US Airways Dividend Miles (Pre-FlightFund Merger) - US Airways and MCI Airport

Maybe some of you can answer this question because I have been wondering this for a while now. I know that a while ago US had a good presence at MCI airport. I have never flown to MCI however, I have noticed that US still has these very small towns that US Airways express flies to in Kansas. I am wondering, are these routes profitable? I would have thought with the first ch11 they would have been wiped out. And surely for the 2nd ch 11. But they are all still there.

If they are making US or the express carriers money then great. It just looks a little odd when you look at the US Airways destinations map.

I am not familiar with the MCI airport. I am not even sure who dominates there. But if US were to ever try to have another focus city that would join the east and west cities (especially during snow storms of the east coast) this would be a pretty good place to divert passengers who are going west on in the central plains (hoping of course there is not a huge snow storm at MCI at the time.)

The drawback that I would see is going through security. I hear that MCI is under construction right now to fix that....read that in some news article.

Maybe some of you can answer this question because I have been wondering this for a while now. I know that a while ago US had a good presence at MCI airport. I have never flown to MCI however, I have noticed that US still has these very small towns that US Airways express flies to in Kansas. I am wondering, are these routes profitable? I would have thought with the first ch11 they would have been wiped out. And surely for the 2nd ch 11. But they are all still there.

Many of these routes provide the only airline service to these towns. Many are subsidized by the government.

I am not familiar with the MCI airport. I am not even sure who dominates there. But if US were to ever try to have another focus city that would join the east and west cities (especially during snow storms of the east coast) this would be a pretty good place to divert passengers who are going west on in the central plains (hoping of course there is not a huge snow storm at MCI at the time.)


It used to be a focus city of sorts for USAir, even before USAir Express/Air Midwest set up there. Mainline service used to include PIT, PHL, CLT, BWI, MCO, DCA, SEA, SAN, LAX, SFO, IND, ICT, OMA, and LGA all at the same time (early 1990s).

Yes I've noticed the same thing. Seems kind of weird to have express turboprop flights going to little tiny towns in the heartland connecting to a mid-sized airport that isn't even a US hub. Perhaps there's a lot of business O/D?

The security problem you refer to is that there is a seperate security line for every 3-4 gates. This is great, unless you are connecting, as you may have to reclear security. Or if they are loading a large plane in the gate next to your when your late, as there are normally 2 machines max.

Many of these routes provide the only airline service to these towns. Many are subsidized by the government.



It used to be a focus city of sorts for USAir, even before USAir Express/Air Midwest set up there. Mainline service used to include PIT, PHL, CLT, BWI, MCO, DCA, SEA, SAN, LAX, SFO, IND, ICT, OMA, and LGA all at the same time (early 1990s).

So now I assume the only non-stop directs they have are PHL, DCA, CLT? I am not sure about PIT. And then those tiny towns in Kansas.

Yes I've noticed the same thing. Seems kind of weird to have express turboprop flights going to little tiny towns in the heartland connecting to a mid-sized airport that isn't even a US hub. Perhaps there's a lot of business O/D?

They need not be connecting even to a US flight. The point of EAS isn't to feed into one mainline carrier at a hub. These flights just happen to be under the US banner. Many operated by the same carrier aren't. Essential Air Service provides a subsidy for a carrier to serve an airport that otherwise probably wouldn't have any meaningful airline service. Often the local leaders get most of the say in the "hub" served (meaning a large airport offering connections on any number of carriers). They usually choose an airport with low average fares. Thus, many of these Kansas towns have service to Kansas City, where many of the passengers connect with not only US but also Southwest, American, etc. For example, recently Huron and Brookings, South Dakota, chose Omaha for their EAS route (operated by Air Midwest/Mesa, same division doing the Kansas City flying) as opposed to Minneapolis. While MSP is a much larger "hub" for Northwest, airfares are much higher than out of Omaha where Frontier, Southwest, and a fair amount of even competition keep fares reasonable. Places like Great Bend, Hays, and Salina have Kansas City as their "hub" for EAS service, as opposed to Wichita which would also count as a hub for EAS purposes. However, Kansas City has lower airfares and better options. I'm sure US Airways keeps their code on these flights as an incentive for passengers to book their tickets all the way through. Same with places like Beckley, Bluefield, Athens in the east.

