EyeInTheSky
Veteran
Stupid people in Phoenix...just give the business to Southwest. Doofuses...
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08249/909608-28.stm
US Airways cuts nonstop flights to Florida
Friday, September 05, 2008
By Mark Belko, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
US Airways isn't finished cutting flights in Pittsburgh just yet.
Starting Jan. 5, the airline will eliminate all nonstop service to Florida, one of the most popular destinations from Pittsburgh International Airport, as it seeks to reduce capacity in light of high fuel prices.
Gone will be 11 weekly nonstop flights to Orlando (one to two a day), seven a week to Fort Lauderdale (one a day), and six a week to Tampa. Next year, US Airways travelers will have to connect through Philadelphia or Charlotte, N.C., to get to Florida.
With the decision, US Airways "is literally handing the competition business," said Bradley D. Penrod, Allegheny County Airport Authority executive director.
Orlando is the top destination for travelers from Pittsburgh, Tampa is eighth, Fort Lauderdale is ninth, and Fort Myers is 15th. Southwest Airlines, AirTran Airways and USA 3000 will continue to provide nonstop flights to Florida.
In fact, AirTran will be adding nonstop trips four to five times a week to Fort Lauderdale, Tampa and Fort Myers Oct. 7. All three convert to daily nonstop service Nov. 20. Fort Lauderdale will get a second daily nonstop flight in February.
Although AirTran said the flights were in the works before US Airways decided to eliminate nonstop service, Mr. Penrod said the pending cuts "probably helped accelerate it some."
He said the new AirTran trips serve to blunt the impact of the US Airways' cuts.
"They've stuck with Pittsburgh," he said of AirTran. "The region has supported them, and they acknowledged that by adding service when others like US Airways are cutting it. I take that as a very good sign."
Tad Hutcheson, AirTran vice president of marketing and sales, said the carrier could add more flights depending on demand.
"Of course, we'll watch passenger demand. As more passengers flock to AirTran Airways, we'll add more flights and more seats. Hopefully, we'll pick up a lot of those passengers who used to fly US Airways," he said.
The US Airways' decision comes in the wake of its elimination this week of all service to Harrisburg and Richmond, Va., from Pittsburgh and cuts in nonstop flights to Los Angeles and San Francisco, leaving only one a day to each of those cities.
As with those moves, US Airways spokesman Morgan Durrant linked the Florida cutbacks to a 3 percent to 5 percent reduction in capacity the airline is undertaking to offset staggering fuel costs.
"It's one sector we found where we could reduce the capacity," he said. "We know it's not going to be painless. We know it's valued."
Asked how US Airways would compete with other airlines offering nonstop service, Mr. Durrant replied, "This is one area where we will have to do the best we can."
The reductions are the latest in a series of retreats from Pittsburgh that US Airways began shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. At one time it had more than 600 daily nonstop flights from Pittsburgh. This month, that's down to 58.
But two aviation analysts said the Florida moves aren't surprising given the financial crunch precipitated by fuel prices.
Local analyst Bill Lauer said travelers shouldn't view the latest cuts as denigrating to Pittsburgh. He said there was a "need to take capacity down. It's got to come from somewhere."
"A lot of US Airways' post-9/11 system planning has been seen, to some extent unfairly, by folks in this locale as a slap to the face of the region. Whatever you might think of the original decision to dehub Pittsburgh, I don't think what they're talking about now has anything to do with that."
While US Airways will end nonstop service to Florida cities, Mr. Lauer believes it still will be able to maintain the bulk of its traveler base to those destinations.
Darryl Jenkins, a Virginia-based airline industry consultant who has followed US Airways closely, said he was surprised the airline didn't cut the service sooner.
"In a normal year they would have. This is what we call an abnormal year, perhaps the most abnormal year of my life," he said. "This is the worst operating environment I've ever seen."
He called the end of the nonstop flights "a good move."
"It's kind of a very reasonable thing to do. I actually think it's remotely predictable. When they pulled down Pittsburgh as a hub, they began routing flights elsewhere. Their thinking is people will still get the service; they'll just have to make a stop," he said.
He doesn't think US Airways will lose much sleep over travelers it might lose to other airlines.
"I doubt they care because it's probably passengers they couldn't make money on. If AirTran or Southwest can make money on them, God bless them," he said.
Southwest currently offers three to four nonstop trips a day to Orlando and two a day to Tampa. Spokeswoman Whitney Eichinger said the airline has no plans to add service in response to the US Airways' decision.
"We do have plenty of service there to Florida and we will continue to operate that," she said.
As of July, in the latest statistics available from the airport authority, USA 3000 offered four flights a week to Fort Lauderdale and Fort Myers and three a week to St. Petersburg.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08249/909608-28.stm
US Airways cuts nonstop flights to Florida
Friday, September 05, 2008
By Mark Belko, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
US Airways isn't finished cutting flights in Pittsburgh just yet.
