US Airways Dividend Miles (Pre-2005 America West merger) - US Airways Express Will Begin Nonstop Roundtrip Service Between DCA and Birmingham

I wonder if Dr. Bronner had anything to do with this. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/021223/dcm006_1.html

Press Release Source: US Airways

US Airways Express Will Begin Nonstop Roundtrip Service Between Washington Reagan National and Birmingham, Ala. To Operate 50-Seat Regional Jets on New Route
Monday December 23, 10:42 am ET

ARLINGTON, Va., Dec. 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- US Airways Express will introduce daily nonstop roundtrip service between Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and Birmingham, Ala., using 50-seat Embraer-145 Regional Jet aircraft beginning Feb. 9, 2003. US Airways Express carriers Mesa Airlines and Midway Airlines will operate the new service.

WASHINGTON-BIRMINGHAM SCHEDULE

Depart Washington Arrive Birmingham
2:25 p.m. 3:25 p.m.
8:10 p.m. 9:10 p.m.

Depart Birmingham Arrive Washington
6:30 a.m. 9:30 a.m.
4 p.m. 6:59 p.m.


"The popular regional jet is the ideal aircraft to link Birmingham area business and leisure travelers with our nation's capital. With the only nonstop service between these two cities, customers will be able to fly direct while trimming about one hour from their existing travel time," said B. Ben Baldanza, US Airways senior vice president of marketing and planning. "We are delighted to bring this new service to our Birmingham and Washington area customers."

Passengers flying on US Airways Express' Embraer-145 Regional Jet flights travel comfortably in a quiet, roomy cabin equipped with leather seats where every seat is on either an aisle or a window. The Embraer-145 offers stand-up headroom, reclining seatbacks, large overhead storage bins, and a restroom. Flight attendant service is provided on every flight.

These regional jets have a cruising speed of over 500 miles per hour with a range of more than 1,000 miles, and can cruise at altitudes above 35,000 feet, providing US Airways Express long-range regional jet capability.

With the new schedule, US Airways Express will operate an all regional jet fleet at Birmingham, offering daily nonstop service to Charlotte, N.C., Reagan National, Huntsville, Ala., Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.

US Airways, US Airways Express and US Airways Shuttle currently operate the most flights at Reagan National Airport, offering customers 165 nonstop daily departures to 37 destinations.

US Airways Express' wholly owned subsidiaries and affiliate carriers currently operate more than 2,000 flights daily, serving 161 destinations in the U.S., Canada and the Caribbean.

For additional information on fares and schedules, visit US Airways online at usairways.com, or call US Airways Reservations at 1-800-428-4322.


Source: US Airways

I wonder if this will be enough to help bring my DL platinum colleagues over to US ... and to bring me back to US ...

A bunch of us do weekly DCA-BHM. B. Ben actually underestimates in his one hour estimate; this would save 2-3 hours of travel time when compared to connecting in CLT or ATL.

[This message has been edited by goldstj2 (edited 12-23-2002).]

I wonder if Dr. Bronner had anything to do with this.

....

I think the good ol boy would have asked them to fly an A330 just so he could sit his azz in an Envoy seat for the trip !! LOL http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/rolleyes.gif http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

RSA is in MGM (Alabama's capital), not BHM.

1 hour savings over a connection definitely seems very conservative!

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Beckles:
RSA is in MGM (Alabama's capital), not BHM.

1 hour savings over a connection definitely seems very conservative!</font>

Ummm.
Doesn't U already flies to MGM? I have taken the flight myself many times to visit my boss who lives there. Why would adding an airport 2 hours away mean anything to Bronner? (unless this is a "good for AL" sort of thing)