US Airways Dividend Miles (Pre-FlightFund Merger) - What carrier for me next

Tomorrow I'll buy myself an awardguard and may well be done with USairways. I hope that I get hope OK on Friday.

Then comes the New Year. I do *mostly* East Coast flying. The only clear second choice is Delta. But I just HATE Delta. I despise Atlanta. Besides the airport itself, Delta just sucks. I spent about 8 weeks full of generators going out, attendents hit in the head by doors closed too soon, workers crawling backwards out of engines with blow torches, pilots who'd gotten sick, gate computers that didn't print...it was just amazing to sit through week after week of SOMETHING GOING WRONG.

yet I check the runs down to Florida (Fort Myers, Sarasota or Tampa) and all I seem to see is Delta or USAir. I could hit America by flying 3 hops. I don't think I'd be able to do that.

Not sure what to do next except sigh and grit my teeth.

I don't know where you're based since you don't disclose it in your profile, but I'll fly WN before I fly DL. And then there's always AirTran, although I'd have to drive to NYC/BOS, which isn't particularly appealing. (I like my little regional airport a lot, thank you very much.)

Being in DC with most of my flights to Florida, New York, and San Diego, I'll probably gravitate back to American.

I am based in Norfolk, VA. We have every major airline there plus Southwest, and in Newport News (close) we have Airtran. I can get to Florida on Continental by flying up to Newark. Sounds like getting around your elbow to get to your ear, but Northwest means going out to Detroit and American looks like 3 segments to get down in the morning. After February '03 I dont' go to Florida any more any way.

The mention of little airports (eg BDL, above) makes me wonder what the government would do when a major closed down, denying air service to those towns.

I dont recall offhand how many of the small northeast/midwest towns are served ONLY by US. Anyone remember?

If Athens, GA was able to petition to keep service even though US wanted to cut it, what would they do if 30 of them all lost service overnight?

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by hscottm:
The mention of little airports (eg BDL, above) makes me wonder what the government would do when a major closed down, denying air service to those towns.

I dont recall offhand how many of the small northeast/midwest towns are served ONLY by US. Anyone remember?

If Athens, GA was able to petition to keep service even though US wanted to cut it, what would they do if 30 of them all lost service overnight?</font>

Many of the smaller airports are not really serviced by US Airways, rather by one of their contract express carriers (ie Mesa). If US goes Ch.7, some of those express carriers would probably just sign a codeshare agreement with another airline and start feeding their hubs. It wouldn't be overnight, but they would probably get service restored quickly.

FFMiles -

That was basically my point. Would the government step in and kick Mesa/et al in the pants to get such things done fast?

Example - some contract carrier probably flies the AHN-CLT (Athens, GA-Charlotte) route. No other airline would want them to connect in CLT. How fast could DOT give them route authority to fly AHN-ATL, etc?

Out of PIT I have a choice of either Amtrak or Greyhound for my new transportation provider.

We're a hostage of USAirways......I doubt that any other major will jump on all of the empty and underused gates at PIT.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by hscottm:
...How fast could DOT give them route authority to fly AHN-ATL, etc? ...
</font>

Route authority? Correct me if I'm wrong, but, except for "slot-controlled" airports (LGA, DCA, SNA, ORD?), that's not needed for a domestic carrier flying domestically. All you need is landing clearance.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by HPTunco:
Out of PIT I have a choice of either Amtrak or Greyhound for my new transportation provider.

We're a hostage of USAirways......I doubt that any other major will jump on all of the empty and underused gates at PIT.</font>

Hostage to US Airways? Sorry but that's a fallacy. Last I checked UA, AA, NW, DL, CO, and even, HP fly to/from PIT. It might not be as convenient, but the options are there.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by HPTunco:
Out of PIT I have a choice of either Amtrak or Greyhound for my new transportation provider.

We're a hostage of USAirways......I doubt that any other major will jump on all of the empty and underused gates at PIT.</font>

PIT, without the connecting traffic brought in by US, only needs 20 or 30 gates. Tops.

Should US go under, the first weeks will be ugly, as nobody else currently has enough lift in here to support the O/D demand without US. But things will eventually improve.

DL will fly to SLC, AA will go to MIA, NW might put real planes into MEM, and everybody will increase frequency. But it won't be a hub anymore.

This is not the end of the world. I've flown AA up to PLT this year, and I can tell you that connecting is not that bad, if you choose your connections carefully.

Failing all of this, try Execconnect (http://www.execconnectamerica.com/index.html). If you must go to CLE, go in some form of comfort (and, for those of us in the far North, pretty good convenience).

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Saving the world, one clue at a time.

Too bad they don't pick up from near the Pittsburgh airport-- I drive from Pittsburgh to Cleveland nearly every other day... (work, not travel)

I don't disagree with the non-hub traffic at PIT needing only 20-30 gates. The question is what will we do with a fairly new, state of the art facility that's still probably has several hundred million $ of debt?

