Travelpro72
Veteran
- Jan 30, 2005
- 4,964
- 455
Vegas to CLT or PHL is no picnic. Oh how about PHL-SAN? That's another city pair that is beyond terrible to nonrev.
Most Difficult Non-Rev Routes
- Thread starter redheadtempe33
- Start date
I SAY PLEASE... LETS LEAVE THE STEELERS OUT OF THIS....
LOL
rephrase it and say its hard to commute on a REDSKINS football day! LOL...
Sorry just had to say it! : )
Ok then... I have been trying to decide to transfer to PHL to do International forever...
but every time I think I am going, a base closes and would drop my seniority down..
don't just want to fly to England... cuz it will be quite a commute...
but if the senior girls go to CLT I say go..
then I can go to PHL...
Let me see the numbers going!
good luck.. doesn't this industry throw us massive curve balls...
???????
ExPit
Member
- Nov 25, 2008
- 67
- 21
It's hard to leave the Steelers out of any conversation, but...
Everyone needs to remember that the "senior" people can only transfer to Charlotte if there are openings in the base. And by senior, I mean 35+ years. I have 27 and the commute is not easy for me. My seniority isn't good enough for holding international blocks and I could only be able to SAP in a few international trips during summer months. Sure, lots of people junior to me are flying international, but they are able to ride the bid sheet and pick up the trips via the ETB or the various online groups that post trades/drops.
PHL is still an easier drive - 5 hours on the turnpike versus 7 and 1/2 to 8 hours down the interstate.
Crash Pad DCA
Senior
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/business/s_755583.html
Southwest cuts to pinch employees
By Tom Fontaine, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Local service cuts by Southwest Airlines will affect hundreds of US Airways employees who commute to Philadelphia from their homes in the Pittsburgh region, officials said.
Most of the estimated 500 to 700 commuters fly standby -- being placed in an unsold seat, if there is one -- on one of US Airways' nine daily flights to Philadelphia, said Mark Gentile of Monroeville, vice president of US Airways' Master Executive Council for the Association of Flight Attendants.
When there are more employees than available seats, they turn to Southwest, which offers four daily round-trips to Philadelphia. Commuting US Airways workers can fly standby on Southwest at no cost through a reciprocal airline agreement that allows Southwest employees to fly free on US Airways.
Southwest said last month it will end service between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia in January, calling the route unprofitable. That could take at least 100 potential Southwest seats a day out of the market for would-be standby travelers, based on the airline offering about 500 seats a day on its four departing flights from Pittsburgh and the fact that it, on average, sells 79 percent of its seats systemwide.
"Right now, people are looking at this and are basically stunned," said US Airways Capt. Scott Theuer of Cranberry, a union spokesman for the US Airline Pilots Association.
"They don't know how bad it might be, so they're reluctant to make decisions to sell their houses, uproot their families and move. They're going to struggle through for a while and see how (commuting with fewer seats available) works out," Theuer said.
Theuer said some employees are likely to start flying out the night before their scheduled shift or driving to Philadelphia to ensure they arrive in time for their shift, resulting in added expenses.
US Airways employs about 1,500 Pittsburgh-based workers.
Gentile said 15 flight attendants who live in the Pittsburgh region and commute to Philadelphia have applied for transfers to US Airways' base at Washington's Reagan National Airport. Fewer locally based US Airways employees work there, reducing the demand for standy seats, he said.
It appears unlikely that US Airways will add flights to make up for the Southwest cuts. US Airways spokesman Todd Lehmacher said the airline "has no plans to increase service on that (Philadelphia) route at this time. We are always assessing demand, but demand is driven by revenue passengers," not standby ones who fly for free.
The local commuters include pilots, flight attendants, gate agents, ramp workers and others. Many transferred to Philadelphia and other bases while keeping homes in the Pittsburgh region as US Airways reduced its local operations. The Tempe, Ariz.-based airline closed its pilot and flight attendant bases in Pittsburgh altogether in early 2008.
Neither US Airways nor union officials had an exact tally on workers who commute from the Pittsburgh region to Philadelphia.
Southwest cuts to pinch employees
By Tom Fontaine, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Local service cuts by Southwest Airlines will affect hundreds of US Airways employees who commute to Philadelphia from their homes in the Pittsburgh region, officials said.
Most of the estimated 500 to 700 commuters fly standby -- being placed in an unsold seat, if there is one -- on one of US Airways' nine daily flights to Philadelphia, said Mark Gentile of Monroeville, vice president of US Airways' Master Executive Council for the Association of Flight Attendants.
When there are more employees than available seats, they turn to Southwest, which offers four daily round-trips to Philadelphia. Commuting US Airways workers can fly standby on Southwest at no cost through a reciprocal airline agreement that allows Southwest employees to fly free on US Airways.
Southwest said last month it will end service between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia in January, calling the route unprofitable. That could take at least 100 potential Southwest seats a day out of the market for would-be standby travelers, based on the airline offering about 500 seats a day on its four departing flights from Pittsburgh and the fact that it, on average, sells 79 percent of its seats systemwide.
"Right now, people are looking at this and are basically stunned," said US Airways Capt. Scott Theuer of Cranberry, a union spokesman for the US Airline Pilots Association.
"They don't know how bad it might be, so they're reluctant to make decisions to sell their houses, uproot their families and move. They're going to struggle through for a while and see how (commuting with fewer seats available) works out," Theuer said.
Theuer said some employees are likely to start flying out the night before their scheduled shift or driving to Philadelphia to ensure they arrive in time for their shift, resulting in added expenses.
US Airways employs about 1,500 Pittsburgh-based workers.
Gentile said 15 flight attendants who live in the Pittsburgh region and commute to Philadelphia have applied for transfers to US Airways' base at Washington's Reagan National Airport. Fewer locally based US Airways employees work there, reducing the demand for standy seats, he said.
It appears unlikely that US Airways will add flights to make up for the Southwest cuts. US Airways spokesman Todd Lehmacher said the airline "has no plans to increase service on that (Philadelphia) route at this time. We are always assessing demand, but demand is driven by revenue passengers," not standby ones who fly for free.
The local commuters include pilots, flight attendants, gate agents, ramp workers and others. Many transferred to Philadelphia and other bases while keeping homes in the Pittsburgh region as US Airways reduced its local operations. The Tempe, Ariz.-based airline closed its pilot and flight attendant bases in Pittsburgh altogether in early 2008.
Neither US Airways nor union officials had an exact tally on workers who commute from the Pittsburgh region to Philadelphia.
Commuting yikes we all have or had our reasons that put us in this situation. The stories we could tell would make one heck of a TV sit-com series. Just the airport senarios alone would provide killer material. But with the reduction of flights your gonna have to kiss mom goodbye, get yourself a chevrolet, pack an extra slice of apple pie, tune in the Philly ball game on the radio and have a nice drive. Just keep telling yourself, as others will , that your lucky to have a job. God bless America and soon I pray.
Crash Pad DCA
Senior
OGG-PHX and HNL-PHX can be scary!
I always get backup HA and YV ZEDS (about $28) in case I have to to get to another island (KOA, LIH, OGG, HNL) to get out on US
I always get backup HA and YV ZEDS (about $28) in case I have to to get to another island (KOA, LIH, OGG, HNL) to get out on US
