Leaving Las Vegas: Fuel Costs Affect Travelers' Options
Mar 24, 2008, 9:36 pm
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Leaving Las Vegas: Fuel Costs Affect Travelers' Options
Stopover Gamblers Miss Out
THE MIDDLE SEAT
By SCOTT MCCARTNEY
March 25, 2008
Skycaps were doing a brisk business and a line of travelers waited to check in at a busy Las Vegas airport terminal on a recent Monday. A monitor showed US Airways flights soon to depart to 29 different cities.
And yet, it was 11 p.m. Even though most all other airlines have shut down their operations for the night, save a few redeye flights, US Airways Group Inc. was operating a major hub operation in the middle of the night.
Full WSJ Article requires subscription
THE MIDDLE SEAT
By SCOTT MCCARTNEY
March 25, 2008
Skycaps were doing a brisk business and a line of travelers waited to check in at a busy Las Vegas airport terminal on a recent Monday. A monitor showed US Airways flights soon to depart to 29 different cities.
And yet, it was 11 p.m. Even though most all other airlines have shut down their operations for the night, save a few redeye flights, US Airways Group Inc. was operating a major hub operation in the middle of the night.
Full WSJ Article requires subscription
Mar 25, 2008, 7:31 am
#3
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Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: PSM
Posts: 69,232
No subscription required to read it right now, though that may change.
As for the value of the article, I don't really see one. They talke about high fuel prices, carriers scaling back, etc. and just used the midnight hub as a lead-in. They also suggest that LAS is the only place such a thing exists, effectively ignoring the rest of the world. Such operations are not uncommon in India, SE Asia or other areas where the arrival time at the other end of the flight is more important than the departure time.
One interesting passage:
This is particularly intriguing to me since WN has never run overnight flights and yet this article seems to justify their existence. Admittedly, until recently WN didn't operate stage lengths that made sense for redeye service, but the flights from LAS are 4 hours at most, so they aren't all that long either.
As for the value of the article, I don't really see one. They talke about high fuel prices, carriers scaling back, etc. and just used the midnight hub as a lead-in. They also suggest that LAS is the only place such a thing exists, effectively ignoring the rest of the world. Such operations are not uncommon in India, SE Asia or other areas where the arrival time at the other end of the flight is more important than the departure time.
One interesting passage:
Operating the night flights can make financial sense for airlines since the extra flying just adds staff costs, some maintenance expense and jet fuel -- gates, airplanes, headquarters and other fixed costs are already paid for. Instead of being parked at airports overnight, planes fly. The economics allow airlines to offer cheaper ticket prices. About 80% of the customers using the nocturnal flights are leisure passengers, US Airways says, and many of them are drawn to the odd hours by cheaper prices.