GSO losing Mainline service at end of 2005
 

Terribly sad news out today from a pal of mine (former PI) who now works at the GSO ATO. He writes that the station manager informed them today that the company has announced that mainline is out in December. (Didn't give specific date, not sure if that's pending or I just don't have all the facts.)

In any case, what a sad day for this proud little station that for decades was a model station for ANY carrier. Many of us can well recall the GSO-DFW nonstops on 727s and GSO-LGA nonstops on 737s numerous times a day. When PI launched service to SFO and LAX, those flights continued from CLT to, where else, GSO!

I can remember seeing no fewer than 10 mainline jets on the ground for the morning bank back in the 1980s and the place ran like a perfectly oiled machine. Others will tell you this is/was(?) the best US club in the system.

I'm just sad to see it all continue to dismantle one more brick at a time. :(

I posted this on another web site, and it has been too long and trying a week to write something new here. US is making it very difficult for me to consider coming back and supporting them........

This confirms a fear I have had for a long time. GSO for years enjoyed service at a level that would not have existed had in not been so close to the HQ of PI. With each passing year, those ties grew more distant. Now that the move is about to take place to Tempe I was afraid that some one was going to pull the plug. This is where I have spent over twenty years flying out of. This is going to be like losing a very close friend.

One of my greatest concerns is for the employees of this station who have always been the best. Even with the EO, there are still several 20 year plus employees here. My guess is they now have to go express with express wages.

Second, the ladies in the Club were very good friends and always willing to help. And not just the frequent members. I've watched for years how they made newbies feel right at home. My guess while it lasts, is that this is the only station that will be all express to have a club.

Third, they have handed this market to DL on a platter. DL didn't even have to make an effort. They simply just handed to them. One of these days the Barbie jets will come back to bite all who have used them.

I am truly sorry to read of this and wish the best to all my friends who work there.

Well, now I have no reason to pick GSO over any other choice I have (BLF/BKW, CRW, ROA, TRI) for US. All give me Barbie Jets except BLF/BKW which have B1900s only.

Guess if I want mainline I have to drive to RDU or CLT.

Wonder what's going to happen to the club without mainline?

I simply cannot understand this decision. Did demand for GSO travel drop this much that it can't support mainline anymore, I mean, did one day people just stop booking flights and they decided they needed to reduce capacity? There can't be that much low-cost competition there, do any LCC's even fly there? What is the reasoning for this?

GC4

Ifly does have a limited presence. Airtran was there and pulled out when DL matched them. Then you have UA, CO and NW and a limited AA presence.

The BIG winner here is DL. There are almost hourly mainline flights to ATL and every other hour or so to CVG. In addition there are lots of Barbie Jets to other locations. My guess is DL has doubled the seats out of GSO in the last year, all while US was shrinking.

The only reason I can give you is they wanted to spank at least one cockroach. :D It is they only reason that can make any sense

Thanks. It at least makes a little more sense to me now. If, as of now there is no other LCC there (flyI doesn't really count because they'll be gone in a month or so), then price competition shouldn't be that tremendous because it's all Legacy.

Once again, someone else moves in and US just gives in and lets them eat away at their market share :rolleyes:

several dozen ex-US planes are being retired over the next 15 months. there's no way to do that without significantly chopping US's mainline network. converting stations to Express keeps them in the system and allows Express wages for ground handling. Mesa is already in the process of moving lots of Express jets east to do the deed.

huh, that is not the case here. The demand out of GSO is actually quite high. All those MD-80's flying to ATL on the hour are filled with ex US pax. The demand for seats has not dropped at GSO. As a matter of fact I believe I remember seeing that demand was up around 10% each of the last two years.

So you do the math. Demand is up 20% and US is off by 50% or more. What does that tell you?

Well in case you don't know, people simply don't care for Barbie Jets. As far as I'm concerned you can keep em out west.

Well, this is probably the last nail in the coffin...I had been thinking about switching over to US at GSO, even as recently as about 4 hours ago. No mainline service though means I'll end up just sticking with Delta though. I wasn't pleased when PHL mainline service was pulled last year, but I was holding out hope that it would be coming back...now, with CLT even being pulled, I guess that means no chance even for PHL...I think that I'll just stick with Delta through ATL (since rumour has it CVG goes all RJ in December).

It's a little disappointing that only ATL, DTW, ORD and DFW will have mainline service out of GSO in January. Even when I moved down here last September, there was EWR, CLT, PHL, CVG all on mainline (although DFW was all RJ).

Wow, AA is bringing at least 1 mainline jet back to GSO. With all the development around there, I'm very surprised to hear this. Sad.

Would not be surprised if GSO becomes an Southwest city and probably definitely a Jet Blue city when their new planes go into service.

I was through GSO last weekend on a segment run, and I have two thoughts:

The staff there really is terrific. On my return trip, I was flying GSO-CLT, and the incoming plane got held up, after the staff had recheduled everyone but me (I had a late flight CLT-CHA anyway), they came and checked in with me every 10 minutes or so just to keep me updated on how close I'd be cutting it.

They all expressed... let's call it muted optimism about the merger. But all were enthusiastic and ready to do what it takes to get things stable again. As a worried pax, it was encouraging.

The other ironic note: I was on a 6 segment run, and the ONLY segment i flew on mainline was CLT-GSO on the way out. I keep thinking: what good is my new found Gold (and CP to come) if I'm never going to be on a flight with an F cabin again?

Precisely what I've been thinking... I'm 3800 short of requalifying for GP in '06. Is it really worth it? I have (at this point) no reason to fly for travel in the fourth quarter, so it would have to be on a MR. If all is going to be on RJs, we get the exit row as a preferred anyway. Why bother being anything higher than SP if you aren't going to be flying on mainline?

To each his own, but I would think 100% Gold bonus vs. 50% Silver bonus would be an incentive for me if I were so close to re-qualifying.......

:rolleyes: Thanks, kudzu... forgot about that perk. MR/mini day vacation here we come. ;)