US/AA merger settlement imminent!

[WorldTraveler]

From the days of the Pan Am Shuttle, DL has been the dominant carrier on the LGA-BOS leg while US has been the dominant carrier on the LGA-DCA leg.

Average fares on the LGA-BOS segment are significantly higher than what B6 gets from JFK (or DL either).

The real issue is that DL could be carrying a lot more revenue if they allowed connections. Given that AA and UA both operate from the CTB, DL's appeal is that its flights are in a less chaotic terminal. US' Shuttle flights do not operate from the unique section of the terminal it once did.

As for LGA-ORD, as hard as it may be to believe, DL's local market revenue is about 2/3 of what UA gets and just under half of what AA gets. AA and UA carry a lot of connecting traffic beyond ORD that fills up their planes but which doesn't add local market revenue.

DL's load factor on the LGA-ORD is below AA and UA's by double digits but it is well within what other carriers get in key markets.

OTOH, the LGA to BOS/DCA Shuttles for both DL and US have very low load factors that can't be sustainable. Both carriers have got to be looking for some major strategy revisions.

I am sure that some people would view a move out of the MAT negatively. But I can't the convergence of DL's needs to improve its presence in the NE will coincide with AA's needs to consolidate its operations.

These kinds of things are exactly how carriers can work together to help each other out but these moves have to be seen as "we each give a little for us all to gain a whole lot more."

With the merger moving forward, there will be a lot of these kinds of deals that can work while still preserving a very competitive macrocompetitive environment.

 

[swamt]

WT,  You are such a freakin moron. You can't even recognize from others that you are a complete moron.  You need help WT, you need a lot of help, seek it before it's too late...

 

[silverbird007]

I think its way too late for that freak.

 

[robbedagain]

Wt u know that for fact with regards to low load factors on dl and us? Not too many EX DL EMPLOYEES let alone other ex airline employees would know all you know me thinks u just has to be mr right always..... and when challenged u get touchy

 

[WorldTraveler]

it's public information, robbed.

And it wouldn't take too much effort for someone to count people getting off the planes if you didn't even fly the routes.

The Shuttles carry very few people anymore. They are an idea that is nowhere near what they used to be.

 

[dfw gen]

it's public information, robbed.

And it wouldn't take too much effort for someone to count people getting off the planes if you didn't even fly the routes.

The Shuttles carry very few people anymore. They are an idea that is nowhere near what they used to be.

 

[700UW]

Thats his way of saying its ok for DL to outsource all its Shuttle flying, and he wonders why US has the edge in passengers carried on the Shuttle.

 

[dfw gen]

so now your countig people as they com off the plane? dude you have serious issues.
it's public information, robbed.

And it wouldn't take too much effort for someone to count people getting off the planes if you didn't even fly the routes.

The Shuttles carry very few people anymore. They are an idea that is nowhere near what they used to be.

 

[MetalMover]

Thats his way of saying its ok for DL to outsource all its Shuttle flying, and he wonders why US has the edge in passengers carried on the Shuttle.

Yes, because DL is the only airline who knows what it's doing!

 

[robbedagain]

Wt I do not recall ever saying I was counting the passengers now did I.

 

[LD3]

And it wouldn't take too much effort for someone to count people getting off the planes if you didn't even fly the routes.

 
Please don't tell us that you have actually have done that......

 

[WorldTraveler]

Lovely,
We get to debate the BOS-LGA-DCA Shuttles on Thanksgiving Day as if it provides some sort of evidence of the success or failure of the AA/US merger.

No one has personally get on any plane or sit in any terminal or look at data in your US Airways agent set.
Anyone can easily confirm that the Shuttles are nowhere near what they once were. DL is indeed the largest carrier in both of the BOS-LGA and LGA-DCA local markets. US used to have an advantage on the DCA market but the slot deal cut their size in NYC and they don’t have enough of an advantage in the market.

But size of the local market is relatively immaterial. The Shuttles exist almost entirely for marketing clout now and for those companies that will travel by air even when the vast majority of passengers no longer use airlines for intercity transportation between BOS and LGA and between NYC and DCA. AA may want to try its hand at the local market but it won’t have any more of an advantage than DL or US has had.

US has not operated its Shuttle as a standalone operation for several years. The BOS-LGA leg for US is a standalone leg because US has nothing to connect to at LGA besides its hub flights which are already served at BOS. The LGA-DCA leg for US is no different from any other flight into/out of a hub where a high percentage of the traffic is connecting.

DL so far has retained its Shuttle on both legs as a standalone operation.
The focus at this point for both AA as the soon to be owner of a NE air shuttle and for DL is to minimize costs and maximize revenues by adapting to a changing business.

Strategies for both Shuttles will continue to evolve.

The role of the Shuttles in the NE will continue to change and the merger will only hasten those changes.

 

[robbedagain]

But you cannot easily connect from delta shuttle to delta mainline at lga you yourself said that secondly the dl shuttle primarily uses the rjs which in my opin includes the erj 170s 175s while us uses the airbus how is it dl continues a stand alone shuttle ops when they use express

 

[WorldTraveler]

robbed,
the DL Shuttle does use E175 aircraft but it is a standalone operation and you cannot connect to from the rest of DL's operation at LGA.

US may use Airbus aircraft but their loads are less than DL's on the BOS-LGA. I will PM the exact LF for you but it is so low that I am embarrassed to even post if even though it is public information.

On the DCA-LGA leg, US has a much higher LF but gains it by connecting LGA passengers at DCA to other flights at the DCA hub.

US, IMHO, realized a few years ago that the only way to sustain the Shuttle on DCA-LGA is to operate as any other flight to/from a hub - with abundant connections. But it is not the Shuttle product that once existed.

 

[eolesen]

Oh please, you of all people should know the LF's aren't as important on a flight where the fares are largely walk ups between 250-400 per pax. That's $1/mile at a minimum, a nice premium for any airline, and means that even a 40% LF is pulling in $0.40 per ASM. If route specific CASM is in the $0.25 range (just a guess), that's still a nice margin.

How many other mainline flights are there which regularly extract an average fare of $1 per mile?