Fatherknowsbest said:
To MarkMyWords :
One of my points is to attack WN in the very near future. Why wait for next May in PHL? If we give WN something else to worry about (STL as an example point) maybe they don't get so entrenched in PHL.
So tired of waiting for our Management to fight a battle (other than against the employees). I think if we would ever go on the offensive some other Airline CEO's would die of shock!
I'm ready to fight now! Almost all of us have been spoiling for a fight of somekind that could be a plus, instead of fighting each other!
I want some leadership, I think we all WANT some LEADERSHIP!
Thank you, rant over!
I agree that US has always been a follower and on the defensive, and it would be great to be a leader and to take an offensive stance for a change. Depending on how effective we are at changing our business practice, maybe we could see some sort of offensive. Let me try an example and see what you think:
Let's say that we roll the PHL hub and thru the efficencies we increase our aircraft utilization rate from 10 hours to 13 and from an average of 7 segments to 9 (hypothetically
😉 ). If we have 250 active flying airplanes, theoretically, we could increase flying by nearly 500 flights a day. (Again, this is just an example.....used to emphasize a point) Now we all know that you can't cram 500 additional flights into PHL alone, so there will be some residual benefits to other stations. Now we add to this the changed fare structure. Perhaps we could take a more offensive stance in cities like BOS and LGA. It has been WN's modus operandi to avoid bigger stations like BOS and LGA by offering low fare alternatives using secondary airports like PVD, MHT and ISP.
What if we use some of that additional flying to add service out of a station like BOS. Compete with routes that WN flies out of MHT and PVD but offer the service out of BOS and at a fare the same as WN or very close to it. Imagine you are a customer that lives in the BOS area and you now have a choice. You can fly WN out of MHT or PVD to MCO for 160.00 or you can fly US out of BOS for 175.00. Is it now worth the drive to MHT or PVD for a 15.00 fare difference?
Again, this all goes back to having the right product at the right price....but do you see where we may be able to regain some of the market share that we have lost? The additional flying may have the added benefit of opening additional markets or increasing service on exsisting markets with beter utilized aircraft.
Again, this is just a high level overview of a conceptual idea.