US Airways Dividend Miles (Pre-FlightFund Merger) - US Airways Asks U.S. DOT for Slot Exemptions to Serve Four Cities Nonstop from DCA

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040109/dcf032_1.html

Press Release Source: US Airways

US Airways Asks U.S. DOT for Slot Exemptions to Serve Four Cities Nonstop from Washington's Reagan National
Friday January 9, 5:12 pm ET
Carrier Would Serve San Francisco, San Juan, Asheville, N.C., Chattanooga, Tenn.

ARLINGTON, Va., Jan. 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- US Airways filed an application today with the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) for slot exemption authority to begin nonstop service between Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and San Francisco, San Juan, Asheville, N.C., and Chattanooga, Tenn.

Additionally, US Airways reiterated its request for the two slot exemptions originally awarded for travel between Reagan National and Wilmington, N.C., as currently operated by US Airways on a temporary basis.

US Airways said in its filing that since slot exemptions have been congressionally authorized, it should receive first priority for such awards, particularly given that US Airways currently is prohibited from operating nonstop beyond-perimeter service from Reagan National because it has not been granted any slots in previous proceedings. US Airways is best positioned to use these slots consistent with the statutory criteria Congress established for awarding beyond-perimeter exemptions.

As Washington's hometown carrier, US Airways has developed and invested its personnel and capital resources at Washington, D.C.'s close-in airport over the years, and was the foremost among carriers in re-establishing service at Reagan National following the horrific events of September 11 and the lengthy shutdown of the airport.

The company's proposal to serve San Francisco and San Juan from Reagan National would not only provide the most extensive consumer and competitive network benefits, but it would also enhance the overall structure of air transportation offerings in multiple markets to a greater extent than any other applicant.

US Airways has demonstrated a strong commitment to serving the Caribbean region and is the only carrier at Reagan National to offer nonstop service to island destinations, such as Bermuda and Nassau, the Bahamas. Both the San Juan and San Francisco service would be the first ever nonstop flights from Reagan National to these destinations and would provide customers with added convenience and time savings for travel to and from downtown Washington, D.C., versus connecting service or even nonstop service from Washington Dulles or Baltimore Washington International airports.

For flights between Reagan National and San Juan and San Francisco, US Airways would operate the service with the 193-seat Boeing 757 aircraft, offering 8 First Class and 185 Coach Class seats.

US Airways also said that it would use the eight within-perimeter slot exemptions to operate two daily nonstop flights between Reagan National and both Asheville and Chattanooga. US Airways would use eight beyond-perimeter slot exemptions to provide two daily nonstop roundtrip flights between Reagan National and San Juan, and two daily nonstop roundtrip flights between Reagan National and San Francisco.

US Airways' proposal to serve Asheville and Chattanooga from Reagan National injects new competition into these markets. It also would optimize the nonstop service choices for travel in these local markets as well as provide maximum connecting opportunities. This service would be the only nonstop service offered from the Washington metropolitan area to these two small community airports. US Airways Express would operate the service as using 50-seat regional jet aircraft

US Airways is the nation's seventh-largest airline, serving nearly 200 communities in the U.S., Canada, Europe, the Caribbean and Latin America. US Airways, US Airways Shuttle and the US Airways Express partner carriers operate almost 3,300 flights per day.


Source: US Airways

So on the same day US Air files an exemption to ALSO fly from DCA to SFO n/s - the same day United files the same exemption?

Fun...fun.

...and since no competition on the SFO route, we could charge as much as we want - just like the old days!

Yee ha!

I probably flew at least 100 DCA-BWI-SFO flights when I lived there. I'm bitter but at the same time most happy to see some proactive efforts.

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--Wishing for you safe travels and for me Row 1 on the A330.

Why Asheville? I lived there a few years ago, there isn't anything there except mountains.

I'm surprised that the four "new" cities aren't all in ALABAMA!

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by HPTunco:
Why Asheville? I lived there a few years ago, there isn't anything there except mountains.

I'm surprised that the four "new" cities aren't all in ALABAMA!</font>

The Asheville/Henderson area has a LOT of money, and it has long been served by only two airlines (Delta/ASA to Atlanta and US Airways to Charlotte). Due to people willing to pay a lot and little competition, AVL has very high fares. US Airways used to fly 737s CLT-AVL until rather recently, now it is all express. Continental recently started RJ service between AVL and IAH/EWR. I think US Airways Express RJ's AVL-LGA but maybe not. In any case, a lot of US Airways loyalty, a fair amount of demand, a treasure trove of revenue. Obviously, it would be operated by US Airways Express, most likely a Dash, so filling it up at high fares and making a profit shouldn't be too hard.