PIT probably has 100 gates (including "E"), that will gather moss while we fly to AA, DL, NW, etc's hubs.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by HPTunco:
I don't disagree with the non-hub traffic at PIT needing only 20-30 gates. The question is what will we do with a fairly new, state of the art facility that's still probably has several hundred million $ of debt?</font>

This is why I don't live in Allegheny County http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif.

This is something they should have thought about before building the terminal in the first place. I'm assuming the bonds are probably insured, but the county's bond/debt rating will go in the toilet (probably for a long time) if they default on them, which they probably will if US folds, as it's unlikely that another major will move a hub here. Heck, even if Southwest came in, they would only be good for 5 or 10 gates, tops.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">PIT probably has 100 gates (including "E"), that will gather moss while we fly to AA, DL, NW, etc's hubs.</font>

And the Airmall is toast. The Hyatt will probably be in trouble as well. It pains me to say it, but this is what happen when government blows large amounts of taxpayer equity on the whim of private enterprise (which, in this case, was/is/maybe managed right out of existance).

If you had the good fortune of passing thru Nashville after AA left and Southwest expanded the last round you probably saw something similar to what PIT is going to have should US fold (entire coucourses "boarded up").

Obviously, I'm hoping none of this happens.


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Saving the world, one clue at a time.

If US folds - which I really don't expect - I would not be surprised to see FL make a play for some more presence. I would not expect WN to come in. PIT is too close to CLE.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by CoMooter:
If US folds - which I really don't expect - I would not be surprised to see FL make a play for some more presence. I would not expect WN to come in. PIT is too close to CLE.</font>

CLE has horrid landing fees, little expansion room, relatively (compared to PIT) lousy terminal facilities, and until the new runway is fully operational, field congestion problems. WN has all but said they won't be expanding at CLE anytime soon.

That said, I agree that they probably won't come to PIT, at least for awhile. FL starts Orlando service here pretty soon--but PIT has rebuffed FL in the past....

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Saving the world, one clue at a time.

I just got back from a BWI-ROC/Syracuse trip on Airtran. I liked it! The B-717 is what I imagine the EMB-175's will/may be with an F cabin curtained off from coach, nothing fancy but it beats the hell out of a Dash-8.

While I was in the boarding area in ROC, I became aware of something I hadn't seen too often lately--Airline people really working hard, I mean hustling to get the flights turned around and boarded while still treating everyone very nicely. I saw a ramp guy come up and politely take a lady in a wheelchair down the jetway (unheard of at U) immediately after that they boarded biz class and the rest. The Captain was at the door and greeted everyone (I rarely see that with U). They seem to be doing a lot of things right, granted I've heard some horror stories about this crowd in Atlanta, but I saw a nicely run operation. The young cabin crew was kind of a nice treat too.
It was also nice sitting in the U club at BWI before boarding, I just smiled when they asked if I needed help with my ticket. I think I'll give them a try on my next trip to MCO, or I could fly U to PHL and miss my connection because of clouds or the elusive Airbus certified jetway driver.

Two thumbs up for Airtran (for now)

I've been pretty happy when I've flown AirTran. You can buy a fully refundable "business class" ticket. You can upgrade for a reasonable fee, if space is available. Coach seats are okay on the 717s although the old DC9s are pretty old and ratty.

They are often on-time even! You will wait longer on connections than on full-service airlines sometimes, although the other airlines are planning rolling hub operations and you will have to wait with them too apparently.

Best of all, they even make money!

There are good point also if U goes under for the long term Pit consumer. You will have more choices in air carriers as more flights come in and the U monopoly is broken. This should lead to lower prices. People in such cities as Kansas City are glad they are not a hub airport

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by MrMan:
There are good point also if U goes under for the long term Pit consumer. You will have more choices in air carriers as more flights come in and the U monopoly is broken. This should lead to lower prices. People in such cities as Kansas City are glad they are not a hub airport</font>

Yes, this is true should US dump out. More likely is that US will decrease service out of PIT and use more Express flights in place of mainline jets. This will keep other carriers from expanding service, maintaining the US monopoly in PIT.

Fares sure are more competitive where there isn't one dominant carrier. The airlines sure take advantage of locations where they're the only game in town.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by HPTunco:
Fares sure are more competitive where there isn't one dominant carrier. The airlines sure take advantage of locations where they're the only game in town.</font>

Call it what it is. It's gouging. In most industries it is illegal.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by TomBascom:
Call it what it is. It's gouging. In most industries it is illegal.</font>

I agree with your term......I'm sure that the airlines call it their right to charge whatever price they desire.

Since the gov't pushed deregulation in the 80's they are probably reluctant to call attention to this.

In the end the airlines hurt themselves by supressing potential business with prices that are higher than the value received.