Phl To Return To A Banking Hub In Nov

[etops1]

Okay. When would NOW be a good time for
Parker to re-evaluate PIT as a domestic hub,
leaving PHL to handle Interational hub duties?

To set the record straight, the de-hubbing of
PIT had nothing to do with PHL's supposed
higher O&D, or higher yield. It had EVERYTHING
to do with PIT having the most senior employees,
the most expensive office leases, and marginally
higher airport operating costs. In BK1, US
did what they could to reduce their costs, but
there was no other way to permanently
eliminate the high costs that stemmed from
the senior workforce other than to take
down the hub flying.

PHL is a rather large P.O.S., and will never
be anything else. As the old saying goes,
you can try to polish a turd, but in the end
you only have a shiny turd.

Now that the majority of the high costs have
been taken out of PIT, expect to see most
domestic hub flying return to PIT.

[post="296974"][/post]​

parker is not the ceo of usairways . lakefield is. so parker cannot do anything until this merger is closed. so us is still running the show. once parker takes the helm you might hear about many changes. for now ,our retards at crystal city are still making decisions. remeber this merger is still not approved so us has to keep it business as usual and make decisions going foward just incase this merger is voted down . (which is highly unlikely) which means businnes as usual means stupid decisions.

 

[MarkMyWords]

Still nothing from any of the CCY folks?

 

[EricLv2Fish]

parker is not the ceo of usairways . lakefield is. so parker cannot do anything until this merger is closed. so us is still running the show. once parker takes the helm you might hear about many changes. for now ,our retards at crystal city are still making decisions. remeber this merger is still not approved so us has to keep it business as usual and make decisions going foward just incase this merger is voted down . (which is highly unlikely) which means businnes as usual means stupid decisions.

[post="297524"][/post]​

I wouldn't expect wholesale changes overnight....though it could happen. If I read Doug correctly he is fairly consersative and won't make rash judgements and basis his decisions on facts and common sense. If the facts are presented quickly then you can expect a decision quicker than if the facts are not presented quickly. If it's a common sense based decision....like....umm....a new livery for the new US Airways expect them quickly. Speaking of the new livery....one of the first questions at the first AWA town hall meeting after the announced merger was from a maintenance technician who asked about if there were any plans to repaint the US aircraft. Parker explain there were no plans because it would be to expensive and was pretty adamant about not changing the current scheme(making a long story short). The maintenance technician and others then provided Doug with a variety of good reasons why to suck up the cost and repaint them...like the extra heat generated by the dark paint...and others I don't remember. You know what Doug said....he said he would consider their suggestions....couple weeks later the new livery was announced. Add to that the heritage symbol. Now ask me why I enjoy getting up in the morning and going to work

 

[PA18]

Still nothing from any of the CCY folks?

[post="297987"][/post]​

MMY,

As always, thank you for your interesting insight.

I would be interested in your, and others', opinions regarding one of the main reasons, in my opinion, that PHL is such a quagmire -- especially in the wintertime.

And that would be the company's almost fanatical insistence on funnelling practically every single passenger traveling from the northeast to Florida through PHL.

To me, this policy presents the company with two ways to lose even more money on these passengers.

As an example, take the annual Presidents' Day school vacation week in February. That week, everybody in New England is trying to get to Disney World. Then, throw in a snowstorm, as has happened that week the last three years.

Because all roads to MCO lead through PHL, every flight to there from BOS/MHT/PWM/PVD/BDL (and return) is oversold. And, of course, every flight from PHL to MCO and other points in Florida is oversold. So now the weather results in delays and cancellations. And what happens?

Passengers miss their connections, and the later flights to Florida are already full, so now the company has to feed them and maybe put them up in a hotel. And because every single flight is oversold, volunteers are solicited with more free flights, and possibly more hotel rooms. And those that do eventually get to Florida (or back home to the northeast) have bags that are misconnected and have to be delivered at company expense.

And how about seat-mile costs, which management has been bleating about for years? How much does it cost to transport one family from the northeast to MCO?

Well, the family boards a narrow-body airplane (or an RJ) in, say, BOS. That flight takes off, and 55 minutes later is landing in PHL. Then, the family boards another narrow-body plane to continue their trip to MCO.

So to get one family to Disney World, you have used two airplanes, two crews, two sets of catering items (soft drinks, coffee, cups, napkins, trash bags, etc.); not to mention that a large part of the family's trip was spent at low altitude while arriving and departing PHL, and taxiing in and out of the congested ramp, with the corresponding fuel burn.

In the meantime, Delta Song and American have flown nine 757's between them non-stop BOS-MCO (with DL also dispatching four 757's from BDL non-stop to MCO),and JetBlue has launched three non-stop A-320's; while Southwest has loaded up six flights in MHT, five in PVD, and four in BDL, all heading non-stop to MCO.

