hubs for American and US Airways will see a 25 percent to 50 percent loss of connecting traffic?

[zethya]

Another glaring illustration of inaccurate Journalism:

http://www.forbes.co...artner=yahootix

AA has Zero international service out of PHL. He may in fact have PHL and JFK reversed in the entire article.

In case Forbes changes this, this is the quote:

"......American operates several international flights out of Philadelphia, which is already a busy airport for US Airways. So the merged company could move flights to a more major hub such as JFK, said Pincavage.

George Hobica, president of the consumer airfares web site Airfarewatchdog.com, agreed. Philadelphia is close to JFK yet isn’t as international. If American de-emphasized its presence there it would leave room for smaller players, such as Alaska Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, JetBlue Airways and Spirit, to take up new routes............"

 

[FWAAA]

Another glaring illustration of inaccurate Journalism:

Agreed. There's a lot of nonsense being printed this week, like these great examples:

Smaller airlines could also pick up routes at New York’s LaGuardia. It’s typically an overcrowded hub and the newly merged major carrier will likely shed some gates there, Pincavage added.

This guy is a financial advisor who apparently knows nothing about US and AA at LGA. With just 32% of the slots at LGA, there will be no need to shed any slots, and if AA sheds no slots, it sure as hell won't be giving up any gates.

Alison Smith, a partner at the law firm McDermott Will & Emery, agreed that LaGuardia is “infamous for being a slot-constrained airport” and that airlines like JetBlue and Southwest are likely candidates to pick up new routes there.

She should stick to what she knows (perhaps law?). B6 and WN may pick up some of the DCA slots, as divestitures there are a given, but again, with just 32% of LGA, AA won't be forced to give up any LGA assets (nor would it do so voluntarily).

I hate to say it, but Mike Boyd, Helane Becker, Ray Neidl and Jamie Baker might have been better sources to quote, although they were probably busy talking to actual journalists on Thursday.

 

[700UW]

http://www.journalnow.com/news/state_region/article_d0cc2e50-7774-11e2-af67-001a4bcf6878.html

 

[necigrad]

Well hell. If Parker says CLT isn't going ot be eliminated as a hub it must be true. I mean, it's not like he didn't say there would be no layoffs the last merger.

 

[usa1]

CLT has been a hub for many many years ..... an Eastern Airlines hub before Piedmont and US Airways. AA tried to establish a mid-Atlantic hub in RDU. Nothing really changed?

 

[wings396]

I believe that CLT will prosper and grow as a result of this merger as well, but only time will prove all of the nay- sayers wrong. MIA serves a different purpose than CLT, but some won't accept that. It was quite evident that DL had an interest in both DFW & MIA even with their massive ATL operation. While CLT is not on par with ATL in size, it basically serves the same purpose for a different airline.

 

[usa1]

A little off topic ..... But here's some Vintage Charlotte footage ..... Notice how Sharpe the ramp crew looks. No outsourcing back then!! Piedmont required full ramp uniform compliance at all times, across the system, right down to shoe, sock and belt color. They stressed to the rampers that they were a vital part of customer service and when a passenger looks out his or her window they judge an airline for service and safety by what they see. Good ole days!

 

[nycbusdriver]

Parker had nothing to do with the retreat in BWI, that happened years before he came into the picture.

It was Schofield who gave away BWI, California (the PSA stronghold) and Florida (Piedmont's extremely successful Florida Shuttle) to SWA.

At the time, I think it was called: "Cool Northern Efficiency."

 

[nycbusdriver]

HP has been battling WN at PHX since the beginning, and US has the largest share of that market. Why quit now?

Why? Because that's the way we've always done it at Allegheny/USAir.

We original Piedmonsters were fond of repeating that with great disdain in the late 1980's as our carrier was disassembled with what Gordon Bethune called USAir's "Banana management." Thankfully, those particular USAir managers are mostly long gone.

It would not surprise me in the least if Parker turned tail and ran from PHX the way he did with LAS. The New American really doesn't need that hub, and it will quickly begin to underperform once the schedules are meshed. Once the underperformance becomes the norm, the pull back will inevitably occur. PHX will be the next PIT.

PHL will likely get downsized, but may survive as a hub simply due to the number of people who live within comfortable driving distance to PHL. The O&D traffic might very well keep PHL afloat as hub, even though the O&D don't have direct influence the connecting operations. The connecting operation can be marginally profitable if the O&D can consistently bring enough revenue to keep a hub profitable. (That's why hubs are in big cities, and not in Enid, Oklahoma.) That was what killed PIT (along from the exorbitant passenger fees). PHX, no matter what the Wikipedia statistics say, does not have enough people to sustain a really good O&D operation because of SWA presence skimming off a lot of the relatively (to PHL) small number of people who live in the area. Metro PHX is big, but once you cross the civilization line there is nothing but cactus and rattlesnakes. That doesn't occur in the PHL area.

Original Piedmont's growth of CLT in the early days of deregulation was visionary. The city of Charlotte, and it's metro area, can thank that airline hub for its own vibrant health and growth since Piedmont hubbed Douglas Airport in the early 1980's. Now there is likely enough commercial O&D there to keep the hub alive in a symbiotic relationship. And, let us again remember, that American Airlines tried desperately to build its own hub in the area...twice! The AA Raleigh-Durham and Nashville hubs never panned out simply due to the strong US presence in CLT. But, someone at American (likely named Bob Crandall) thought a hub in that geographical area made sense. It probably still does.

 

[nycbusdriver]

Another glaring illustration of inaccurate Journalism:

http://www.forbes.co...artner=yahootix

AA has Zero international service out of PHL. He may in fact have PHL and JFK reversed in the entire article.

My guess is that this guy might have gone to a website, maybe AA's, and saw some oneWorld flights branded as American Airlines. In that case, he saw that American has two daily flights to London Heathrow from PHL. Of course, the flights are operated by British Airways, but without a closer look, one might miss that important detail.

A little off topic ..... But here's some Vintage Charlotte footage ..... Notice how Sharpe the ramp crew looks. No outsourcing back then!! Piedmont required full ramp uniform compliance at all times, across the system, right down to shoe, sock and belt color. They stressed to the rampers that they were a vital part of customer service and when a passenger looks out his or her window they judge an airline for service and safety by what they see. Good ole days!

Piedmont also had another rule for the ramp workers: No ramp-uniformed personnel on the concourses or in the terminal where passengers could see them. I was flabbergasted the first time I went into the old PIT terminal and saw USAir rampers, bedecked in whatever the hell they felt like wearing, crawling all over the concourse.

 

[wings396]

Just to clarify the comment about not being in the terminal as a ramper at PI, you are correct to an extent. While hanging around in passenger areas was discouraged, it wasn't really off limits. You were required to be in a full proper uniform at all times when in public view, including when you were coming and going from your shift to the parking lot etc. There were many times when rampers went into the terminal to eat or meet up with friends that were traveling.