West Coast pulldown

[Dont call me Shirley]

I am as guilty as anyone on these pages; May marked twenty years since USAir's pulldown of most of the former PSA network, and the anniverssary was not discussed here. Normally, the perceived missteps of our favorite airline are discussed at length.

IIRC, these cities were pulled out of in May, 1991: BLI, PDX, OAK, SJC, CCR, FAT, ONT, PSP, LGB and BUR. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong. The SFO-LAX hourly "shuttle" lasted until '94, I think, as did SFO-SEA flights. How long did SMF last?

I know that many here think it's fun to beat up on US and what happened to the former PSA markets. In all fairness, AA did the same with AirCal and while Bob Crandall has been called many things, no one has called him a slouch.

The abadonment of the former OC and PS routes became a goldmine for Southwest. I'm sure someone can post how much of WN's business in now intra-California. While I'm sure that most of have opinions on how/why it happened; it is very sad indeed that this took place.

And to think that, thanks to the HP merger, many of these cities are now back.



As much as I hate to quote anet, there was a discussion of this subject there a while back. As with most things on airliners.net, there is a hight drivel/insight ratio:
http://www.airliners.net/aviation-forums/general_aviation/read.main/289202/

From the anet postings:
"I saw an interview once with Herb Kelleher, and they asked him how they became so successful in California. He said "It's simple. USAir."
I wonder if Mr Kellerher sent a case of Wild Turkey to CCY as thanks!

 

[WorldTraveler]

not Shirley,
to be fair, the late 80s round of mergers in the airline industry focused heavily on the west coast - AA bought Reno, DL bought WA, and US bought PSA... and all of those new owners threw alot of energy into trying to build a presence on the west coast. It was obviously too much capacity and they all shot each other.... only UA decided it was worth their while... and since UA was strongest on the west coast before, it made the most sense for them to fight - and that is what they did.
.
In contrast, UA has given up the most on the east coast during the past 20 years... every network carrier had to pick what was worth fighting for.
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There are few vestiges of either PSA or Reno left and DL pulled down most of their north-south west coast flying.
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Here is how passenger boardings have changed from July 1990 until July 2010 for all flights within the US from California:
AA - up 3%
DL - up 3% (includes NW from 1990)
US - down 50% (actually about 350K passengers per month)
UA/CO - up 26% (combined UA/CO for both periods
WN - up 520% - or more than 1.5 million passengers per month.

.
So, while US pulled down more of their west coast network than any other carrier, WN grew far more than what US gave up.... In fact, UA's increase over 20 years is almost identical to what US gave up.... so it is probably more accurate to say that WN built its own traffic while UA largely picked up US'.
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And 18% of WN's seats and 14% of their ASMs are to/from California as of this summer's schedule. (this is for WN only - does not reflect FL so the percent will go down if the new WN is compared).

 

[blue collar]

AA bought Reno in the 90s. It was AirCal that they bought in the 80s.

 

[Dont call me Shirley]

AA bought Reno in the 90s. It was AirCal that they bought in the 80s.

Another decade, but they dismantled QQ just as did with did with OC. I kinda liked Reno Air, too.

 

[SS255]

The SFO-LAX hourly "shuttle" lasted until '94, I think, as did SFO-SEA flights...And to think that, thanks to the HP merger, many of these cities are now back.

I remember flying the LAX-SFO shuttle in 1992, and I know it was around for a while thereafter. 1994 sounds about right. I even remember US Express service from LAX-SAN as late as 1996. I think that LAX-BWI was dropped around that time, as well. I was already a US Air loyalist (but not yet a VFF) when I moved to Los Angeles in 1991, and I watched the slow and steady pullback of service from my airlline of choice. I flew a lot of WN (and Morris Air -- anybody remember them?) around the West Coast back in the early to mid-90's after US pulled out.

While it is true that many of these West Coast cities are now US stations again, they only have service to PHX (and a few may still have service to LAS). The days of intra-CA flying on US are a distant memory. If you want to fly intra-CA to and from the smaller stations, in many cases WN may be your best (and perhaps your only) option. Even if UA, AA or DL fly the route, chances are it's on an RJ. And the fact that WN occupies most of the US terminal at LAX is a sad reminder of what US gave up.

