US Airways Dividend Miles (Pre-FlightFund Merger) - MCO-LGA now using SHUTTLE Planes??

I just tried to upgrade my upcoming BOS-MCO, MCO-LGA trip and I was told that the return was not upgradeable because they are using Shuttle aircraft on that route.

Does anyone know if this is a permanent thing? And are they adding more seats to the planes to remove the shuttle added legroom benefits?

I thought with MetroJet gone that I would finally be able to upgrade FL trips.. guess not!

Delta does the same thing. I doubt they're removing seats or else they'd just put the FC section back in if they were reconfiguring the plane anyway.

If they had the A320s in shuttle configuration, instead of the 732s, for Metrojet, it might still be in operation. I really like those planes.

From what I hear, this is the planned aircraft for this route, at least for the forseeable future.

If you go all the way back to the Trump
Shuttle, which was where US got the service from (thanks to Trump's bankers), they also did this, although part of the reason was he had maintenance done there by a third party provider, so it was a convenient way to get the planes down. Primarily, Orlando is a total leisure market, so it is an efficient way to serve it. That premise was the whole reason behind MetroJet. While MJ was a failure, it appears they have found a way to match service to yields in at least one market. Of course, this brings up the question of a mixed fleet, and the confusion it causes in marketing to business travelers, but the disruption from that issue is minimal in the case of MCO. Also, Shuttle planes have more room between rows, and are actually pretty comfortable.

US Airways regularly runs US Airways Shuttle Airbuses down to FLL and MIA from BOS/LGA, and they occasionally pop in other FL cities as well. The idea is that extra demand from the Northeast to Florida is extra high on weekends (especially to FLL/MIA for cruise ship embarkation and disembarkation), while demand on the northeast business corridor is very small. So they use the Shuttle jets between the NE and FL.

Believe me, it's heaven compared to MetroJet. The Shuttle A320s and brand new with comfortable seats and much more legroom than mainline coach or MetroJet coach. They really are quite roomy and comfortable.

Bizjet is correct. US has been running flights down to FLL and MIA for about a year now (usually Saturdays and Sundays) with Shuttle A-320s. The purpose is to pick up as many cruise passengers as possible.

I saw the shuttle in PVD in late Jan. on a Friday night. I know they use these for charters sometimes and at the time I thought it was that. It was a nice night so I doubt it was diverted from BOS unless it was mechanical.

Delta does the same thing, even to ATL during the week (e.g., 7:00 AM out of LGA).

Eastern did the same thing 20 years ago. Their shuttle 727s (all Y) flew outside the northeast; I used to get them frequently on flights into YYZ. Cycling the shuttle aircraft through EA's Atlanta and Miami maintenance bases had something to do with it.

I thought that the Eastern Shuttle also went to Toronto for a few years, or was it Montreal.

For a brief period in the early 70s (I'm guessing 72 or 73), the Eastern Shuttle did LGA-YUL. I believe it was every 2 hours; it's been a long time since I lived in Montreal.

I was referring to EA's ATL-YYZ service that transited IAD or PIT. (Until seven years or so ago, routes into YYZ from the states were limited to 1950-style traffic patterns, so ATL-YYZ had to stop somewhere.)

Pre-deregulation, EA operated LGA-YUL and AA operated LGA-YYZ. EA continued with LGA-YUL until it went belly up; DL, US, and AA have all tried it since then. AA still operates LGA-YYZ. Of course AC has flown both all along.