Clt-Fco going Seasonal

[Lloyds5]

Looks like Clt- Fco is going Seasonal this winter, this flight went from a 767 to a 330-200 4x a week, now it looks like it does not operate until March.
We all know Rome is a Seasonal Market but I m suprised that they upgauged the equipment and then dropped the route to Seasonal. Also, it is also puzzling to me that Charlotte- Us Airways super hub cannot support year round service to Rome. Clt- Paris is still in bookable 4x weekly in winter but am wondering if this flight is even supportable year round. Also, I ve been hearing some rumblings that US is looking at some more exotic routes form Philly i.e Istanbul, Cairo as wellas Clt- Gru(if deal approved) and may reinstate some of the service pulled down this year as TATL traffic recovers. Anybody else hearing same?

 

[USFlyer]

I wouldn't be too surprised about this. Using larger equiment during higher demand makes sense, as does dropping the route to seasonal. You can still get to FCO through PHL during the lower demand months.

 

[autofixer]

I think we have an aircraft shortage. One west 757 goes back to the leaser and east equipment and crew is going to have to fly one of the PHX-HNL this fall. Despite the east vs. west issues, that is utterly ridiculous. That 757 is coming off of something. If GRU is approved, the CLT-HNL aircraft will just shift to that route. Maybe that is the real reason for the cancellation of CLT-HNL? I guess when you are bundling LCC up for sale, you lose sight of actually operating the airline.

 

[a320av8r]

I think we have an aircraft shortage. One west 757 goes back to the leaser and east equipment and crew is going to have to fly one of the PHX-HNL this fall. Despite the east vs. west issues, that is utterly ridiculous. That 757 is coming off of something. If GRU is approved, the CLT-HNL aircraft will just shift to that route. Maybe that is the real reason for the cancellation of CLT-HNL? I guess when you are bundling LCC up for sale, you lose sight of actually operating the airline.

Actually, the west 757 retiring is one of the oldest ones in the inventory and the lease is up. It is being replaced by new A321's which can handle the domestic 757 routes just fine.
Aircraft are being routed more efficiently. CLT HNL has not been performing well so it is being dropped.
Not everything is a conspiracy.

 

[autofixer]

Actually, the west 757 retiring is one of the oldest ones in the inventory and the lease is up. It is being replaced by new A321's which can handle the domestic 757 routes just fine.
Aircraft are being routed more efficiently. CLT HNL has not been performing well so it is being dropped.
Not everything is a conspiracy.

Okay, I won't feel guilty flying PHX-HNL this fall.

 

[Lloyds5]

I think we have an aircraft shortage. One west 757 goes back to the leaser and east equipment and crew is going to have to fly one of the PHX-HNL this fall. Despite the east vs. west issues, that is utterly ridiculous. That 757 is coming off of something. If GRU is approved, the CLT-HNL aircraft will just shift to that route. Maybe that is the real reason for the cancellation of CLT-HNL? I guess when you are bundling LCC up for sale, you lose sight of actually operating the airline.

I dont think US intends to serve both Gig and Gru- I think gig goes away and that aircraft flies to gru if the slot swap is approved. Also the GIG route is not performing well with light loads and ultra low fares= Trashed yields. With lots of Envoy E savers of 1500RT and Economy Fares of 700r/t. Not sure if US could add a GIG tag to the GRU flight like UA does fron IAD.

 

[FutureUScapt]

Looks like Clt- Fco is going Seasonal this winter, this flight went from a 767 to a 330-200 4x a week, now it looks like it does not operate until March.
We all know Rome is a Seasonal Market but I m suprised that they upgauged the equipment and then dropped the route to Seasonal. Also, it is also puzzling to me that Charlotte- Us Airways super hub cannot support year round service to Rome. Clt- Paris is still in bookable 4x weekly in winter but am wondering if this flight is even supportable year round. Also, I ve been hearing some rumblings that US is looking at some more exotic routes form Philly i.e Istanbul, Cairo as wellas Clt- Gru(if deal approved) and may reinstate some of the service pulled down this year as TATL traffic recovers. Anybody else hearing same?

Where are getting this from/Where is your source?

The reason I asked is because I see a 1.5 month hiatus in service from 4Jan11 - 19Feb11, but aside from that period, SHARES still shows availability. It looks like the eastbound flights operate Tu/Th/Sa from 31Oct10 - 16Dec10. There is then daily service for the holiday season from 17Dec10 - 03Jan11, and then Tu/Th/Sa service resumes again on 19Feb11. All flights are operated by an A332, though it looks like a B767 will be used during the month of Oct (possibly related to the last 2 A332s being taken out of service to have the new Envoy installed?).

I think you are right that we will see some of the suspended PHL service resumed for 2011, particularly MXP and ARN (PHL-LGW will not be back). I think that IST and CAI could be potential "exotic" destinations (particularly because of the added benefit of having *A feed on the other end) though those are likely a few years away as US waits for 1) the economy to fully rebound and 2) more A332s to be delivered.