Assuming US survives, I wonder if they'll add a DCA-LAX flight? IIRC, there is no competition on this route.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by SS255:
Assuming US survives, I wonder if they'll add a DCA-LAX flight? IIRC, there is no competition on this route.</font>

No one currently flies direct from DCA to the West coast. Laws currently prohibit/restrict long distance flights from DCA - its used to be that the furthest they could fly was about 1,200 miles. Some exceptions have been made, especially under pressure from members of congress. Currently, the longest direct flight out of DCA is to PHX. If US gets the exemption, the flight to SFO would be the furthest (unfortunately, on the newly configured 757).

Edited to add - I'm a dufus, because I forgot about Alaska's direct flights from DCA to SEA. Beyond that, there are no other direct flights from DCA to the west coast (that I know of).

[This message has been edited by dcmike (edited Jan 10, 2004).]

Folks, you won't see US get any beyond perimeter slots at DCA. Little Dave can pull a Rodney Dangerfield with the DCA community until he is blue in the face, but those beyond perimeter slots will go to either new entrants or airlines that can provide connectivity at the other end of the route. You are far more likely to see UA flying to SFO or DEN than US.

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Don't feed the trolls.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by ClueByFour:
Folks, you won't see US get any beyond perimeter slots at DCA. Little Dave can pull a Rodney Dangerfield with the DCA community until he is blue in the face, but those beyond perimeter slots will go to either new entrants or airlines that can provide connectivity at the other end of the route. You are far more likely to see UA flying to SFO or DEN than US.

</font>

I think you're right. The people currently allowed to fly these routes (Alaskan, American West, etc) all fly to hub cities out West. A direct UA DCA-SFO flight would make more sense than a US DCA-SFO flight.

While I totally agree with the historic 'preservationist' attitude with respect to the perimeter exemptions, dont underestimate the power of politics.

The legislation behind the new slot beyond-perimeter exemptions is clear that its intent has nothing to do with giving nonstop DCA service to cities that don't have it. In the cases in which that has happened, it has merely been a byproduct. This go-around, there are 6 RTs available.

As others have mentioned, the main goals of the legislation have been to give "new entrant" airlines more access to DCA, to give new one-stop DCA access to smaller cities through network connectivity, and to promote competition either on specific routes or across the system.

In previous awards, only two legacy airlines received any slot exemptions: TW, for 1 DCA-LAX RT (basically a lifeline given after a huge lobbying effort by Gephardt and others), and DL, for 1 DCA-SLC RT. The LAX route was taken away when AA bought TW.

The bottom line is the old-line carriers that already have a lot of DCA access through other airports are at a big disadvantage in this "contest."

DL was able to overcome that with SLC only because more than a dozen small communities in the North Rockies were able to get their first one-stop service to DCA.

Now, UA has a shot at being successful with its SFO application because it would give 5 small California cities new one-stop service to DCA. Still, I think the odds of that are considerably less than 50 percent.

It's entirely possible that the DOT won't give any airlines flights to LAX or SFO because they are not that compatible with the law's intent, no matter how much the flights would be appreciated by travelers.

In that case, I think we'll see HP, AS, F9 and DL get new flights for PHX, LAS, SEA, DEN and SLC, respectively.

On the other hand, maybe the DOT will want to give new nonstop service to LAX and SFO. If so, I think there will be 2 RTs for both those cities, plus one more each for SEA (AS) and DEN (F9).

In this scenario, I think UA has a chance at SFO, as I said above, but IMO the stronger application belongs to HP, given its new-entrant status and the affect that would have on competition -- it wouldn't just be a monopoly route for a high-fare carrier.

Both HP and AS want to fly to LAX. I think the only reason AS would get it is if HP gets SFO and the DOT wants to spread things around some.

Regardless, it should be interesting to watch how this all unfolds.

[This message has been edited by motnot (edited Jan 10, 2004).]

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by dcmike:
No one currently flies direct from DCA to the West coast.</font>

Not correct, Alaska Airlines flies DCA-SEA. However, nobody currently serves California nonstop from DCA. That's what everyone is hoping for (LAX or SFO).

I would also think UA would be the more likely candidate for a DCA-SFO or DCA-LAX route. I wonder if UA having a hub so close to DCA has anything to do with why they don't fly this route. It might make more sense for UA to offer the one-stop service to their small West Coast markets as part of a codeshare with US.

