Is time running out on DCA, LGA or BOS

[CynicalResAgent]

Boston and DCA have approximately 70 mainline flights a day each, with many RON ac. About half as many as PHL, which has about 140 mainline flights a day. Don't know about DCA but hotels in Boston are very expensive. Probably cheaper to keep a base than to overnight all those crews. LGA on the other hand is primarily an express station. Parker mentioned in a recent crew meeting that NY isn't going to grow and isn't a huge money maker. If they do close another base LGA would probably go next.

That's seriously ridiculous. How can they not make money in LGA. It's really convenient to Manhattan, granted you cannot operate transatlantic ops from there but still c'mon They can't say NYC doesn't generate enough O/D traffic, if they do the better shut the place down and sell off the assets.

 

[FlyUs]

That's seriously ridiculous. How can they not make money in LGA. It's really convenient to Manhattan, granted you cannot operate transatlantic ops from there but still c'mon They can't say NYC doesn't generate enough O/D traffic, if they do the better shut the place down and sell off the assets.

I didn't say NY doesn't make money. According to Parker, NY is not a huge money maker as far as expanding mainline flying from there. Check out the recent CLT crew meeting on the hub where Parker addresses this issue.

 

[ClueByFour]

You can expect this behavior from US just about anywhere it encounters competition. PIT is "unprofitable" because US can no longer gouge the eyeballs out of the PIT travelers and their wallets. The sandcastle's own internal propaganda confirms it.

BWI, anyone? The Florida shuttle? The entire PSA network?

Time is running out anywhere that US can't gouge by virtue of no competition. Bank it.

 

[Travels2mch]

Well of course you're right. Pittsburgh never ever ever had any delays, and you live there, and the terminal is gorgeous, so it should regain hub status in today's industry climate. All of the above will make up for any of it's falults. You'll have to forgive me, I don't know much about this industry.

That's the smartest thing you've said all week.

 

[etops1]

listen guys . in this industry nothing is for sure. NO base is safe. not BOS,LGA,DCA,PHX, LAS,PHL,orCLT.
anything can happen. we all saw it in last weeks announcemnt. if 5 yrs ago you told a pit based f/a or pilot that pit was gonna close in 2008 they would have laughed so hard at your ass. it's a damn shame but it's just business.

 

[JAMAKE1]

Well of course you're right. Pittsburgh never ever ever had any delays, and you live there, and the terminal is gorgeous, so it should regain hub status in today's industry climate. All of the above will make up for any of it's falults. You'll have to forgive me, I don't know much about this industry.

EMBFA: You're too rich...

 

[JAMAKE1]

How can this be when they pay their employee's so much more than LCC? Like BWI, we gave it to SW. Like all of the West Coast after PSA, we gave it to SW. Like Piedmont with the Florida Shuttle, we gave it away. Why do you suppose, the only thing this airline knows how to do is give things that make you money away?

I will speak to this: USAir's first mistake was that after they acquired PSA and then Piedmont, management (under Edwin Colodny...God love him) brought PSA's and PI's employees' levels of pay up to USAir's higher pay scale. Of course the rationale behind this was to create (buy) labor peace. Unfortunately however, the merger thrust USAir into the big leagues as a major national competitor. Having been a traditionally regional airline concentrated in the Northeast, US management quickly developed indigestion, having acquired and merged two airlines within a relatively short period of time. The higher pay scales that could be traditionally offset by higher revenue premiums from monopolized markets that US long enjoyed from PIT (you know, gouging the business traveler with a $600 fare from PIT to ABE, for example) quickly eroded as USAir's business model transformed. In other words, USAir wasn't able to command the same revenue premium (enjoyed in PIT) in its (then) broader markets and the business model became unsustainable. Shortly following the PSA integration, there were added costs as well with the introduction of First Class cabins into the former PSA fleet, as well as into the USAir fleet. (You may recall, that prior to Piedmont coming along, US was a single class cabin operation). Additionally, there were newly inherited operating inefficiencies such as trying to integrate and operate a combined fleet consisting of BAe-146's, DC-9's, 727's, F-28's, 737-200/300/400's, 767's, MD-80's, and for a short time, BAC-111's (they were on their way out), in addition to the wholly owned Express carriers' fleets (Henson, Allegheny Commuter, etc.).

