Us Regulatory And Route News

[ITRADE]

Well, I'm finally back in the states after a 2 week jaunt to Asia.

Anyhow, in the interim:

DOT approved the US-Spanair codeshare application

DOT approved the US blanket application for service to the U.K. (excluding LHR/LGW). So, GLA would certainly be on now.

DOT approved an application by Aerolineas Baleares to act in concert with Spanair to provide codeshare flights from Madrid to a number of Spanish cities including Palma and Barcelona - all using 717s.

US filed two additional United code-share applications. One of which relates to adding codes to UA flights to SIN and BKK. The other relates to the addition of US's code to UA flights to both San Salvador (SAL) and Guatemala City (GUA)

 

[Light Years]

I wonder how US service to SAL and GUA would do? Would this be a good expansion of Our Carribbean/LatAm service. How about Caracas? These could all be served with A320 family, right?

 

[tadjr]

There are still many cities in the Caribbean/Central America that could hold potential for US service. Including..
Curacao
Bonaire
Port of Spain
Tobago
Grenada (again)
Martinique
Guadeloupe
St Kitts (again?)
Puerta Plata
Kingston
Aguadilla
Ponce
Port au Prince
Panama City
Liberia
Managua
Tegucigalpa
San Pedro Sula
Roatan
La Ceiba
Guatemala City
Maracaibo
Acapulco

Of course not all would be daily possibilities, but a couple with 2X or 3X/wk service would take care of some more flying opportunities. Of course some of these are already served via our GoCaribbean network, but not by US directly.

 

[MarkMyWords]

GND and SKB are still mainline stations......but are served Sat only.

Could all these destinations be served by mainline?

 

[tadjr]

AFAIK all of the cities I've listed have or have had jet service (MD80/737/727 or larger) so should be able to handle the Airbus unless there would be some kind of weight/distance restriction for the routes they would run, but that doesnt seem to be a big issue at CCY . Some of the routes would definitely not be more than once or twice a week, ie Roatan and La Ceiba, but they would add to the snorkeling crowds destinations. Some cities, Aguadilla, Ponce, Kingston might be more of the VFF routes. I'm sure there are some opportunities for LGA-Puerto Rico routes even if Sat only or one stops via PHL.
I knew GND and SKB were at one time mainline, but couldnt remember if they were dropped altogether or Sat only. The map on US.com showed them only as GoCaribbean destinations and not mainline.

 

[MarkMyWords]

Weight and distance restrictions? What the heck are those? LOL

I wonder how many of these destinations would subsidize the flights until a market is established. I know that was the case in quite a few of the caribbean destinations that we opened in the begining.

I know this is a tad off topic but I was wondering.....would there be a market for late departures out of PHL to some caribbean cities? I know we do PHL-SJU at 6p to connect with the European arrivals, but could we serve more islands with late departures too? Could we utilize the ERJ170 to soem destinations? (would it have the range?) This would provide connections out of Europe and return connections as morning originators to the European departures in PHL.

 

[ringmaruf]

US applied for broad US-Guatemala and US-El Salvador authority. In the application, they stated that it's initially for codesharing with UA on LAX-GUA and LAX-SAL (LAX not being the most efficient place to connect), but that service on US metal could be in the future. Their application will allow them to start their own service when they want to (probably pending foreign government approval).

 

[ClueByFour]

Weight and distance restrictions? What the heck are those? LOL

I wonder how many of these destinations would subsidize the flights until a market is established. I know that was the case in quite a few of the caribbean destinations that we opened in the begining.

I know this is a tad off topic but I was wondering.....would there be a market for late departures out of PHL to some caribbean cities? I know we do PHL-SJU at 6p to connect with the European arrivals, but could we serve more islands with late departures too? Could we utilize the ERJ170 to soem destinations? (would it have the range?) This would provide connections out of Europe and return connections as morning originators to the European departures in PHL.

I might do it on Thursday and Friday, so that people can bail out of work and bugy to the islands. For everyone else, the primary motivation is to show up at the islands ASAP so that you can get an extra afternoon at the beach.

 

[CynicalResAgent]

AFAIK all of the cities I've listed have or have had jet service (MD80/737/727 or larger) so should be able to handle the Airbus unless there would be some kind of weight/distance restriction for the routes they would run, but that doesnt seem to be a big issue at CCY

Does anyone know what the range limitations are on the Airbus 320/321 and 757? Is narrowbody service to Europe a possibility (EDI,GLA,SNN,ORK,DUB,MAN,STN). I know that LH has a codeshare with a carrier that operates ORD-DUS and EWR-DUS and the service is listed as being on a 737 and 757. I also know that Icelandair flies Reykjavik to MCO and MSP with a 757.

