Usair Relationship With Shuttle America

[Hope777]

Well as far as the RJ goes, The CRJ CANNOT handle EWR-PHL with Full loads,so I would guess it couldnt do ABE-PHL either. Always, Always weight restricted. Years ago when the Dash flew the route, guess what....no problems. And the CRJ is the better aircraft on short hops over the ERJ. So are these small Jets the answer..........................NO!

 

[usairways85]

i think that's a wrong guess. There's a major difference between the market of PHL-ABE and PHL-EWR. People flying PHL-EWR are mainly flying to connect to an international destination that is not served at PHL. That's why there is only 1 flight a day on US express and CO express(sometimes flown with a ER3). Don't forget there is also about 25 daily trains if not more between PHL-Newark for the normal business traveler. PHL-ABE on the other hand, has no train service and is mainly used for ppl flying to PHL to connect to some other destination, not just international or business.

 

[robbedagain]

Cluebyfour: could you please elaborate more forme about the short performance?
Also we fill all of our phl flts (on all Dash 8) 90% of the time and the RJs to pit and the one to clt are heavy. But does that mean that it is money making flts?

 

[ClueByFour]

Cluebyfour: could you please elaborate more forme about the short performance?
Also we fill all of our phl flts (on all Dash 8) 90% of the time and the RJs to pit and the one to clt are heavy. But does that mean that it is money making flts?

The runway at HHH/HXD (Hilton Head) is 4300". I'm not familiar with the CRJ/ERJ performance numbers, but can you actually _get_ an RJ down and up from that facility?

EYW is 4800". Can you get the RJ down in that amount of space.

I guess my point is that US still serves probably half a dozen or so (at least) locations with very short field lengths. I would think you would hold on to a dozen or so turbos to serve these markets (because we all know that the riff-raff that flies to Hilton Head does not spend big money on airfare.... ).

 

[USFlyer]

My hunch is either 1-3 affilliate turboprop carriers will remain (e.g., Air Midwest, Colgan) to serve these markets. Some of the MA cities (e.g., Hyannis, Nantucket) and NY cities (Ogdensburg) are probably in the same boat where flying an RJ is not possible or simply doesn't make sense. Perhaps US will abandon these markets, so who knows.

You know what would be nice, too ... refurbish whatever turboprops are slated to remain. While many of them are not that old, they are looking worn.

 

[phllax]

Orenstein has said on his employee line that he wil use the 1900's for EAS as much ase can, as it seems to be the only way to make money with them. HHH cannot accomodate a RJ, which is why ASA still runs ATR's to ATL. CCY is just going to have to realize that the are some airports that cannot accomodate a RJ due to either demand or runway length. They should take the hint from CO Express, but we all know that everyody at CCY wears blinders.

 

[robbedagain]

Cluebyfour: Thanks for the post. As for the crj and erj performance, I have heard that the crj is better than the erj. But I dont know for sure. The ERJs that we have from ABE to PIT (roughly 2 times a day) and the lonely ERJ to CLT both have heavy loads and it appears to take quite a bit of runway on landing. I have noticed that Comair, which uses both the CRJ-200 and the CRJ-700 dont take up but may be half of that. But I wouldnt know the actual numbers but hopefully this may help. I know the runway in abe is about 7500 and the other one is something like 69 or 6800.

 

[Light Years]

There is definitely a place for the EAS service provided by B1900s, and this is the type of stuff that should be flown by commuter affiliates. There are also important markets that require a prop (HHH as pointed out), and some that for common sense reasons would be more cost effective with a 30 seat prop- Hagerstown for one, and some of the New England communites served by Colgan Air. If Airways is the only game in town, there is no reason to send a regional jet into that city.

Theres also the issue of capacity with the choice of the Bombardier CRJ. The CRJ family has flexibility upwards with 50-80 or so seats (including the notorious 705 or whatever ). The lowest capacity CRJ has 44 seats. The Embrear 145 family on the other hand has flexibility downwards, with 37-50 seats- the 170 and 190 are a totally new airframe. So with US getting the CRJ, this leaves a problem for some of the Dornier and Dash 8 markets- 50 seats could be too much capacity. I dont believe US has really addressed that issue as it probably just depends on what ever is cheapest, and they like to keep everyone in suspense.

Continental has the right idea- a single RJ carrier, and then Continental Connection affiliates operating B1900s and EMB120s. How our smorgasboard of regional carriers and blurry product definition (B1900 and E170 are both Express?) is cost effective or efficient is beyond me.

As for Shuttle America, who knows. If they have any sort of future I dont believe its with US Airways. I did see that thier pilots just signed a contract that pays them half a peanut a month, sadly thats probably good for them in today's environment. However, I cant think of any airline thats looking for a handful of ancient Saab 340s. The markets they serve for US are mostly routes that will eventually be RJ, but arent too high on the priority list (and thats if the Pittsburgh hub remains longer than a year). US will probably keep them around for a few months to fill in gaps in the PIT Express network as PSA parks the props and transitions to jets. I wonder if anyone in CCY has ever gotten an eyeful of thier delapitated cabins and some of thier um... flight attendants

 

[Singleflyer]

Light years,

You forgot the Ford Van the CO "flies" between ABE and EWR. The people at ABE should be happy US does not switch service to a van/bus like CO does on the shortest of routes that they sell tickets on. So not everthing CO has done on it's feeder operation is great.