More Flights Out Of Charlotte?

[ITRADE]

US Airways will maintain its Charlotte to London and Frankfurt flights and with 15 Philadelphia transatlantic flights in the summer, the company will have 19 widebody aircraft to support 17 flights (9 A330s and 10 B767s).

US really needs another 7 - 10 A-330s/767s to expand and add redundancy and capacity.

When are the A-330 deliveries due to commence.

IIRC, there were about 15 A330s on storage right now - mostly Sabena and Swissair birds.

 

[700UW]

US AIRWAYS RESTRUCTURES AIRCRAFT PURCHASE AGREEMENTS
ARLINGTON, Va., Jan. 31, 2003 -- US Airways and Airbus have reached an agreement in principle to restructure US Airways' existing orders for A330 and A320 family aircraft. The new agreement will enable US Airways to complement its existing fleet of A330-300 aircraft with A330-200 aircraft, and better match its future fleet of A320 family aircraft for domestic single-aisle operations. It would substitute a new firm order for 10 A330-200 aircraft and 19 A320 family aircraft for existing firm orders of one Airbus A330-300 and 37 A320 family aircraft.

."We have a great partnership with Airbus, as demonstrated by this agreement," said US Airways President and Chief Executive Officer David Siegel. "Long-term, we see Airbus playing an important role in our company's future, and this agreement confirms our commitment to begin taking delivery of new aircraft once we are in a better financial position."

Separately, US Airways has filed a motion with the bankruptcy court seeking relief from lease obligations from a variety of financial institutions for up to 29 A320 family aircraft currently operating in the US Airways fleet. If granted, this will give the airline significant flexibility to complete lease restructuring negotiations and determine the final make-up of it fleet upon emergence from bankruptcy.

As part of the company's current fleet plan, US Airways will continue to operate no fewer than 279 aircraft upon emergence from bankruptcy.

Reporters needing additional information should contact US Airways Corporate Communications at (703) 872-5100.

 

[USA320Pilot]

Itrade:

The A330-200 and A320 family aircraft order, from the press release 700UW posted, are scheduled for delivery between 2007 and 2009. Before his departure, Dave Siegel told the First Officer and I last January on our jumpseat the company is looking at used B767-200s on the cheap, which could be used in new transatlantic markets from Philadelphia in the spring of 2005.

Respectfully,

USA320Pilot

 

[USA320Pilot]

US Airways to Focus on Local Traffic, Not Connections

ARLINGTON (Dow Jones) - US Airways Group Inc. plans to transform its busiest hubs, cutting down on connecting traffic and focusing on local travelers, in order to become profitable.

In a publication mailed to employees, the airline said it plans to beef up non-stop flights out of New York's LaGuardia airport, Boston, and Washington's National airport, because those are destinations with a lot of local traffic.

The smaller city of Pittsburgh, on the other hand, will be scaled back to a "focus" city from a hub, the airline said. Charlotte, N.C., on the other hand, will remain a hub, and US Airways will use it as the main international gateway.

"US Airways' schedule will be more focused on larger local markets because that's where yields are highest - and that is where people want to go," the employee newsletter said.

The changes are part of the airline's drive to cut costs in order to compete profitably with low-cost carriers, which have been growing rapidly on US Airways' turf. Plus, giving employees more details of the new strategy coincides with the airline's drive to negotiate new, less-costly labor contracts.

US Airways said in the newsletter that the plan will also improve efficiency, which will lead to furloughs.

The airline said it will use US Airways Shuttle to operate much of the point-to-point flying out of New York, Washington and Boston. At one point, US Airways had considered whether to sell the shuttle, but has since decided against it.

The airline further said it will de-peak the hubs, which means it will spread out departures throughout the day. In the past, the airline had clumped departures around certain times to allow passengers to make quick connections.

De-peaking the hubs will allow the airline to schedule more flights per day for the airplanes, improving the productivity of employees and thus leading to furloughs, the airline said.

US Airways said some smaller markets the airline had served out of Pittsburgh may lose service. The newsletter doesn't say which destinations.

Chief Executive Bruce Lakefield has said he aims to have new labor contracts completed by June, and the newsletter said those contracts should include a profit sharing program for all employees.

 

[sfb]

I've got CO at 153 flights at about 21,733 seats per week. I could not find a BQN flight...

BQN (Aguadilla), 2nd destination alphabetically from EWR (after ACA). CO 112, daily on a 738. Plus, though they are not "Caribbean destinations," the weekly flights to places like PVR, ACA, SJD serve largely the same purpose. I was surprised to see the weekly flight to SAP since I don't recall an announcement, but it fits in well for serving divers traveling to the Bay Islands (except those going to RTB via IAH).

 

[usairways85]

ITRADE: Where are you getting the weekly flt numbers? I'd like to know what the number is for US out of PHL.

