The Transformation Plan

[700UW]

Thank you.

 

[etops1]

hey itrade . i just visited your website . its preety cool. just hope it will become a reality some day. you should add how it would looklike if we had a sju satelite base.

 

[usairways85]

ITRADE: where have you heard that AA might downsize SJU? With US putting up somewhat of a fight in the caribbean why would AA just give up on SJU and allow US to walk right in and start a focus city of their own in SJU.

AA has a multitude of 757s, 763s, and A300s to SJU from JFK, BOS, FLL, MCO. It would take a lot to overcome AA in these markets, especially when all US would fly are 320's or maybe 757's.

Not saying that we shouldn't give some of these routes a try but i dont think you are going to see AA let up in competing with US in the caribbean.

 

[etops1]

Somebody brought up an interesting point about Caribbean Star and Caribbean Sun.

If US were to really commit to SJU and if AA were to cut back on SJU - as they have been rumored to have been considering - then US would ideally need to add mainline flights to SJU from cities other than the hubs. Potential cities might be:

RDU
BOS
BWI
IAD
JAX
TPA
FLL
MCO
IND
JFK

Others?

uey itrade it was me who said about carribean star and carribean sun airlines becoming potential usairways xpress carriers. and you are right those dest could come soon. i know that the mco station is courting u to start service to sju from there. you guys should go to this website usairwaysemployees.com. its really good with info on whats up at airways.

 

[700UW]

We fly the A330 and 767 from PHL-SJU and the 767 from CLT-SJU daily.

 

[etops1]

also i trade u already flies daily service to sju from bos and sat service to sju from lga. they are trying to get daily service from lga but can't get the port's permission. i am sure they will get it though. also intersting enough. when i spoke to the lga supervisor he told me that u is trying to buy the old twa hangar thats next to our term in lga . they want to knock it down and expand the term to build gates for xpress. then the regular term could be used by mainline a/c . thus we could xpand the lga market. united might even move in to our term in lga once and if that is completed.

 

[ITRADE]

hey itrade . i just visited your website . its preety cool. just hope it will become a reality some day. you should add how it would looklike if we had a sju satelite base.

It needs some updating - big time....I may have some time to do it now that I'm off the "can you go to China tomorrow" schedule for a month or two.

 

[ITRADE]

ITRADE: where have you heard that AA might downsize SJU? With US putting up somewhat of a fight in the caribbean why would AA just give up on SJU and allow US to walk right in and start a focus city of their own in SJU.

There have been rumors for a while. It is believed to be part of a series of events. 1) TAs have been avoiding booking AA to the Caribbean for a while now. 2) There is apparently some discord between the SJU authorities (not sure which level) and AA over certain issues which include - 3) the fact that AA was and may continue to be assessing whether or not it will divest itself of its AA Eagle operation at SJU. Currently, Eagle at SJU is part of the Eagle ownership group, but there were discussions as to whether or not AA was going to sell the SJU assets off.

Personally, I think the rumors are a little far fetched as AA undoubtedly makes decent to good money in the Caribbean market. But stranger things have happened.

AA has a multitude of 757s, 763s, and A300s to SJU from JFK, BOS, FLL, MCO. It would take a lot to overcome AA in these markets, especially when all US would fly are 320's or maybe 757's.

True, but a lot of that is O/D traffic taking Puerto Rican natives back and forth.

 

[delldude]

Let me explain it once again.

I SAID IT WAS DAVE SIEGEL who OWNS HOTELS AND TIME SHARES, he lives in Orlando and has nothing to do with US Airways.

where is the proof

WILL THIS BE OF ANY HELP GUYS?
HIS STORY:
his name is david a.siegel

 

[ITRADE]

also i trade u already flies daily service to sju from bos and sat service to sju from lga. they are trying to get daily service from lga but can't get the port's permission. i am sure they will get it though. also intersting enough. when i spoke to the lga supervisor he told me that u is trying to buy the old twa hangar thats next to our term in lga . they want to knock it down and expand the term to build gates for xpress. then the regular term could be used by mainline a/c . thus we could xpand the lga market. united might even move in to our term in lga once and if that is completed.

Interesting.

US has so much potential for growth - you simply need the minds who are willing to speak out about it and the ears/brains to listen and decide if the efforts are worth it.

I spoke out about Caribbean expansion about four years ago on Plane Business. I'm glad to see the expansion has taken place.

I've spoken out about mexico - nothing there yet. Time will tell.

A lot of good ideas have come out. The problem is that the focus on the U.S. side of any proposed expansion has always been Northeast. As other threads have pointed out - time and again - US simply has too many hubs concentrated in a small geographic area.

