WIRunner

For US to maintain a hub in both PHX and a short distance away having LAS. HP was using LAS as an overnight hub for extra slack in their network.
LAS is just a spoke in US's hub now, same as PHL is a spoke in WN's oddly shaped hub.

Jumpgate

I fly MKE-PHL/PHL-MKE on US every week. The flights are always 100% full and most often (especially the morning MKE-PHL flights) with business travelers.

I hope US ups its equipment on this route now that F9 is pulling out.

kannon99

Knope may know this but, wasn't there an issue where US could not fly the US branded Republic E170s on the MKE-PHL route because of YX/F9 contract. I assume this is no longer an issue with the F9 MKE-PHL being cancelled.

BlueHorseShoe2000

There was an interesting rumor (and it is only a rumor at this point) posted on airliners.net stating that Republic is pulling all flying from MKE this summer (E145 and E190). The individual who posted this information stated that this was actual flying and not the closure of the E145/E190 bases. This would leave only Frontier Airbus flights.

I'm sure the rapidly increasing price of oil is (or will) making the financial performance of these flights really, really ugly.

If this is actually true, it looks like my prediction of only MKE-DEN flights by fall will come true.

The cookies are apparently going away as well.

runnigel

Darn cookie haters. Not sure why everyone at A.net hated them but the debate got pretty heated.

flyYX

Funny how a cookie can be debated so much. It was a nice touch but not anything that would draw me to an airline. Why people feel so passionate over it on either side is beyond my comprehension. It's only a COOKIE!

runnigel

True. I looked at it as something to make frontier unique. I'm kinda of a cookie monster myself, so I quite enjoyed the cookie. It sure beat WN peanuts. It may have not increased sales but I think it added value to the F9 brand and perception, similarly to the unique tails. They may save some money by switching to a pre-packaged snack but I hope they don't do as far as NK.

To me it seems that Republic and the head office had a hard time finding its identity. I believe that Denver knows Frontiers identity: Cheap fares, good customer service, funny ads and the underdog in the United:Southwest:Frontier fight. (Denver loves the underdog, just think back to Rockies World Series run)

I'm afraid some good will might be lost with the many route starting and stopping but hopefully they can start offering reward seats on all the new flights to the Caribbean and Mexico. Hopefully some of the new COS routes will stick and some stability can come to the route map while improving their finances. If WN costs keep creeping higher, F9 may have the ability defend WN and beat them back. I know that doubtful but maybe in another 5 to 10 years...

newsmanhoss

If indeed the pulling of all Embraer flights from MKE is true, where would they send them?

Yes, oil is going up in price, but oil is roughly the same place no matter which markets these aircraft serve. Moving them to a place like DEN won't change that. I suppose they're hoping to put these in markets that have higher yields and better traffic composition, but I don't know that DEN is much better than MKE is (considering the fierce competitive environment there).

Meanwhile, reduced competition at MKE means yields here will continue to rise.

sfozrhfco

So what happens with the DCA and LGA slots in that case?

BlueHorseShoe2000

Republic would probably park the E145s or try and place them with another carrier. As for the E190s, we aren't talking about that much lift (3 or 4 flights per day).

If Republic does pull operations from MKE, I'm more curious on what they will do with the DCA and LGA slots. With the reductions in MKE and MCI, Republic already has a surplus of slots. Are these being leased to another airline or will something else be announced?

ElmhurstNick

I'm really hoping for E-190s DCA-ORD-COS into their new T5 operation at ORD, but I'm not holding my breath.

MikeFromMKE

I don't know about the tag on from COS, but there are probably a few YX/F9 FFs in the Chicago area that would be willing to fly more F9. I'd love to see 3x daily LGA-ORD and DCA-ORD on the E90s or A320s. They already have pretty low costs, let's jump into some routes where they can get traffic. I still argue that STRETCH on the E90s is one of the most comfortable and best value seats in the air.

newsmanhoss

I respectfully disagree. I finally made it on an E90 last month in stretch, and the seat was extremely uncomfortable and didn't line up with the windows (which have more wall space between windows than most aircraft). I was also surprised that, despite being in stretch, service was done from back to front, meaning I was one of the last to get served. Also, the wifi was inoperable and the food options were limited.

Not trying to be debbie the downer here. I was looking forward to a great experience, but walked away disappointed.

ElmhurstNick

LGA-ORD is already saturated by UA, AA, and DL (E-175s), so I don't see that one happening. I was thinking about the COS tag because I don't think ORD would have any other E-190 service, so they'd need a way to rotate them out. I don't think the 320s would be a good fit on ORD-DCA - AA doesn't even fly mainline on all of its flights, they mix 737-800 and CRJ-700 (although both are two-class).

RSVP

I've have to disagree with you on this one, Vinnie. We flew in Stretch last week. Seats were comfortable, food was served front to back. We were even able to get two of the six sandwiches boarded. (The Ham sand was one of the better in flight sandwiches I have had in recent years.) 99 pax on board, the FA said she could have sold a lot more sandwiches if they had more.