ISP-DCA Gone! Shame

[Art at ISP]

I know, 700, and they have ISP-DCA on request, but there's no competition except for ISP-BWI on WN, so this one may or may not happen. 
 
I'd gladly accept ISP-CLT in place of it however

 

[700UW]

Well Art,
 
If the communities get behind US/AA it will happen, the DOJ said US/AA could grow at DCA, but they want to approve or disapprove if the new AA gets more slots.
 
If it is all about competition then it should be a yes in my eyes.
 
Next time through let me know or I might be coming up and staying in West Hempstead soon.

 

[WorldTraveler]

Art,
DOT data shows that ISP-DCA for US carried several dozen local passengers per day but WN carried far more to BWI and actually got higher average fares than US did to DCA.

Further, about half of US' ISP-DCA passengers connected on to other destinations and much of them were cities served by WN who in general got higher average fares than US did.

US' service to PHL is almost entirely connections but the average fares are higher.

Thus, it appears, that WN's size at BWI and the increased connections that WN can offer there overcomes the advantage of DCA while US does better at PHL where its hub is larger.

One of the effects of the slot divestiture is that US cannot support as many small cities and lower yielding connecting traffic because they will have to focus more attention on protecting the local market where fares will go down in markets that low fare carriers start new service.

I doubt that the economics of starting ISP-DCA can be favorable again even if US obtained new slots or new AA adds significantly more capacity to existing mainline flights and upgraded DCA-ISP to a larger aircraft to accommodate more connecting passengers that otherwise flow over BWI.

 

[700UW]

Flight Cuts out of BOS:
 

As of November 1, US Airways Express will no longer be flying from BOS-BUF/MDT/PIT/RIC/SYR/ROC. This is reflected in the US schedule online.
 

 

[Art at ISP]

Perhaps there will be a further cutback in express flying in general. I wonder how much longer the buzz buckets can hold out (Dash 8).

 

[cynic]

Flight Cuts out of BOS:

While I'm not surprised to hear that, I still see flights listed in November.

 

[FWAAA]

WT is right about the DOT fare survey data.   The difference between the average fares of US on ISP-DCA and WN on ISP-BWI is quite striking.   I wonder if part of the WN advantage is due to customer preference for a 737 over the Devil's Chariot, the crappy CRJ200?   Full-size overhead bins on the 737 means you never have to hand over your rollaboard to be placed in the checked bag hold and then you don't have to wait 10 minutes to half an hour to retrieve your carryon once you get to DCA.   The E175s feature full-sized overhead bins and thus don't require that all rollaboards be relinquished.   I'd gladly pay an extra $20 to $30 for that benefit, but not to fly to BWI instead of DCA.    

 

[dash8roa]

I respectfully disagree with Cynic. Based on my experiences, there was quite a bit of O&D traffic besides my family on that route. I'm not an expert and don't know the exact numbers, but I'd say there is some value to the route when they did re-apply to serve it again. I hope it goes through, perhaps with a 170!
 
And ISP could be very well utilized and profitable if properly marketed. One of the main issues is the town of Islip has no clue how to operate and market it, with its proximity to NYC. HPN seems to do okay, perhaps they could learn something there. 

US has fewer DCA slots now and it would be counterproductive to use them on small aircraft such as the Dash's and 50 seaters. They did that with the LGA slots, loads of Dash's wasting valuble slots while other carriers used large RJ's and mainline aircraft.
If a city cannot fill a 70 seat or higher aircraft, they always can connect via a hub airport. DCA and LGA service is not a right, those limited slot airports are to handle the largest aircraft per slot to accommodate the most of the flying public.