I know the average fares are higher and the cost of a narrowbody is lower. Could narrowbody service to europe be profitable?

 

[tadjr]

Is narrowbody service to Europe a possibility (EDI,GLA,SNN,ORK,DUB,MAN,STN). I know that LH has a codeshare with a carrier that operates ORD-DUS and EWR-DUS and the service is listed as being on a 737 and 757. I also know that Icelandair flies Reykjavik to MCO and MSP with a 757.

Yes its possible. Co does it now as do some European charter outfits. AC reconfiguration and upgrades would be needed though.

The LH flights are done with 737s, but they are next generation with a business layout (limited seating) and added fuel tanks and other upgrades that would not be possible on our 737s. You can check out the BBJs on the Boeing website.

 

[BoeingBoy]

C Agent,

757 can have the range for the shorter trans-atlantic. I know CAL used to fly EWR-Gatwick with the 757, maybe they still do. I doubt if our 75's are ETOP qualified but maybe someone more knowledgeable on that a/c can chime in.

I think the Lufthansa thing you mentioned with the 737 is a codeshare with an outfit that flies what seems to be basically the BBJ version of the NG 737. Seems like they put 46 seats in it & charge a premium price.

 

[ITRADE]

Couple thoughts.

As to routings, Tad has pointed out most everything that is technically feasible. I would think that POS is the most likely destination given that the Trinidadian government is trying to increase tourism to the country.

OTOH, US should be looking to Mexico for some of its future service. As I've posted earlier, Acapulco and Mazatlan are popular tourist sites that have moderate levels of service (none east of the Mississippi). Moreover, I priced some fares out to these cities and the average fare was running about $550 r/t. So, if you had two aircraft you could do, say, BOS-PHL-ACA-PHL-BOS and have the plane running for about 12-14 hours that day.

Chris Chaimes, amongst others, you're watching this board, so please feel free to forward this on to the sales/route planning/strategy departments.

On another topic - 757s. I had done a seatmap for a 757-200ER (or EOW) with 16 C class seats and 158 Y class seats. Its at http://www.geocities.com/eye_trade/futuref...fleetseats.html

This configuration allows for 16 standard Envoy class seats while preserving the current coach class configuration - the remaining change would relate to the HF radios, engine certs, life rafts, etc. 5 - 7 converted 757s might open up some opportunities as detailed below:

My thought on this was that you could 1) start service to new markets that you are unsure as to the total success of the market (i.e. PHL-GLA, PHL-BCN, etc.) or 2) you could dedicate service to cities on a year-round basis whereas these cities are being flown on a "seasonal" basis. For example, US flies PHL-SNN and PHL-DUB on a seasonal schedule with two 767-200s. Why not use those aircraft on the high season flights and then use two 757-200ERs to fly the off-season? Alternately, fly a single 757-200ER using a tag - PHL-SNN-DUB-PHL.

Theoretically, US could also use 757-200s to fly transatlantic out of BOS. The 300 miles closer to Europe opens additional opportunities out of BOS that may not be available out of PHL. However, doing so will require a commitment to BOS that I am not certain US is prepared to make - or maybe they are and we don't know it yet. Additionally, there is already a good deal of BOS-London service, so US would have to really push the loyalty issue in BOS.

 

[ITRADE]

PHL-Ireland tag flight:

DEP TIME ARR TIME
PHL 20:00 DUB 7:35
DUB 10:45 SNN 11:30
SNN 12:30 PHL 14:50

Acapulco service:

DEP TIME ARR TIME
BOS 6:45 CLT 9:05
CLT 10:15 ACA 13:50
ACA 15:10 CLT 19:50
CLT 21:30 BOS 23:35

The same could be applied to Mazatlan.

 

[MarkMyWords]

Hey there Itrade......Welcome back.

Question for you......do you think there would be a strong market for the Mexican Pacific Resort cites off the east coast? Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan, Acapulco, Manzanillo and Ixtapa I thought were always a bigger draw from the west coast.

Also, does anyone know if we hauled a lot of cargo to SNN and DUB this summer? That may also help support the year round service if we built up a good cargo hauling business. Just a thought.

 

[PITbull]

Hey there ITRADE, when you leaving again?

Question for you.....your name wouldn' happen to be Bruce?