 

[HPearlyretiree]

I remember after US bought PSA, they sent some FA's to PHX to try to scare the workers about how US was going to take over in the west and knock out HP and that if only the flight attendants would join a union, they would be protected, etc.

But, as usual US squandered PSA just like they squandered BWI.

HP should have never gone near US until they were dead and buried.

 

[Dont call me Shirley]

HP should have never gone near US until they were dead and buried.

Folks,
Could we please not turn this into yet another East vs West thing? There is more than enough of that.

We are talking about events of twenty years ago, not the US/HP merger. Sure, USAir's takeover of PSA was not a success. Neither was American's of AirCal. (Or QQ, for that matter) . Anyone old enough to remember how PSA and AirCal once ruled the skies of the Golden State can only shake his head at how US and AA failed. Let's just say that both misunderstood the intra Calif market - leaving it for WN.

Still waiting for someone to correct me on the cities closed in May of ' 91. Maybe I had it right.

 

[bagchucker]

WN seemingly capitalizes on every market US abandons for the past 20yrs. hhhmmm?!?!

 

[hp-csr-phx]

Hughes Airwest had a pretty big network out west before the merger with Republic and then NW. Looks like Republic started dismantling the West and NorthWest finished the job. This allowed America West to start the hub in PHX.

Hughes Airwest 1980

Republic 1982

 

[Dont call me Shirley]

You are right that RW was a player in the Wet, especially in many smaller cities. They even had a PHX hub.

Remember the "Yes' commercials?:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyi-niNoGiE&feature=related




RW fan/former employee site:
http://www.hughesairwest.com/

 

[machflyer]

SMF, ah yes...SMF.
I was living there and flying out of SFO on the 146 when we started the downsizing...and if I remember, 710 pilots furloughed.
If I remember, that was 1991. Fortunately, the furlough for me was short...8-9 months and when I was recalled around fall of 1991, it was to CLT and the F28.
I can remember two leg commutes to CLT via PIT, as they had a 727 SMF-PIT red-eye. But, it was short lived.
I very shortly was forced into driving to SFO for the red-eye to CLT, as mainline to SMF disapeared.
Late 1991.

DOH 1989

 

[phllax]

I believe LAX-BWI lasted until 9/11.

LAX-IND, LAX-MCI, LAX-CMH and the last vestiges of the LAX-SFO California Shuttle survived (with 5x daily or so service mostly QF codeshare connections) until the fall 1997 schedule change.

 

[jimntx]

Even if UA, AA or DL fly the route, chances are it's on an RJ. And the fact that WN occupies most of the US terminal at LAX is a sad reminder of what US gave up.

You are correct as far as AA. Other than 6 mainline LAX-SFO (and back) flights/day, most all intra-CA and north-south West Coast flying is either AE or a codeshare with AS.

To be fair to WN, I would say that most of that flying is more suitable for their type of operation than any of the rest of us. And, since they fly into the same airports we all do in CA, why not fly WN? You're not going to get a meal even on LAX-SFO anymore.

 

[WorldTraveler]

You are correct as far as AA. Other than 6 mainline LAX-SFO (and back) flights/day, most all intra-CA and north-south West Coast flying is either AE or a codeshare with AS.

To be fair to WN, I would say that most of that flying is more suitable for their type of operation than any of the rest of us. And, since they fly into the same airports we all do in CA, why not fly WN? You're not going to get a meal even on LAX-SFO anymore.

your statement is valid.... WN carries 75% of all the intra-California revenue right now.... but WN carries only 25% of all revenue from California to the rest of the US, so there is clearly a place for other carriers.
The fact that most of the California market is concentrated at about 10 airports, most of which are in two major metro areas makes it very easy for WN's high frequency short haul operation to capture revenue.
But when it comes to connecting California to hundreds of other communities in the US, including major markets where other carriers are much stronger, WN's business model is not as strong.
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As usual, the value that any specific airline provides is highly dependent on what you want that airline to provide. If you live in CA, fly intra-CA, but are also big into coast to coast or int'l, WN is probably not going to be your choice.

That's probably why AA, DL, and UA bother to compete from LAX with RJ flights as part of their larger global networks.

 

[jimntx]

WT, give it a rest. The major thrust of the thread is intra-CA and West Coast north-south business that US used to have that they dumped. P.S. I haven't noticed any WN flights to/from the rest of the U.S. that were empty. But, they must be. Your spreadsheet tells us so.