Denver, Phoenix, Salt Lake City and Seattle are the four cities currently served from DCA that are out of the 1250 miles rule.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by hscottm:
While I totally agree with the historic 'preservationist' attitude with respect to the perimeter exemptions, dont underestimate the power of politics.</font>

Sure. I'm sure the Pennsylvania delegation will be solidly behind US http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/rolleyes.gif.

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Don't feed the trolls.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by geo1005:
Not correct, Alaska Airlines flies DCA-SEA. However, nobody currently serves California nonstop from DCA. That's what everyone is hoping for (LAX or SFO).

</font>


You're right - I corrected myself in the post above about 5 minutes after I wrote the original.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Alysia:
Denver, Phoenix, Salt Lake City and Seattle are the four cities currently served from DCA that are out of the 1250 miles rule.</font>

HP also flies LAS-DCA.

Do these slots have to be renewed every year? Or are they given to an airline, and the airline keeps them until they dont use them anymore? thanks

The slots are awarded on a permanant basis. As soon as the airline stops serving the route however they give up the slots. Also, if an airline has the slots and is purchased by another carrier (ie; TWA/AA) the slots revert back to the DOT and they are up for bid.

Exactly. TWA, right before going under, was given the slots to fly DCA-LAX with a 757. When AA aquired them the route authority and slots went right back to the Feds.

I got this email letter today:

As a Dividend Miles member, we want to keep you informed about US
Airways future service enhancements, and also let you know that you can help
us secure the rights to provide new flights for you.

US Airways has filed an application with the U.S. Department of
Transportation (DOT) for slot exemption authority to begin nonstop service
from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, which is the most
convenient airport in the metropolitan area, between several more cities to
better serve your travel needs. We are pursuing approval for nonstop
service between Reagan Washington National and San Francisco, CA,
Chattanooga, TN, Asheville, NC and San Juan, PR. Additionally, US Airways has
reiterated its request to operate on a permanent basis between Reagan
Washington National and Wilmington, N.C., which is currently operated by
US Airways on a temporary basis.

We want to make sure that you know that you have a voice in these
decisions, and can be heard by contacting the DOT to let them know which
carrier, and routes, you would like to see serve Reagan Washington
National Airport. You can be heard and lend your hand in support by writing a
letter to be sent via e-mail, fax or mail to the DOT. All
correspondence needs to be received by next Friday, January 23, 2004. Please provide
Reference Docket OST-2000-7181 (San Juan and San Francisco) and
OST-2000-7182 (Chattanooga, Asheville, and Wilmington) in your letter along
with any other comments or reasons that you wish to provide, and which
routes you want approved. For example, let them know that you want US
Airways approved to fly Reagan Washington National to San Francisco, San
Juan, Chattanooga, or Asheville. We also have additional points that
you can use to help you construct your letter at
http://www.usairways.com/dm/dca

E-mail: dot.comments@ost.dot.gov

To make submissions on the web go to, http://dmses.dot.gov/submit/
Or, fax is 202-366-7202. Just make sure you address your letter to:

The Honorable Norman Mineta
Secretary of Transportation
U.S. Department of Transportation
400 Seventh Street, NW,
Washington, DC 20590

As Washington, DC's hometown carrier, US Airways has developed and
invested its personnel and capital resources at Washington's close-in
airport over the years, and was the foremost among carriers in
re-establishing service at Reagan Washington National. The company's proposal to
serve San Francisco and San Juan from Reagan Washington National would not
only provide the most extensive consumer and competitive network
benefits, but it would also enhance the overall structure of air
transportation offerings in multiple markets to a greater extent than any other
applicant. Both the San Juan and San Francisco service would be the first
ever nonstop flights from Reagan Washington National to these
destinations and would provide customers with added convenience and time savings
for travel to and from downtown Washington, D.C., versus connecting
service or even nonstop service from Washington Dulles or Baltimore
Washington International Airports.

US Airways' proposal to serve Asheville and Chattanooga from Reagan
Washington National injects new nonstop service for these markets and will
be served by US Airways Express regional jets. It also would optimize
the nonstop service choices for travel in these local markets as well
as provide maximum connecting opportunities. This service would be the
only nonstop service offered from the Washington metropolitan area to
these two small community airports.

You are under no obligation to support US Airways for these new routes.
We have heard so much feedback from many of you over the years about
wanting enhanced service, this is a perfect opportunity for you to help
us secure it for you. Thank you for your consideration and for being a
customer of US Airways.

Sincerely,

Michael Isom

Managing Director, Marketing Programs
US Airways, Inc.