Why Roll The Phl Hub

[autofixer]

Huh...sounds like what Piedmont used to do before the merger. B)

 

[Oliver Twist]

Perhaps. But PI is a thing of the past as is all the others that were swallowed up. I can say that because I got swallowed up in '88. The future is were it's at. Think BIG, forget about "thinking outside the box, think of a better BOX!

 

[ELP_WN_Psgr]

Oliver:

Not sure why you would want to give WN a black eye or see them get 'their just desserts..." although I could argue their just desserts are some kind of medal for making air travel generally available to the hopelessly middle class.

In your post you have hit on one of the two big keys of WN's long term success. It isn't pay.....WN employees make pretty fair wages.

1. Single fleet type.

2. All sorts of hublets everywhere.

People on WN make connections at DAL, HOU, PHX, LAS, MDW, BWI, BNA.

They also make connections (per their schedule) at ABQ, MSY, MCI, OKC, TUL, SAT, AUS, ELP, SLC, LBB, and MAF

I know there have to be a few cities with no published connections in their timetable but it would seem that the number of cities with published connections exceeds those without.

Oh, and 3. One stops.

A lot of people denigrate one stop thru flights.

Truth is, they are a whole lot better than making a connection.

Southwest flies a whole bunch of people HRL-DAL every day. They have no nonstop service in that market.

AA was offering nonstops but recently pulled them due to an inability to compete.

A flight from A to B with a 20 minute stop/no plane change works almost as well...sells almost as well.....as a nonstop.

What it also allows you to do is beef up frequency...since you aren't dependent solely on traffic from A to B. You have passengers from A to C and from C to B on the flight, so you can increase frequency. And increased frequency always sells.

I doubt U will do it, though. They seem compelled to do everything they can to avoid being viewed as similar to WN, although one could argue that WN's profits would be a good thing to emulate.


Is WN out to "get" anyone? I don't really think so. My view of their goal is to make money. Moving into markets where other airlines have practiced extortion for long periods of time strikes me as a good way to make some. I doubt that Colleen, Herb, and Parker have a dartboard in their offices with other airline pictures on it.

Ultimately, the way to beat WN is not to worry about beating them. You have to learn to coexist at the same fare levels. They move in, traffic will expand....almost exponentially. And that is what it is really all about....not driving another carrier out of a market and jacking up the fares. Rather, it is all about creating the demand for your product at a lower fare and then satisfying that demand.

 

[Oliver Twist]

Companies like U and PI were once the WN's of the 70's. They were the inovators and shakers of the domestic airline world. They have lost that gleem in their eyes and they need it back.

As for the WN black eye, it's obviously rhetorical in nature. I do think your right about one thing, Herb and the gang don't sit there throwing darts at other logos. I do think your wrong in your belief that they are not gunning for U's markets and passengers. It's naive to think they are not.

I do not believe everyone wants to shop at Walmart, some like Target and I like Kmart. There is room for many choices and products. Companies have and always will charge what the market will pay. That is a fact that will not change. Prices are different in every Walmart in every city for the same product. It's what the market will pay that sets the price. U has figured out you can not charge 1000.00 to fly from BOS to MIA. They could not see that for a long time, at least until folks decided not to pay it. Now they do. Times change and the companies that don't change get left for dead.

WN has a fine business model - one that works for WN! I salute you and your fellow WN employess. But know this, it isnt the only model that works, if it was, we'd all be driving black Model T's.

US needs to change and will change, they will compete with the WN's of the world because they must. Do I wish WN to go out of business? Of course not. I don't wish that for Walmart either. But if Walmart was the ONLY place to shop - the world would be a much less enjoyable place to live.

To Wn/JB/FL et.al, I say this "See you in the market place, that's the real battleground"

 

[mweiss]

Companies like U and PI were once the WN's of the 70's.

PI maybe, but not AL. Allegheny, even back then, had some of the highest costs in the industry. They just happened to have the only service in many markets in the northeast at the time.