US Airways Dividend Miles (Pre-FlightFund Merger) - US AIRWAYS TO INTRODUCE ALL-REGIONAL JET SERVICE IN GAINESVILLE AND TALLAHASSEE

ARLINGTON, Va., January 12, 2004 -- US Airways will introduce all-regional jet service in Gainesville and Tallahassee, Fla., on March 7, 2004, offering enhanced comfort and convenience for customers.

From Gainesville, US Airways Express will replace the three daily nonstop roundtrip turboprop flights to Charlotte, N.C., with 50-seat Canadair Regional Jet flights. US Airways Express carrier Mesa Airlines will operate the new service.

In Tallahassee, US Airways will augment once-daily regional jet service to Charlotte by replacing two daily turboprop departures with 50-seat Canadair Regional Jet flights, also operated by Mesa Airlines.

"The new regional jet service will bring not only increased daily capacity to both these communities, but also improved levels of comfort and shorter flight times," said Daniel M. McDonald, US Airways vice president of planning and scheduling.

Passengers flying on US Airways Express’ Canadair Regional Jets travel comfortably in a quiet cabin equipped with large overhead storage bins, standup headroom, and reclining leather seats. Every seat is adjacent to either an aisle or a window. This aircraft also provides restroom facilities. The Canadair Regional Jet has 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.

US Airways Express’ wholly-owned subsidiaries and affiliate carriers currently operate more than 2,000 flights daily, serving 143 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.

Reporters needing additional information should contact US Airways Corporate Affairs at (703) 872-5100.

A step in the right direction. 300+ miles in a Dash-8 on a summer afternoon ain't fun, and I really like the -8. Ground holds for weather have been common since the Dash usually doesn't venture above FL200.

What next? Intra-Florida service returning? Again, this is not an action of a company getting ready to call it quits.

Just a thought also, but US be worried about something else right now instead of new cities to serve?

These flights are replacing 50-seat Dash-8-300's not the 37-seat Dash-8-100/200's that most of us think of. In addition to just being bigger, they're a bit quieter, and I think a bit faster. The RJ's will cost more to operate than the Dash 8's did, for the same number of seats, *and* we all know that 50 people on an RJ means bags are getting left behind, unlike on the Dash-8-300. So US better really think that this will improve the yields on these routes, or else I don't understand why they're doing it.

::sigh:: When do I ever understand anything they do? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/thumbsdown.gif

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by jetcity405:
Just a thought also, but US be worried about something else right now instead of new cities to serve?</font>

They aren't adding service to new cities, just upgrading service to existing cities. TLH and GNV are currently served by Dash 8 aircraft, which are going to be replaced by Regional Jets.

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No thanks, I'm just lurking. Call me the Lurker!

A couple points.

#1 TLH currently has 2 ERJs and one Dash-8. Its now going all CRJ.

#2 As mentioned on other boards, the jump from turbos to jets certainly draws more passengers owing to the general aversion from turboprops.

My initial reaction on seeing the post was to wonder how the introduction of all-RJ service in these markets differed from US's approach to any other domestic market. Maybe seeing the swarms of RJs around PIT over the holidays has made me somewhat cynical....