Enter Southwest. Southwest blew into the Bay Area to L.A. corridor in 1989 with ONE aircraft type and lots of frequencies (as AA was well on its way with their own dismantling of the former Air Cal routes). Furthermore, US management sent the PSA MD-80's back east and started operating PSA's traditional west coast flights on routings such as MDT-PIT-SAN-OAK-SEA or PIT-CMH-LAX-SFO-RNO...in 737-300's. Well guess what? When the winter weather in the East went south, it threw the intra-California operation into disarray. So USAir found itself with bad case of indigestion...with bloated labor costs, and operational inefficiencies trying to compete against the fun-loving hyper-efficient Southwest model of high frequencies, low fares, and a ONE aircraft-type operation. It was a recipe for (financial) disaster. Of course, the final nail in the coffin was George Bush Sr.'s war in the Persian Gulf (Wars run in their family, but I digress...) and a spike in jet fuel prices. Well Stud, you know the rest of that story...

The ONE problem remained however: USAir retreated back east, but management never really learned how to (or was slow to adapt) to creating an efficient, cost-effective airline business model. The hodge-podge fleet remained until Stephen Wolf came along. USAir(ways) still suffered from a route network that was never strategically well-balanced or right-sized. With a sizable operation at DCA and now a full fledged international hub in nearby PHL, it most likely made sense to pull down the BWI hub, once SWA penetrated its way eastward and into Florida. I know that this history lesson is getting rather long-winded, but just to conclude, Mr. Safety Stud; the nature of USAirways' business model makes it more difficult to compete against good ole SWA, mostly because of the inherent efficiencies that are built into their (SWA's) business model: They aren't as bogged down with costs such as having a dual-class cabin product, frequent flier club rooms in its airport locations, and most importantly, they have remained true to their original operating niche with ONE aircraft type. These inherent cost-savings allow them to compensate their employees at a higher rate of pay while also at the same time, allowing them to operate in their markets profitably (like BWI and PIT) when USAirways cannot.

Capisci?

 

[EMBFA]

What a load of nonsense. Flights to all of those places were PACKED. Southwest is going to announce a major operation at PIT with 800 flights a day. My friend works at the jewelery shop in the AirMall and says the announcement will be later this week.

 

[JAMAKE1]

 

[perserverance]

listen guys . in this industry nothing is for sure. NO base is safe. not BOS,LGA,DCA,PHX, LAS,PHL,orCLT.
anything can happen. we all saw it in last weeks announcemnt. if 5 yrs ago you told a pit based f/a or pilot that pit was gonna close in 2008 they would have laughed so hard at your ass. it's a damn shame but it's just business.

Phl has and is always safe..it makes $$ whether you want to believe it or not. It serves
New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware , Maryland and New York..They don't need to fix
it ..it will always make money...Imagine if they fixed it....


Thanks

 

[etops1]

Phl has and is always safe..it makes $$ whether you want to believe it or not. It serves
New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware , Maryland and New York..They don't need to fix
it ..it will always make money...Imagine if they fixed it....
Thanks

oh i agree with you 100% !! i am based there. love the base love the people but i am just being realistic. you never know in this industry how things turn up.

 

[donttouchthebeauty]

Exactly, if it was so "about a United merger", why would they close crew bases in three cities where the merger partner has existing ones? Antitrust? The government couldn't care less if we operated our three hubs from a single crew base in Guam. It's about market presence and overlap, not where an employee begins thier workday. Anyhow, UAL's operations in New York and Boston are completely different than ours. Thier Dulles operation is more similar to PHL than DCA.

And again, it never ceases to amaze me how people don't get the difference between a crew base and a hub. They are not neccessarily dependent on each other. Flight Attendants in particular seem to think the whole operation and business plan revolves around F/A

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you are so right on, Why is it that FA's thinkthey are the core? Anywho, as far as UAL crew bases in DC NY and Bos. Well, your right IAD is so different from DCA - It is our PHL, JFK and BOS have nothing but SFO and LAX and ORD and DEN also an occasional IAD from BOS... The NRT and LHR was tossed last year out of JFK. I think we have around 300 flight attendants in our BOS base and around the same in JFK, maybe a few more... Probably the reason companies keep these open is due to the fact that it is expensive and the weather is often very bad and things change fast, especially in JFK, where a single raindrop changes the world. However, if USEast and UAL merge, It would make a handsome BOS JFK-LGA and DCA-IAD operation. UAL doesn't even have a pilot base in BOS.

 

[SKY HIGH]

My friend works at the jewelery shop in the AirMall and says the announcement will be later this week.

sky high states: Impressive "Source"!




ONLY STATING OPINIONS

 

[safety stud]

sky high states: Impressive "Source"!


ONLY STATING OPINIONS

You know PIT has some of the best shopping at any airport in the country...
RRRRIIIIGGGGHHHHTTTT.....

 

[SKY HIGH]

Boston and DCA have approximately 70 mainline flights a day each, with many RON ac. LGA on the other hand is primarily an express station.

sky high states: approx. 47 MAINLINE flts operate out of New York City daily. (source: usairways.com)

only stating opinions