 

[ACrazy8]

You run from thread to thread saying the same thing. We get the point....

 

[ITRADE]

ITRADE: Where are you getting the weekly flt numbers? I'd like to know what the number is for US out of PHL.

Pulled it from the Star timetable. Will do a work-up for PHL.

 

[ITRADE]

Wow....Unless my math is wrong, US at PHL is almost bigger than US at CLT.

US has 148 weekly flights to the Caribbean out of PHL - mixed service with A319s, A320s, and 757s. Note no A321 flights out of here for the most part (the 321s do run during the spring season). Also, there is the beheamouth A330 daily to SJU - that adds a lot of seat. Total weekly seat count = 22,469 seats.

As a quick aside, US operates 84 weekly flights to Europe with 19,257 seats. About 40% fewer flight and only 10% fewer seats.

 

[ITRADE]

BQN (Aguadilla), 2nd destination alphabetically from EWR (after ACA). CO 112, daily on a 738. Plus, though they are not "Caribbean destinations," the weekly flights to places like PVR, ACA, SJD serve largely the same purpose. I was surprised to see the weekly flight to SAP since I don't recall an announcement, but it fits in well for serving divers traveling to the Bay Islands (except those going to RTB via IAH).

Thanks for that info. I figured it was Baranquillo, Ecuador, but was wrong.

As to the Mexican destinations, those are the very ones that I suggested that US start service to. PVR, ACA, SJD, and MZT are all big tourist destinations and command premium fares. Plus those routes are long flights and aid in aircraft utilization time.

Toss in GDL and MTY as business destinations (MTY as a destination for the steel industry).

 

[sfb]

I agree that the Pacific Coast Mexican destinations could work well for US if they can generate enough traffic to regularly fill an A319 at acceptable fares. PVR and MZT probably wouldn't require an OW-equipped aircraft. Plus I can't really think of more than a few additional Caribbean destinations that would be workable (i.e. POS, STI, CUR, ?). I was surprised to see CO without scheduled service to PLS, and it does seem that PSE is official since it's on the route map as new service.

I think competition will heat up in the Caribbean over the long term with most of the network carriers with any meaningful East Coast presence (i.e. US, AA, CO, DL) finding less competition from LCC's in the region. Still, jetBlue and Spirit seem to be finding opportunities to expand; it looks like jetBlue's first international flights will be to the D.R.

 

[ITRADE]

I agree that the Pacific Coast Mexican destinations could work well for US if they can generate enough traffic to regularly fill an A319 at acceptable fares. PVR and MZT probably wouldn't require an OW-equipped aircraft. Plus I can't really think of more than a few additional Caribbean destinations that would be workable (i.e. POS, STI, CUR, ?). I was surprised to see CO without scheduled service to PLS, and it does seem that PSE is official since it's on the route map as new service.

I think the one destination that would require an OW craft would be ACA. From CLT, there is an expansive strech of distance requiring water transit.

If US were really in need, are any of the 734s or 733s still OW equipped?

 

[ITRADE]

Proposed timetable.

Dep. Time Arr. Time
LGA 7:00 CLT 9:08
CLT 10:15 ACA 13:45
ACA 14:45 CLT 19:15
CLT 20:15 BWI 20:40

Dep. Time Arr. Time
EWR 7:30 CLT 9:21
CLT 10:25 GDL 13:45
GDL 14:45 CLT 19:05
CLT 20:05 PVD 22:05

Dep. Time Arr. Time
MHT 7:00 CLT 9:18
CLT 10:20 MZT 12:50
MZT 13:50 CLT 19:20
CLT 20:20 ALB 22:20

Dep. Time Arr. Time
PIT 7:30 CLT 8:54
CLT 10:10 MTY 12:55
MTY 13:55 CLT 18:10
CLT 20:10 BOS 22:20

Dep. Time Arr. Time
ALB 7:00 CLT 9:15
CLT 10:10 PVR 13:55
PVR 14:50 CLT 19:35
CLT 20:25 MDT 21:55

Dep. Time Arr. Time
ORF 7:55 CLT 9:12
CLT 10:05 SJD 13:05
SJD 14:00 CLT 20:00
CLT 22:00 RIC 23:15

 

[sfb]

I think the one destination that would require an OW craft would be ACA. From CLT, there is an expansive strech of distance requiring water transit.

If US were really in need, are any of the 734s or 733s still OW equipped?

SJD probably would need an OW aircraft as well, since I think the Sea of Cortez is just a bit over 100 nm across.

 

[Rob]

Thanks for that info. I figured it was Baranquillo, Ecuador, but was wrong.

Aguadilla's Rafael Hernández Airport used to be named Borinquen, thus the BQN designation. Prior to that it was Ramey Air Force Base. Borinquen is also the Indian name for the whole island.