[wanderer34]

I've heard that PIT was supposed to be the original airline hub for USAir, but it never really happned due to USAir's misfortunes and and rocky finances.

Now PHL is considered it's hub, but I don't see how this is benefitting Philadelphia, because now that means that USAir controls a certain percentage of gates (I believe about 50%). This means that there's no competition foreither domestic (i.e. American, United, etc.) and int'l (i.e. Italian, Luftansa, Virgin, etc.) from coming in Philly and doing business here.

And besides, USAir is now a Phoenix-based company, so I don't see why they should make Philly a hub. If anything, I'd ratehr see Pittsburgh be the hub, since PIT is about 4x bigger than what we have in PHL. In return, I'd like to see PHL become something more like Boston, Miami, and JFK in New York for mainly int'l flights and NE Airport for mainly domestic. Philly, in this case, has two airports.

[DBR96A]

Pittsburgh has washed its hands of US Airways. They're worthless. Let Philadelphia and Charlotte deal with their incompetence, for all I give a fuck.

[Evergrey]

PHL due to its strategic location and Northeast Corridor population base.

Of course, the death of US Air would be far preferable.

[Brandon716]

Pittsburgh already was a US Airways hub, and it was its primary hub for many decades. It wasn't "almost" a hub, it was THE US Airways (and previous Allegheny Airlines) hub for decades. Charlotte has only been US Airways' number one hub since 2004.

With the way that US Airways does business, I think Pittsburgh is better off seeking other airliners to partner with.

One thing that is obvious is that the United States does not have an overbuilt airline system. We have many airports whose capacity is going underused while other airports are overstressed. With the amount of delays, overcrowded airports, and poor service, the industry could use another hub that relieves air traffic at certain airports. The biggest myth I've heard is that the industry is overbuilt when its very much the opposite.

I think PIT is well positioned to become a point of presence and eventually a hub for another airline. The airport is too high quality, high capacity capable not to be a target for growth.

[AaronPGH]

I hope USAirways dies a slow and painful death, leaving other airlines to dine on it's bloody rotting corpse.



Was that dramatic enough?

[Grego43]

I hope USAirways dies a slow and painful death, leaving other airlines to dine on it's bloody rotting corpse.



Was that dramatic enough?


Perfect, AC :tup:

Wanderer34, you should really, really, really read up on the history of All American/Allegheny/USAir/USAirways...you will be amazed. Here is a starting point for you: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USAirways

[wanderer34]

:previous: I honestly would love to see USAir leave PHL because I don't really see how it's presence is benefitting that airport. I can see that they're adding more European flights, but at the same time, they're controlling way too much of the gates for any type of competition. I hope the city understands what's going on because USAir is preventing otehr airlines from turning PHL into a moajor int'l hub.

[DBR96A]

US Airways ranked last out of 20 domestic airline carriers for systemwide on-time performance in March, April and May 2007, according to US Department of Transportation figures. According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics June 2008 report (using data from May 2008), US Airways ranked 7th for percentage of on-time arrivals.

That's what they get for abandoning their best airport! :haha:

[AaronPGH]

I really do wonder what a difference it would make if they hadn't abandoned PIT, and instead had sunk eveything they had into it. Would there be a cascading effect on US air travel? Would it improve their performance to the best? Or would PIT still be a victim of other airports poor performance trickling down to it?

[Brandon716]

^^That's the problem with US Airways, they invested so much money into a world class terminal in Pittsburgh, knew the operating costs would be slightly higher for such an investment, and they get up after 12 years and abandon the airport for an old secondary hub that was more inferior than the OLD Pittsburgh terminal they tore down in the 1990's.

Its these kinds of poor executive management decisions that have caused the airline to be the poorest customer service, poorest quality of all the major carriers.

Today they've invested more money at the inferior CLT airport to bring it up to major hub standards, still with tens of millions less in capacity ability even with the expenses, and that debt is now higher than the debt they had left over in Pittsburgh. Mind you they are building a new runway at a cost of several hundred million dollars, they built a new commuter concourse to the tune of several hundred million dollars. The operating fees at CLT are going way up, the service level is still less than PIT can handle.

So US Airways is now back in a financial situation where they might face bankruptcy - again - in the near future if fuel prices don't significantly drop, plus they are in an overcrowded terminal that wasn't built for 35 million passengers a year, with more debt for upgrading it than they had at Pittsburgh.

Go figure.

[Tombstoner]

I hope USAirways dies a slow and painful death, leaving other airlines to dine on it's bloody rotting corpse.



Was that dramatic enough?

Just a point of clarification: why would anyone dine on a rotting corpse? Dunno...just doesn't seem like a smart thing to do. Maybe it's me...

[AaronPGH]

Just a point of clarification: why would anyone dine on a rotting corpse? Dunno...just doesn't seem like a smart thing to do. Maybe it's me...

LOL, I guess that really wasn't a great analogy, was it?

[ntchorba]

US Airways does not have the capacity to support PIT as a hub. US is not an American or United, plus the proximity to PHL, it's main international flights origin, makes PIT more of a regional hub feeder than anything else. Major airlines are using their regional carriers to carry traffic to their respectable hub. American is taking passengers to Miami, Dallas, and LA, United to Chicago and DC, Continental to Newark and Houston, etc. US, being the smallest of the big dogs doesn't have much of an option, so Philly is the jump-off point. Kind of sucks since PIT has the ability to handle much more but is stuck playing second flute, while similar-size markets enjoy healthy air traffic with at least a couple of direct euro flights. It could be worse though. Northwest's loads from Seattle to London and back are in the 20% range.

[dugdogmaster]

I don't want USAir coming back here to PIT. They practically took our beautiful and wonderful airport down with them:hell: , and I wish that airline would just completely fold under already:D

[AaronPGH]

I don't want USAir coming back here to PIT. They practically took our beautiful and wonderful airport down with them:hell: , and I wish that airline would just completely fold under already:D

Let's be honest though, if it wasn't for USAir, we wouldn't have that "beautiful and wonderful airport". Not like that validates their pulling out....I'm just saying.

[Brandon716]

LOL

You guys said "pull out" :cheers: :haha:

[Evergrey]

Let's be honest though, if it wasn't for USAir, we wouldn't have that "beautiful and wonderful airport". Not like that validates their pulling out....I'm just saying.

In hindsight, perhaps it would've been more prudent for the region to have expanded the old airport or built an appropriately sized airport for the market... instead of building the "biggest and best airport in the world" and now being saddled with an embarrassing white elephant. But at the time (1980s), the region was reeling from brutal economic restructuring and I suppose the oversized airport was seen as a "silver bullet" solution. The airport never came close to fulfilling its promise even during the halcyon 90s... and its period of relevance was ultimately ephemeral.

[Brandon716]

Its my understanding that the upkeep of this airport isn't that expensive relative to building a smaller one, the problem was the original outstanding debt. And for better or worse, it was a premiere hub for over a decade after the new terminal's creation (with the higher passenger fees to support the payments) so the costs left over are still lower than building a smaller airport overall.

The airport debt is below $400 million these days, and it costs that must just to build one runway, minus any terminals or concourses. The debt situation at PIT is way overblown, it hasn't got unimaginable debt. If I were PA's Congressional and Senatorial delegation, I'd be trying to attach a supplemental to a bill to get funding to pay it off via federal funds.