What most people think of as a hub is only an airline's own hub. Airports like Wichita, Omaha, Raleigh, etc., are small hubs under government classifications. What EAS, and most other govt programs/definitions, think of as a hub is a hub for the entire national airline service in general.

For a detailed explanation of EAS:
http://ostpxweb.dot.gov/aviation/rural/easwhat.pdf

However, Kansas City has lower airfares and better options. I'm sure US Airways keeps their code on these flights as an incentive for passengers to book their tickets all the way through. Same with places like Beckley, Bluefield, Athens in the east.


As a resident in the BKW/BLF market, I can tell you this is the truth. When PIT was de-hubbed in Nov, Colgan moved the 3 daily PIT flights to 2X IAD and 1X CMH instead of CLT (which would have made sense) or PHL. I've been told there's some O&D traffic to these two markets (I can understand the District, but not CMH). Connections are "probably" not be made to US except to UA codeshares in IAD. CMH allows folks to connect to the brown turds, but they'll pay a price to do so. Cheapest RT to CMH from BLF is $271 midweek with lots of restrictions... cheapest RT to IAD from BLF is $238.

I moved to MCI in 2004. These prop flights to KS cities operate from a set of commuter gates that are in the same security point as the mainline US Air flights. I'm on flight 1009 most Thursday evenings from CLT-MCI and there are always several people on the plane connecting to one of those prop flights.

BTW--the airport construction at MCI seems to be all finished. Southwest Airlines gates were the last ones to be finished.

Midwest Airlines can also sell these EAS flights. My family probably spent over $2000 last year for travel between one of the EAS cities in Kansas and DCA/BOS. I don't know if Air Midwest's cut of that money is enough to cover costs though.

BTW--the airport construction at MCI seems to be all finished. Southwest Airlines gates were the last ones to be finished.

All of the originally planned renovations are complete. HOWEVER, they ended up under budget and they're going to use the remaining funds to add restrooms to all of the waiting areas behind security! Of course, US (and AirTran, who's in the same area as US) is the only waiting area that already has public restrooms (AA and DL have private restrooms in their clubs behind security).

As a resident in the BKW/BLF market, I can tell you this is the truth. When PIT was de-hubbed in Nov, Colgan moved the 3 daily PIT flights to 2X IAD and 1X CMH instead of CLT (which would have made sense) or PHL. I've been told there's some O&D traffic to these two markets (I can understand the District, but not CMH). Connections are "probably" not be made to US except to UA codeshares in IAD. CMH allows folks to connect to the brown turds, but they'll pay a price to do so. Cheapest RT to CMH from BLF is $271 midweek with lots of restrictions... cheapest RT to IAD from BLF is $238.

The routing is odd, but you can fly to CMH and then to a US hub and change planes to go anywhere you want all on one through fare. I did fly out of BLF once, connecting in CMH and PHL. Fares are reasonable unless you want to fly only to IAD or CMH, and then you pay more for the convenience of not having to change planes.

All of the originally planned renovations are complete. HOWEVER, they ended up under budget and they're going to use the remaining funds to add restrooms to all of the waiting areas behind security! Of course, US (and AirTran, who's in the same area as US) is the only waiting area that already has public restrooms (AA and DL have private restrooms in their clubs behind security).

Sounds like the airport from hell.

Sounds like the airport from hell.

Depends ... last Friday I had to get to the airport much closer to departure than I ever like to ... being able to walk (not even run, just walk) from your car to the gate in under five minutes certainly has its advantages in such situations.

People either seem to love or hate it. For O/D travel, it's ideal. I've made it from the curb to the gate in less than 2 minutes after an online checkin.

Since there aren't many connections at the airport, then it all works fine. It's not an airport to hang around and wait on your plane -- it's a place to get in and out quickly.