I dont think US intends to serve both Gig and Gru- I think gig goes away and that aircraft flies to gru if the slot swap is approved. Also the GIG route is not performing well with light loads and ultra low fares= Trashed yields. With lots of Envoy E savers of 1500RT and Economy Fares of 700r/t. Not sure if US could add a GIG tag to the GRU flight like UA does fron IAD.

You apparently like to continually point out the fact that GIG is not doing so well, but I'll remind you again that the vast majority of new international flights are not profitable out of the gate and that they take time and effort to develop. It is not profitable yet, but that it not surprising to anyone. They are doing more and more to market to the Brazil originating traffic and just recently (finally) created a Brazilian/Portugues version of usairways.com. BTW, the loads were/are not nearly as bad as you were suggesting and they are improving as summer nears.

Andrew Nocella reiterated again the other day that the plan was to apply for 7 more Brazilian frequencies to operate CLT-GIG alongside CLT-GRU, but that it required the slot transaction being approved by the deadline date to apply the additional Brazilian frequencies which has already passed. He stated that they are still looking for other ways to obtain more frequencies (3 of the 14 were not applied for so US could apply for those at a later date, but the presumably need a total of 7 in order to effectively compete).

 

[Lloyds5]

Where are getting this from/Where is your source?

The reason I asked is because I see a 1.5 month hiatus in service from 4Jan11 - 19Feb11, but aside from that period, SHARES still shows availability. It looks like the eastbound flights operate Tu/Th/Sa from 31Oct10 - 16Dec10. There is then daily service for the holiday season from 17Dec10 - 03Jan11, and then Tu/Th/Sa service resumes again on 19Feb11. All flights are operated by an A332, though it looks like a B767 will be used during the month of Oct (possibly related to the last 2 A332s being taken out of service to have the new Envoy installed?).

I think you are right that we will see some of the suspended PHL service resumed for 2011, particularly MXP and ARN (PHL-LGW will not be back). I think that IST and CAI could be potential "exotic" destinations (particularly because of the added benefit of having *A feed on the other end) though those are likely a few years away as US waits for 1) the economy to fully rebound and 2) more A332s to be delivered.


You apparently like to continually point out the fact that GIG is not doing so well, but I'll remind you again that the vast majority of new international flights are not profitable out of the gate and that they take time and effort to develop. It is not profitable yet, but that it not surprising to anyone. They are doing more and more to market to the Brazil originating traffic and just recently (finally) created a Brazilian/Portugues version of usairways.com. BTW, the loads were/are not nearly as bad as you were suggesting and they are improving as summer nears.

Andrew Nocella reiterated again the other day that the plan was to apply for 7 more Brazilian frequencies to operate CLT-GIG alongside CLT-GRU, but that it required the slot transaction being approved by the deadline date to apply the additional Brazilian frequencies which has already passed. He stated that they are still looking for other ways to obtain more frequencies (3 of the 14 were not applied for so US could apply for those at a later date, but the presumably need a total of 7 in order to effectively compete).

My source was shares as of last week it was not showing operating in Nov. Jan Feb and resuming in March- but you are right it is back in the system- US is schizophrenic with these chages- either you operate a flight or you dont these changes do little to help build a route. I agree routes take time to mature and become profitable but loads have been very light post Decemeber and the E Savers of 799RT economy and 1500RT have been frequent which tells me US is trying to spur demand- never have I seen so many. I dont know about yields but its a safe bet to assume with light Loads cheap fares
its not a pretty picture. However, I hear the TLV route is the most profitable in the system and it is less than 1 year old and US is a new entrant in that part of the world, so not all routes need years to mature, I just question wheather there is room for US in South America and is Clt able to compete with Atlanta and Miami for that business.

 

[flightattend21]

My source was shares as of last week it was not showing operating in Nov. Jan Feb and resuming in March- but you are right it is back in the system- US is schizophrenic with these chages- either you operate a flight or you dont these changes do little to help build a route. I agree routes take time to mature and become profitable but loads have been very light post Decemeber and the E Savers of 799RT economy and 1500RT have been frequent which tells me US is trying to spur demand- never have I seen so many. I dont know about yields but its a safe bet to assume with light Loads cheap fares
its not a pretty picture. However, I hear the TLV route is the most profitable in the system and it is less than 1 year old and US is a new entrant in that part of the world, so not all routes need years to mature, I just question wheather there is room for US in South America and is Clt able to compete with Atlanta and Miami for that business.

so if that is correct why is the company asking for more lodo's for july

 

[Lloyds5]

so if that is correct why is the company asking for more lodo's for july

Check shares it is suspended for a coupe of months than operates 3x per week for the remainder of the winter- more Lodos? Maybe they are planning to run more frequently or maybe MXP is coming back for next year as well