If US were to expand its base in the Northeast, I think that it would have to choose either LGA or BOS - it could not really do both. I like LGA because its a huge population base and is a close in airport. However, with the expansion of JetBlue, the popularity of Continental at EWR, the largish presence of AA/DL at JFK, ISP out on the Island, and the physical constraints of LGA itself (two intersecting runways), I don't believe that LGA will ever become a major base for any airline. Airlines played free-market economics with LGA about two summers ago and it was an unmitigated disaster. Delays were the worst on record; Congress had to step in. Finally, I think that LGA is just to physically close to PHL. No, I believe that like DCA, LGA is a perfectly fine focus city with a primary emphasis on catering to business customers.

BOS seems to be a more logical choice - although the geographic location of BOS makes it an improbable hub. It is really the only airport in the metro area and has ample gate space. It should be used to cover New England, include a few selected transatlantic services (FRA, LGW, CDG, and given the Irish population, DUB/SNN), and some limited transcon service (3x LAX, 3x SFO, 1x SAN, 1x SJC, 2x DEN, 1x SEA, 2x MIA, 2x TPA, 2x FLL, etc.).

 

[TheLarkAscending]

As a customer who buys tickets from US, you would do well to realize that if you agree with Bob or not, he (and many like him) represents what drives your future.

My intent was not to insult or slight PineyBob, it was to redirect the focus of the thread back to the Transformation Plan subject.

I represent the same faction as you or Piney, as an entrepreneur, I pay for my tickets, that is what drives me and my future.

 

[UseYourHead]

Interesting.

US has so much potential for growth - you simply need the minds who are willing to speak out about it and the ears/brains to listen and decide if the efforts are worth it.

I spoke out about Caribbean expansion about four years ago on Plane Business. I'm glad to see the expansion has taken place.

I've spoken out about mexico - nothing there yet. Time will tell.

A lot of good ideas have come out. The problem is that the focus on the U.S. side of any proposed expansion has always been Northeast. As other threads have pointed out - time and again - US simply has too many hubs concentrated in a small geographic area.

If US were to expand its base in the Northeast, I think that it would have to choose either LGA or BOS - it could not really do both. I like LGA because its a huge population base and is a close in airport. However, with the expansion of JetBlue, the popularity of Continental at EWR, the largish presence of AA/DL at JFK, ISP out on the Island, and the physical constraints of LGA itself (two intersecting runways), I don't believe that LGA will ever become a major base for any airline. Airlines played free-market economics with LGA about two summers ago and it was an unmitigated disaster. Delays were the worst on record; Congress had to step in. Finally, I think that LGA is just to physically close to PHL. No, I believe that like DCA, LGA is a perfectly fine focus city with a primary emphasis on catering to business customers.

BOS seems to be a more logical choice - although the geographic location of BOS makes it an improbable hub. It is really the only airport in the metro area and has ample gate space. It should be used to cover New England, include a few selected transatlantic services (FRA, LGW, CDG, and given the Irish population, DUB/SNN), and some limited transcon service (3x LAX, 3x SFO, 1x SAN, 1x SJC, 2x DEN, 1x SEA, 2x MIA, 2x TPA, 2x FLL, etc.).

ITrade,

I agree with you, there is much room for expansion. One variable of course is cost; if flying more airplanes can be done under a profitable scenario, it only makes sense to pursue expansion.

The Caribbean has been a good addition to our network as you predicted a few years back. BOS and LGA can support and increase in focus operations and/or a significant increase in point to point flying. There are numerous other airports in the east with good O&D numbers that would also support more point to point flying. Profitably adding transcon and Caribbean destinations would go along way towards averaging down CASM as well.

I look forward to having a chance to evaluate the plan, and will reserve judgment until that time….

 

[USFlyer]

Here's a crazy idea but one that no one ever seems to mention: The most untapped market in the world has got to be North America to India. Seriously. The only nonstop flight is the AC flight from YYZ to DEL. Sure, US would need probably an A340 to make the trip (unless an A330-200 could make it), but I would think the flight would always be full of both passengers and cargo. And, A330 pilots can fly the A340 and vice versa (according to Airbus anyway). And, US would need two planes to make the service daily, but even if they had one and relied on the codeshare on off days ...

Does anyone know why UAL cancelled ORD-DEL?

 

[etops1]

us,you are right about the india flts. but i dont see u going there any time soon. air india flies to dehli from jfk via ams,i think. they fly a 744 but idont think it can make it nonstop. if we were to do that we would either an A340-500or600. andi dont see u getting those in the distant future. who knows plans might change but i would not bet on it. in fact you could probrably see a flt from phl-nrt before you see phl-delhi or bombay for that matter.

 

[USFlyer]

Oh, I have no hopes of US starting something like PHL-DEL. I just would think that route would be instantly profitable, given the fares people pay to DEL and the fact that flying nonstop from the US would be a dream for many.