airways’s hostile takeover bid, an airline executive said today in Charlotte.
US Airways two weeks ago launched a hostile takeover bid of Delta, which is in Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Delta has said it doesn’t want a merger, but US Airways is targeting Delta’s creditors, who must approve Delta’s plan to come out of bankruptcy.
US Airways senior vice president Elise Eberwein said this morning that the airline is scheduled to meet with Delta and its creditors this week.
Eberwein, president Scott Kirby and other executives were in Charlotte Tuesday to drum up support for the merger, which would create the nation’s largest airline.
Charlotte will remain a “major hub†if US Airways and Delta merge because of the region’s lucrative business passengers, US Airways executives said during their first stop in Charlotte since the takeover attempt was announced two weeks ago.
The prospect of US Airways and Delta merging has raised questions about whether Charlotte/Douglas International Airport would remain a hub because Delta’s largest hub is less than 45 minutes flying time away, in Atlanta.
US Airways president Scott Kirby said Charlotte would be the “new Delta’s†third-largest hub – smaller than Atlanta and Philadelphia and larger than Cincinatti. Charlotte today is US Airways largest hub, slightly bigger than Philadelphia, its second-largest.
“Charlotte is a luge local market for us,†Kirby said. “It’s a banking center, and there is a lot of local demand. It’s not like Pittsburgh. Charlotte has a larger local market.â€
The greater Charlotte area has 2.1 million people, making it smaller than areas such as Pittsburgh and St. Louis, which were once large hubs before airlines slashed service. But Kirby said Charlotte is a key market because its business travelers are willing to pay for non-stop flights to cities in California and along the east coast.
“The amount of traffic at an airport is less important than the revenue,†Kirby said. “And Charlotte is disproportionately a business market.â€
Kirby said that on flights to New York City and other business centers, half of the seats are filled by passengers beginning or ending their trips in Charlotte.
US Airways announced on Nov. 15 a plan to take over Delta and keep that airline’s name. Delta management is fighting the plan, though US Airways is pitching the deal to the airline’s creditors, who must approve any Delta plan to come out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
US Airways said the biggest benefit to the new Delta would be its ability to cut capacity, allowing the airline to charge more for flights. The new airline would likely cut about 10 percent of its seats.
Kirby and other US Airways executives were in town today to meet with employees, mayor Pat McCrory and the editorial board of The Charlotte Observer. In a meeting at the newspaper, Kirby laid out his vision of Charlotte’s future in the new airline.
* US Airways has nine “banks†of flights into Charlotte today. A bank is when a group of planes lands, passengers switch planes, and the planes take off again. Some banks could be eliminated, Kirby said.
* There would be less frequent service to nearby cities such as Asheville. Because almost all of the passengers who fly from Charlotte to Asheville are connecting passengers, they could be routed through Atlanta.
* All 120 non-stops destinations would remain, including European flights to Frankfurt and London. But the airline might use smaller planes on some routes, as larger planes are switched to Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, which is more crowded.
Kirby said Atlanta’s congestion works in Charlotte’s favor. Even if the new airline attemped to dismantle the Charlotte hub and move it to Altanta, there wouldn’t be enough capacity there.
“If we closed Charlotte – which were not – you have created a huge void.â€
US Airways plans to meet this week with Delta Air Lines executives and the airline’s unsecured creditors committee to discuss US Airways’s hostile takeover bid.
Steve Harrison
US Airways plans to meet this week with Delta Air Lines executives and the airline’s unsecured creditors committee this week to discuss US Airways’s hostile takeover bid, an airline executive said today in Charlotte.
US Airways two weeks ago launched a hostile takeover bid of Delta, which is in Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Delta has said it doesn’t want a merger, but US Airways is targeting Delta’s creditors, who must approve Delta’s plan to come out of bankruptcy.
US Airways senior vice president Elise Eberwein said this morning that the airline is scheduled to meet with Delta and its creditors this week.
Eberwein, president Scott Kirby and other executives were in Charlotte Tuesday to drum up support for the merger, which would create the nation’s largest airline.
Charlotte will remain a “major hub†if US Airways and Delta merge because of the region’s lucrative business passengers, US Airways executives said during their first stop in Charlotte since the takeover attempt was announced two weeks ago.
The prospect of US Airways and Delta merging has raised questions about whether Charlotte/Douglas International Airport would remain a hub because Delta’s largest hub is less than 45 minutes flying time away, in Atlanta.
US Airways president Scott Kirby said Charlotte would be the “new Delta’s†third-largest hub – smaller than Atlanta and Philadelphia and larger than Cincinatti. Charlotte today is US Airways largest hub, slightly bigger than Philadelphia, its second-largest.
“Charlotte is a luge local market for us,†Kirby said. “It’s a banking center, and there is a lot of local demand. It’s not like Pittsburgh. Charlotte has a larger local market.â€
The greater Charlotte area has 2.1 million people, making it smaller than areas such as Pittsburgh and St. Louis, which were once large hubs before airlines slashed service. But Kirby said Charlotte is a key market because its business travelers are willing to pay for non-stop flights to cities in California and along the east coast.
“The amount of traffic at an airport is less important than the revenue,†Kirby said. “And Charlotte is disproportionately a business market.â€
Kirby said that on flights to New York City and other business centers, half of the seats are filled by passengers beginning or ending their trips in Charlotte.
US Airways announced on Nov. 15 a plan to take over Delta and keep that airline’s name. Delta management is fighting the plan, though US Airways is pitching the deal to the airline’s creditors, who must approve any Delta plan to come out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
US Airways said the biggest benefit to the new Delta would be its ability to cut capacity, allowing the airline to charge more for flights. The new airline would likely cut about 10 percent of its seats.
Kirby and other US Airways executives were in town today to meet with employees, mayor Pat McCrory and the editorial board of The Charlotte Observer. In a meeting at the newspaper, Kirby laid out his vision of Charlotte’s future in the new airline.
* US Airways has nine “banks†of flights into Charlotte today. A bank is when a group of planes lands, passengers switch planes, and the planes take off again. Some banks could be eliminated, Kirby said.
* There would be less frequent service to nearby cities such as Asheville. Because almost all of the passengers who fly from Charlotte to Asheville are connecting passengers, they could be routed through Atlanta.
* All 120 non-stops destinations would remain, including European flights to Frankfurt and London. But the airline might use smaller planes on some routes, as larger planes are switched to Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, which is more crowded.
Kirby said Atlanta’s congestion works in Charlotte’s favor. Even if the new airline attemped to dismantle the Charlotte hub and move it to Altanta, there wouldn’t be enough capacity there.
“If we closed Charlotte – which were not – you have created a huge void.â€
US Airways plans to meet this week with Delta Air Lines executives and the airline’s unsecured creditors committee to discuss US Airways’s hostile takeover bid.
