Faced with increasing competition from low-cost carriers and a high cost structure of its own, the ``status quo is not an option'' for US Airways, the airline's Chairman, Stephen M. Wolf, told the Senate Judiciary Committee today.

``Senators, there are two certainties,'' Wolf told the panel. ``One, US Airways does not have the financial wherewithal to become a large network carrier. Two, you cannot shrink an airline into profitability.''
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/010207/dc_us_airw.html

I wonder if he was referring to the stock options senior management are planning to cash in.

Good one! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

This is fall out from LTC going under.

In a sane world there would be a USAirways TWA merger with some labor give backs.

If Wolf is so darn certain his airline is too small to survive and too poor to grow, why did he commit to forking out a bejillion dollars for all those beautiful Airbuses? To sweeten the pot so United could scarf them all up and relegate its' ancient 727s to the East Coast? Makes one wonder...

I agree, in a sane world, the board of USAirways would have them buying TWA instead of the Airbuses. Presto - a hub that can channel traffic to and from the WestCoast (USAir's achilles heel).

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"You can never have too much Reverb."

Combining TWA and US looks like a good idea from a route structure standpoint only.

Combinin these two carriers labor costs, fleet commonality (lack-of), cost structure (Icahn's strangle on revenue at TWA and US's east coast sky-high costs) and the age (old and inefficient) of TWA's and US's fleets (sans-Airbus) would only ensure these two airlines would be able to hold each others hand as they went down the tubes...

UA plans to sell Piedmont Airlines Inc., PSA Airlines Inc. and Allegheny Airlines Inc. - three of the nine regional carriers that fly under the US Airways Express name.

Atlantic Coast Airlines Holdings Inc., which flies under the United Express and Delta Connection banners, is the largest carrier at Washington Dulles Airport, with 250 flights a day, and one of the fastest-growing regional airlines.

In last year's third quarter, Atlantic Coast was the ninth-largest regional airline with 985,833 passengers, according to the Regional Airline Association.

The Washington Post said Piedmont, PSA and Allegheny had a total of 1.7 million passengers for the same period. The combined 2.7 million passengers would place Atlantic Coast second, behind American Airlines Inc.'s American Eagle, which had 3 million pax.
http://news.airwise.com/stories/2001/02/983019567.html

If USAirways doesn't have the wherewithal to compete, I can hardly imagine it being able to acquire TW and all its debt and survive, unless, through the bankruptcy proceedings, TW can shed itself of a LOT of its baggage.

Forgetting the financials for a moment, a STL hub for US would be a great strategic addition, particularly for its east-west travel. But USAirways could also beef up a hub at Kansas City, where it already has a commuter operation (Kansas, Oklahoma, Iowa, Missouri) in place. Kansas City is a great airport - lots of unused capacity, very few delays, and, unlike STL, doesn't have its main runways too close together to operate during marginal weather conditions. I would bet that KC and the State of Missouri would come up with a helluva incentives package to attract an airline to hub there.

The downside would be that MCI has been the kiss of death for hub carriers - to wit, Braniff and Eastern... http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif And Southwest is a major player there.

Just some thoughts from the FWIW department...

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/swaggie

Originally posted by swaggie:
If USAirways doesn't have the wherewithal to compete, I can hardly imagine it being able to acquire TW and all its debt and survive, unless, through the bankruptcy proceedings, TW can shed itself of a LOT of its baggage.

Forgetting the financials for a moment, a STL hub for US would be a great strategic addition, particularly for its east-west travel. But USAirways could also beef up a hub at Kansas City, where it already has a commuter operation (Kansas, Oklahoma, Iowa, Missouri) in place. Kansas City is a great airport - lots of unused capacity, very few delays, and, unlike STL, doesn't have its main runways too close together to operate during marginal weather conditions. I would bet that KC and the State of Missouri would come up with a helluva incentives package to attract an airline to hub there.

The downside would be that MCI has been the kiss of death for hub carriers - to wit, Braniff and Eastern... http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif And Southwest is a major player there.

Just some thoughts from the FWIW department...



There are two major problems with MCI. 1) is the prevalence of cheap carriers at MCI. Both WN and NJ are killer on yields especially when NJ is running around with $39 and $49 sale fares. 2) The BIG problem is the MCI terminal. Like DFW, it is a great terminal for O/D but would be a TERRIBLE terminal for connections due to the narrowness of the terminal. The narrowness makes it impossible to have centralized security checkpoints; you have security points for every 2 - 4 gates. Ya wanna go to the bathroom, you have to exit the secured area. Your flight arrives at A3 and departs A8, you have to exit the secured area.

If you did a MAJOR rework of the office/concession/gate space, you might be able to solve problem 2. Half of problem is still on life support and may go away within the next few months.