US Airways Dividend Miles (Pre-FlightFund Merger) - O&D Traffic at highest levels at PIT

As expected, USAirways pullout and the void that other carriers are filling has droven O&D traffic to record levels at PIT.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05102/486812.stm

Despite repeated cutbacks by US Airways, Pittsburgh International Airport enjoyed its biggest year ever in 2004 for local passenger traffic, a sign that its stable of low-cost carriers is starting to make an impact.

And another note

The second checkpoint would be open only during peak times. Robert Blose, federal security director in Pittsburgh for the TSA, said nearly 4 million people passed through the airport checkpoint last year.

Now I know the name of the useless sack of ballast responsible for the new shoe carnival in Pittsburgh <grrr> But at least they're thinking; I fly out every Monday morning and spend the 30 minutes in line (it's getting worse every week) so I hope they will put up the second checkpoint as discussed in this article. I'd rather they return to a sane shoe screening policy, but to mix metaphors, I think that ship has sailed.

Are there 30 minute waits even for elites and passengers in F? There is usually a dedicated line for them at PIT.

So with lower fares, more people are deciding to fly....or aren't driving to CLE for a competitive fare. What a concept!

I does burn me when I have to go to the ticket counter (can't use th Kiosk) and wait in the 1st Class line for 30-40 minutes because there are only three "live" TAs. They've cut the salary of these people and only have three of the two dozen ticket counters manned.

I guess the increased O/D is at the other end of the ticket counters.....with US's competitors!

The elite line is usually LONGER than the regular line on Monday morning, but not by much. I've timed it since I use the elite line vs someone who gets on one of the regular lines, and the regular line is usually 20-25 minutes while elite line is usually 25-30 minutes.

And yes, for the past year every airline EXCEPT USAirways has shown considerable increases in pax and flights -- but that's not too difficult when you only have a dozen flights a day as most of the airlines do.

Are there 30 minute waits even for elites and passengers in F? There is usually a dedicated line for them at PIT.

I've been grounded for the last 4 months, but before that I could usually judge which line was longer on Monday am - standard or elite line - and would pick a person joining the "other" line to improve my estimating skill. The results were about 50/50 on which would be longer, and rarely were they more than a few minutes apart.l

Any other time of the week I usually found the elite line faster.