US Airways Awarded CAK DCA 1st ever service

Jul 29, 2005
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U.S. Department of Transportation Awards US Airways First Ever Non-Stop Roundtrip From Washington, D.C. Reagan National to Akron-Canton AirportFont size: A | A | A
9:29 AM ET 11/26/08 | PR Newswire
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Service to begin in January 2009

The U.S. Department of Transportation announced late yesterday afternoon that it was granting US Airways two slots to fly from Washington, D.C.'s Ronald Reagan National Airport (DCA) to Akron-Canton Airport (CAK) allowing for one daily non-stop roundtrip. After seeking service to DCA for more than a decade, airport officials consider this a big win for the airport and the region because landing rights at the very desirable close-in Reagan National Airport are restricted by the US government and highly coveted by all communities. The service will begin in January 2009 and US Airways will fly a 50-seat CRJ-200 aircraft on the route.

"This is a historic day for the Akron-Canton Airport and the region as we were in desperate need of an easier way to get to Washington, D.C.," said Rick McQueen, President & CEO. "We are so grateful to the U.S. Department of Transportation for once again bringing vital air service to our community by awarding these slots to US Airways. We are also grateful for the overwhelming support we received from our community. This announcement wouldn't have been possible without the help of our U.S. Congressional delegation, including U.S. state senators and four congresspersons, thirteen chambers of commerce, the state auditor, hundreds of petition signatures, more than thirty corporations, and seventeen community leaders amongst many others. This is an amazing day."

"We're pleased to announce another non-stop option for business travelers to access Washington, D.C.," said Jason Reisinger, director, route planning for US Airways. "We would like to thank the congressional delegation and the local community, especially the Akron-Canton Airport, for their hard work and support in this effort."

"Helping the businesses and residents of our community reach Washington D.C. is a rewarding way to end my career in Congress," said U.S. Representative Ralph Regula. "I am grateful to the U.S. Department of Transportation and US Airways for making this vital linkage a reality."

"Washington, D.C. is an extremely important destination for the Northeastern Ohio region and the community deserves our gratitude for their support," said Congressman Tim Ryan. "I am thrilled that the Department of Transportation realizes the value this will have for both tourism and economic development."

The slots were originally made available under the guidelines of AIR-21/ vision 100, a comprehensive air transportation bill passed in 2000.

US Airways has a long history (more than 40 years) with the airport. Akron-Canton travelers will benefit with the non-stop route to Washington, D.C. and be able to take advantage of the excellent connection opportunities offered by US Airways at DCA. From Akron-Canton Airport, the carrier currently offers five nonstop flights to their hub in Charlotte, North Carolina and two daily flights to their hub in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. DCA will be the third non-stop destination once the service commences in January.

About Akron-Canton Airport

Akron-Canton Airport kicked off CAK 2018, its 10-year, $110-million Capital Improvement Plan in March of this year. The plan is the most ambitious in the airport's 62-year history and includes a 600 ft. runway extension allowing full-sized jets to reach the west coast, Caribbean and Mexico. Other projects include a Customs and Border Patrol Facility, extended upper level concourse and the construction of Port Green, an industrial park that could bring more than 1,000 high paying jobs to northeast Ohio. Photos of the airport are available at www.flickr.com/akroncantonairport; and Facebook members are warmly invited to join the Akron-Canton Airport group at www.Facebook.com by searching for Akron-Canton Airport. Additional information including flight reservations, driving instructions, and relaxation station is available at www.akroncantonairport.com, CAK's comprehensive web portal. Akron-Canton Airport a better way to go®.

About US Airways

US Airways, along with US Airways Shuttle and US Airways Express, operates more than 3,100 flights per day and serves nearly 200 communities in the U.S., Canada, Europe, the Caribbean and Latin America. The airline employs approximately 34,000 aviation professionals worldwide and is a member of the Star Alliance network, which offers our customers 18,000 daily flights to 965 destinations in 162 countries worldwide. In the first eight months of 2008, US Airways ranked first in on-time performance among the ten largest U.S. carriers according to the Department of Transportation's Air Travel Consumer Report. And for the tenth consecutive year, the airline received a Diamond Award for maintenance training excellence from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for its Charlotte, North Carolina hub line maintenance facility. For more company information, visit usairways.com.

SOURCE Akron-Canton Airport

http://www.akroncantonairport.com
 
I guess it was the Congressional delegation that tipped this in US Airways' favor. Air Tran actually had more flights out of CAK and is more commetted to that market too.
I wonder why Air Tran didn't just transfer their flights from MKE-DCA to CAK-DCA.
 
The article didn't say which express carrier would operate these flights. Whoever it turns out to be, teh service will be successful as long as its dependable
 
I thought AirTran also filed to serve this route out of National.

These slots exemptions were available as a result of FL returning the 2 slots it was awarded in the spring to fly DCA-MKE or JAX (beat out US' DCA-PNS app.) I imagine they figured they'd have little chance of winning frequencies that came about because they returned others!

In fact, the only other airline to apply was YX for DCA-MKE

Air Tran actually had more flights out of CAK and is more commetted to that market too.

I'd hesitate to say that FL is committed to ANY market other than ATL; they play around with their route network more than any other airline I know. Anyhow, as busdriver jokingly eludes to, a smaller aircraft is probably better suited for this route and even w/ FL's lower fares, a 717 is probably too large for the market (US is forecasting 35 pax a day, each way, with about 5-10 of those being connecting).


The proposed schedule to CAK isn't that great for day-trips but I suppose it's hard to have a great schedule with only 1 flight:

CAK-DCA
248p 359p 0 CRJ
DCA-CAK
500p 610p 0 CRJ
 
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The article didn't say which express carrier would operate these flights. Whoever it turns out to be, teh service will be successful as long as its dependable
Per USairways.com, doesnt look like these flights are actually going to happen after all. I cnat seem to book them and the press release is off of the CAK website, anyone know whats up?
 
Maybe it's me, but I think this market is downright dumb for one flight per day and a departure in mid-afternoon. It just doesn't seem business friendly at all to lose an afternoon flying, need to spend a night, and then be able to do business until about 2:30 before you need to think about heading for the airport. If it was even a morning in, evening out schedule it would be better, but this didn't make sense to me.
 
Midwest filed an appeal and lost. The DOT finalized the award for US' DCA-CAK flight last week, but made no mention of allowing the start date to be pushed back from 1/25, which is now only 3 weeks away.
 
The Time Slots are not that great I was thinking more like a 7:00 CAK departure and a 8-8:30am Arrival in DCA. And maybe a 7:00Pm Departure out of DCA.
 

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