Merged Airline Faces Competition At Focus City

[wnbubbleboy]

They are adding nine flights and people said the samething about WN when they entered the West Coast and BWI markets, now look at them.

[post="289577"][/post]​

You are correct Sir!

I worked night shift at BWI in 94' . Our whole night crew which consisted of operations, customer service, and ramp could sit at one table at Howard's Subway just outside the airport. We had just increased to 21 flights when I was hired. Now we have 164 flights per day. There's over 1,300 of us here in BWI.

Rest assured, if there is money to be made in Pittsburgh, WN will find a the profitable mix and do well.

 

[sfb]

Who cares about Southwest's entrance and meager expansion in PIT? US Airways must compete with LCC's regardless of the market.

Well, arguably the "Arlington-based carrier" (soon to be Tempe-based) ought to care, given that the merger plans purportedly include retaining PIT as a focus operation. PIT-PHL is up to 12 daily round-trips on US in October, compared to 10 in 2002 when PIT was still a hub (and somewhere in the neighborhood of 8 earlier this year). Within 7 months of entering the market, they will have nearly doubled service. Would it still be a "meager" expansion if they're up to nearly 40 daily departures by the end of 2006?

In regard to Southwest they offer less than 20 daily flights and have about 40 employees at the station. I find it interesting that the news media is touting this and ClueByFour makes it out as a bid deal -- so what if they add a couple of flights.

I suppose the media cares because they've seen Southwest's track record in medium-sized markets like BNA, MCI, ABQ, AUS, SAT, RDU, MSY, etc. It's not unreasonable to imagine that Southwest could build up a decent-sized operation at PIT, in contrast to US Airways' ongoing cuts in the market. And eight additional daily departures is not just "a couple of flights."

 

[ClueByFour]

Clue -

While I will agree that PIT was over priced, when it comes to O & D I disagree. There is no way that PIT had the O&D to support a 500+ flight operation the same way PHL does. "Rightsizing" the hub was the right thing to do. Rightsizing the number of flights and the fares charged. It is my sincere hopes that the AWA executives will bring their pricing model to US and you will see a more realistic fare with a flight schedule that is convenient to the destinations important to the Pittsburgh area. US, AWA or SWA will never have a 500+ flight operation at this airport again. The local O&D just can't support that at the cost structure associated with operating here.

[post="289595"][/post]​

To a certain extent, we are in agreement.

I don't think PIT supports a 500 flight/day hub operation. I do believe it could support a 300+ flight/day operation, with the right pricing mix.

When I lived there, I did not support the extortion that US wanted to put on the county and state to bring costs down on the white elephant which US wanted. And hearing the constant company mantra about "weak O&D" and "no way an LCC will ever enter the market" was slightly annoying (since the truth of the matter was something else).

I doubt the sincerity of the "focus city" claims--US is already cut and running off of routes with competitive LCC presence (see PIT-ATL, PIT-MKE), majors (see PIT-IAH) and even lucrative international routes (see PIT-FRA).

With the exception of the international hop, I expect the US operation at PIT to eventually resemble the AA operation at RDU--with the exception of transcons. If US pulls down PIT-SFO/LAX, you will see some LUV to fill that gap. Take it to the bank.

 

[MarkMyWords]

I agree. One other thing....I doubt you will see 180 flights a day here on WN. BWI has a much larger customer base and is just now approaching the 200 flight a day mark. And that is after 13 years.

 

[732guy]

I agree. One other thing....I doubt you will see 180 flights a day here on WN. BWI has a much larger customer base and is just now approaching the 200 flight a day mark. And that is after 13 years.

[post="289617"][/post]​

No, but you might see 60-80 easily. US only has around 65 Mainline flights left. It wouldn't take much for Southwest to shine over that. WN will be the #1 carrier at PIT within 48 months.

 

[ClueByFour]

I agree. One other thing....I doubt you will see 180 flights a day here on WN. BWI has a much larger customer base and is just now approaching the 200 flight a day mark. And that is after 13 years.

[post="289617"][/post]​

Sure, but they are the big boys on the block in BWI. My supposition is that US will cut and run from PIT, thus leaving LUV with enough room for 60-80 flights/day.

US could have kept a 300 or so flight operation, given rational pricing on the PIT-XXX fares had they kept the hub.

 

[USA320Pilot]

MarkMyWord's comments are dead-on accurate.

Regards,

USA320Pilot

 

[markkus757]

I think the new US needs to look at their business model and figure out what does not work for all of the legacies(Read traditional hub operation). The flexibility is just not there to react to any market changes. If Airtran was half the airline that Southwest is, Delta would be gone by now. That hub is the biggest and most bloated old market hub in existence and very vulnerable to any REAL competition. US has two destinations pretty close on ATL's coat tails right now. They need to seriously look at what markets they can compete in and which markets make them worth flying versus the competition. Will LBE and some of the other tiny destinations generate enough traffic to raise the yields on the connections? That's Dave's challenge.

 

[Finish or Ignore]

ClueByFour's comments are dead-on accurate.

Regards,

Finish or Ignore

 

[EyeInTheSky]

ClueByFour's comments are dead-on accurate.

Regards,

Finish or Ignore

[post="289829"][/post]​

I'll drink to that!

 

[RowUnderDCA]

You know... I was going to complain... but it's my own darn fault for reading a thread with PIT in the title. DUH.