FrequentHopper

I always thought that was a gaping hole in the US network. Given that Boston's a focus city, and lots of US flyers in Boston go to the west coast on a regular basis, couldn't they operate a twice-daily A319 service from BOS to SFO and LAX profitably?

I know HP pre-US merger tried and failed, but HP wasn't a major player in the Boston aviation market. US is.

In addition, non-stops to Boston would help bolster US's FF base in the Bay Area too. I'd definitely book US to Boston at the same price over United or (blech) AA (which flies MD-80s eastbound, believe it or not).

sefrischling

I'm still waiting for HVN-SFO or I'll concede and take PVD-SFO!


(yea I know, I'm dreaming)

usa18dca

I know HP tried LAX-BOS/JFK pre merger but perhaps they could try to expand LAX out if they had more slots since US/HP/WN share the same terminal.

kinglobjaw

HP also did IAD, I think... They also had some SFO-East Coast flights.

FCYTravis

Neither LAX nor BOS nor JFK are slot-controlled... they could start anytime they want.

usa18dca

No LAX is not slot controlled but US does have limited Gate usage there.

grahampros

Because they would loose tons of money on the routes is why.
1.) If they were to launch these routes, it would provoke a very strong reaction by AA and UA and fares would be driven to the bottom to chase them out of the market.
2.) The money is made in these markets by the premium traffic. US simply does not have a competitive premium product relative to AA or UA on the transcons.

You should also check the AA scheudule. There are no MD80s operating these routes. It's 757 service..not that the slave ships are a great joy.

Blumie

Not true. All of AA's transcons in and out of BOS are 757s.

kinglobjaw

HP tried this before. They were doing really well on the route, but...

As graham said the competition from UA and AA was fierce as they matched all of HP's fares. Now there is DL operating some of these routes as well.

Next, HP service from BOS, JFK, IAD, SFO was minimal. 0 connections.

At LAX, all they had was PHX, LAS, YVR, PVR, Acapulco(mind you, I forgot the airport code) and SJD. They also had Hawiann Airlines codeshare to the islands as well as EVA and QF. Oh ya, Royal Jordanian codeshare at JFK.

Delta is the 5th wheel, sort of to speak, on the LAX-JFK route, but they have a major intl hub in JFK and a developin secondary hub in LAX offering numerous connections.

UA, AA and DL all offer the big plane feel with narrowbody premium or widebody service that US would not offer w/ the A319/320/321. The only option that would possibly appeal to Biz folks would be the Envoy 757 or the 767(the a330 is too big).

Also edited to add: think about the UA-US relationship. While we would feed UA in LAX, SFO and IAD, UA would hate us even more and this could possibly lead to a scenario where US leaves STAR and ends up alone. Much worse that offering coast to coast flights. US does not need this stress. US needs to focus on more Europe service and new Asia service.

usa18dca

US wont leave STAR...if they continue this behavior...US will be forced out.

IceTrojan

So, does your bias cloud the facts, or do you ignore the facts because of your bias?

Yes, AA MD80s fly east. They can't fly west all the time.

No, they don't fly LAX-BOS/JFK. Or even BOS/JFK-LAX.

FCYTravis

Fares are already rock-bottom on those markets, thanks to jetBlue.

Yep.

mrhotelman

Where did you get this info that they were doing "really" well on these routes. HP lost their shirts on the routes. The load factors were horrible. I was on plenty of LAX-JFK-LAX flights where they were lucky if there were at least 30 people on the plane. For elite members, they were great flights, as you were just about guaranteed an upgrade every time, but from a business point of view, they stunk.

Blumie

Although I posted 30 minutes after grahampros posted the above, this really is the right answer. It's generally more expensive to fly BOS-LGA than it is to fly BOS/JFK-LAX, at least in Y. All of the money is made in the sale of premium fares, and it would be extremely difficult for US to win over those customers, even if it did upgrade its premium product. There is tremendous brand loyalty among those passengers.

aztimm

After HP began the transcon service, AA retaliated, not just matching/lowering fares, but they added a JFKPHX nonstop. Then when B6 added in its JFKPHX nonstop, it became a diluted market.

After the merger the transcon nonstops went away.