Starting Jan. 5, the airline will eliminate all nonstop service to Florida, one of the most popular destinations from Pittsburgh International Airport, as it seeks to reduce capacity in light of high fuel prices.
Gone will be 11 weekly nonstop flights to Orlando (one to two a day), seven a week to Fort Lauderdale (one a day), and six a week to Tampa. Next year, US Airways travelers will have to connect through Philadelphia or Charlotte, N.C., to get to Florida.
With the decision, US Airways "is literally handing the competition business," said Bradley D. Penrod, Allegheny County Airport Authority executive director.
Orlando is the top destination for travelers from Pittsburgh, Tampa is eighth, Fort Lauderdale is ninth, and Fort Myers is 15th. Southwest Airlines, AirTran Airways and USA 3000 will continue to provide nonstop flights to Florida.
In fact, AirTran will be adding nonstop trips four to five times a week to Fort Lauderdale, Tampa and Fort Myers Oct. 7. All three convert to daily nonstop service Nov. 20. Fort Lauderdale will get a second daily nonstop flight in February.
Although AirTran said the flights were in the works before US Airways decided to eliminate nonstop service, Mr. Penrod said the pending cuts "probably helped accelerate it some."
He said the new AirTran trips serve to blunt the impact of the US Airways' cuts.
"They've stuck with Pittsburgh," he said of AirTran. "The region has supported them, and they acknowledged that by adding service when others like US Airways are cutting it. I take that as a very good sign."
Tad Hutcheson, AirTran vice president of marketing and sales, said the carrier could add more flights depending on demand.
"Of course, we'll watch passenger demand. As more passengers flock to AirTran Airways, we'll add more flights and more seats. Hopefully, we'll pick up a lot of those passengers who used to fly US Airways," he said.
The US Airways' decision comes in the wake of its elimination this week of all service to Harrisburg and Richmond, Va., from Pittsburgh and cuts in nonstop flights to Los Angeles and San Francisco, leaving only one a day to each of those cities.
As with those moves, US Airways spokesman Morgan Durrant linked the Florida cutbacks to a 3 percent to 5 percent reduction in capacity the airline is undertaking to offset staggering fuel costs.
"It's one sector we found where we could reduce the capacity," he said. "We know it's not going to be painless. We know it's valued."
Asked how US Airways would compete with other airlines offering nonstop service, Mr. Durrant replied, "This is one area where we will have to do the best we can."
The reductions are the latest in a series of retreats from Pittsburgh that US Airways began shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. At one time it had more than 600 daily nonstop flights from Pittsburgh. This month, that's down to 58.
But two aviation analysts said the Florida moves aren't surprising given the financial crunch precipitated by fuel prices.
Local analyst Bill Lauer said travelers shouldn't view the latest cuts as denigrating to Pittsburgh. He said there was a "need to take capacity down. It's got to come from somewhere."
"A lot of US Airways' post-9/11 system planning has been seen, to some extent unfairly, by folks in this locale as a slap to the face of the region. Whatever you might think of the original decision to dehub Pittsburgh, I don't think what they're talking about now has anything to do with that."
While US Airways will end nonstop service to Florida cities, Mr. Lauer believes it still will be able to maintain the bulk of its traveler base to those destinations.
Darryl Jenkins, a Virginia-based airline industry consultant who has followed US Airways closely, said he was surprised the airline didn't cut the service sooner.
"In a normal year they would have. This is what we call an abnormal year, perhaps the most abnormal year of my life," he said. "This is the worst operating environment I've ever seen."
He called the end of the nonstop flights "a good move."
"It's kind of a very reasonable thing to do. I actually think it's remotely predictable. When they pulled down Pittsburgh as a hub, they began routing flights elsewhere. Their thinking is people will still get the service; they'll just have to make a stop," he said.
He doesn't think US Airways will lose much sleep over travelers it might lose to other airlines.
"I doubt they care because it's probably passengers they couldn't make money on. If AirTran or Southwest can make money on them, God bless them," he said.
Southwest currently offers three to four nonstop trips a day to Orlando and two a day to Tampa. Spokeswoman Whitney Eichinger said the airline has no plans to add service in response to the US Airways' decision.
"We do have plenty of service there to Florida and we will continue to operate that," she said.
As of July, in the latest statistics available from the airport authority, USA 3000 offered four flights a week to Fort Lauderdale and Fort Myers and three a week to St. Petersburg.
) why would Airtran? And, you feel that people will just be "flocking" to Airtran for nonstop flights? Probably, but don't kid yourselves: the leisure crowd will "flock" to the cheapest fare, even if it means a stop in CLT.