Of course, you would expect that anybody -- especially a family with small children -- would prefer to fly non-stop from BOS to MCO. So how does US Airways lure the aforementioned family away from its competitors' non-stops?

I think we all know the answer to that one.

I know, I know...Whenever the subject of non-stops to Florida comes up, management's knee-jerk reaction is, "We can't make money on flights to Florida."

So what do they know that AA, JB, DL, and SW don't?

And, assuming that it is true that nobody makes any money on Florida flights, then which of the above-mentioned airlines do you suppose lost the most money transporting that family to Walley World?

(Oh yes, and there's another side-effect of the "No Non-stops To Florida" policy. Since all the flights from BOS and LGA to the hubs are sold out, the overflow gets booked on the Shuttle to DCA. So during the school vacation weeks, you get the $39-fare Griswolds sitting next to Cabinet secretaries and CEO's who forked over a premium fare for the privilege.)

 

[MarkMyWords]

Where to start.....LOL

PHL is such a cluster basically because of location and geological constraints. Being squeezed between NY and DC centers with all of the overhead traffic creates a real cluster for us ATC wise. In all honesty, almost everything about PHL works against having a hub there - none the less a banking hub. Everything from terminal constraints to TSA to ATC work against us operating there. If it isn't broken equipment it is employee staffing shortages for either US, TSA, ATC.

Our company response has been to throw on additional layers of management to fix the problems there. I would have prefered to see them spend that money and hire effective managers to fill the key positions there and spend the rest on what is really needed - equipment and front line staffing. Now with all the layers of management, it is a constant power struggle (purely my observation) to see who has the right idea on how to fix the problems. Every department manager has a different agenda and it seems like no one is working as a team to focus on one common goal. Each manager is trying to prove that they are the "be all, get all" to self promote out of the station to something "bigger and better" and no one is there for the long haul.

As for why are we funneling everything through PHL? I wish I knew. Actually the O & D in PHL is pretty high. In your example of Presidents Day weekend - a lot of connecting traffic is funneled through PHL because that is where we concentrate a lot of flying. I am almost positive that when the NE is on break, PHL is not. Why we don't offer non-stop flights during those peak times is beyond me. We do always here the battle cries that there is just not a lot of money to be made in Florida. I would say that is probably a true statement given the airplanes that we try to use on those routes. Placing the reconfigured 757's on the Florida runs, my have helped to make them more profitable. Look at all of the airlines that have had a huge presence in Florida in the past, where are they now? Delta is the only carrier that I can think of that has consistantly had a huge presence in Florida for an extended period of time. They do it with airplanes such as 757's, 767's (all variations) and even 777's. The competition is tough too. Look at all the airlines that you siad fly non-stop from BOS and NYC to Florida, and they all do it at cut throat fares.

When you talk about the scenarios of misconnects in PHL - If a delay is caused by something out of our control (snowstorms, ATC, deicing, etc) then we are not responsible for providing customers with hotels or meals, but finding them seats to Florida.

I think that is why you see our focus moving from Florida and more towards the Caribbean. We can command a higher fare to the islands then we can to Florida. I think that is why you see airlines like Spirit doing the same thing. Even Delta is beefing up international service to destinations in the caribbean, south/central america and mexico. Upstart and low cost carriers are being handed Florida in a sense and assets are being redeployed to areas that make money with our cost structure (or are subsidised).

That is my prospective on things.....right or wrong.

 

[ringmaruf]

Still nothing from any of the CCY folks?

[post="297987"][/post]​

You know, I've been thinking. I believe this is the first schedule since Ashby has been gone. Might that have something to do with it, that nobody's running the place waiting for the HP guys to show up and take over?

 

[mbmbbost]

MMY,

As always, thank you for your interesting insight.

I would be interested in your, and others', opinions regarding one of the main reasons, in my opinion, that PHL is such a quagmire -- especially in the wintertime.

And that would be the company's almost fanatical insistence on funnelling practically every single passenger traveling from the northeast to Florida through PHL.

[post="298142"][/post]​

This has been a thorn in my side since Metrojet went away...They just don't get that they could probably do well if they just offered a comprehensive product in Boston. I don't expect nonstops everywhere, but for an airline that's supposed to be strong on the east coast, there are only a few places I can go more conveniently on US than another airline. I was glad to see the one BOS/FLL nonstop return last year, but that's just a start. There are a lot of people here that would make US their airline of choice, and possibly pay a higher fare, if they could count on nonstops to FL and a few other places. I do that commute every couple weeks during the winter, and it sucks going through PHL or CLT, wondering if I'll get stuck there with winter weather. Last winter, much of the time, I could get a transcon cheaper than the nonstops to FL...it can't always be a money losing route..And I won't forget what an agent in FLL told me a couple winters ago...they'd checked in over 250 people in a couple hours going to Boston, all connecting in PHL or CLT. Putting all those people on connecting flights rather than a nonstop makes no sense to me...