I don't understand the drama. Not very intelecutual. If demand is needed fares will raise and their are plenty of airlines out there that would be happy to take it. Also note that by the end of next year WN will have over 20 new aircraft that has to go somewhere. I suspect connecting more dots

The people that I know (who employ the people that you know) are not worried about it. What they do worry about is a broader economic downturn that has nothing to do with Vegas.

See "broader economic downturn".

US Airways is not Vegas' most popular airline. Southwest is, and has been for some time.

I don't think you really know what the problem is--what you are going to see is that Vegas is going to have to go back to giving things away to get people to come. Today, almost every property on the strip is most-ungenerous with comps, rooms, freebies compared to what they were a mere 10 or 15 years ago.

Combine that with the increased cost of getting there, and you have problems. Give stuff away again, and people will drive in from the East Coast to gamble.

The market is fickle. Vegas is getting what it had coming to it, real estate wise. Welcome to the rest of the real world.

If they did, they would not have been so greedy in the casino operations.

Actually, it's not. And if it is, it's a crisis largely of Vegas' own making. And most people who arrive by air come on Southwest.

What you are missing though is that oil, one of the main the inputs into production in the airline business, has increased. New supply will not come back into the market to meet demand if it cannot do so profitably. If a trip to Vegas now costs a new entrant $400 to run on a given route then they need $400+ a profit margin to startup and serve that route. If $400+ is more than the general public is willing to pay to get to Vegas then you can see the problem.

Sean

Uh-huh.

All that debt was likely repackaged and sold to the latest bagholders. That's the way the game is played. This has been happening in many parts of the U.S.A., not just Vegas. The bust in Vegas (commercial and residential) was going to happen whether US pulled flights or not.

US has nothing to do with Vegas's woes. If anything, US rode the wave of the boom, and it is now smartly puling back as demand for Vegas decreases.

Vegas is hurting on its own and people wouldn't be going there no matter how many flights would be going in. I was just there and it's shocking--- you can find $5 craps tables at some of the older casinos *on the strip* and $10 craps at the bigger MGM resorts on a Friday night. That's unheard-of. Even 6 months ago you couldn't play a table game on a Friday night with less than a $15 buy-in. There's very aggressive discounting going on for shows and events, too. I would not be surprised to see some of the casinos come out with really good package deals that cost the same for air+hotel as just air, hoping that once they get you to their casino, you'll spend some money and make it worth their while, or some partnerships between select airlines and select casino chains (i.e. fly US and stay at MGM and get $500 in casino free plays).

While it is not at all convenient for me to have fewer flight options, I do not blame US or any other airline for cutting back here. People are just not going there and if airlines are all facing bankruptcy again, why fly a half-empty plane when you can cram everyone into the other routes and fly fewer, fuller planes? Again, I don't particularly care for the overfull planes but it makes business sense.

As someone who has visited Vegas once or twice a year for the last twenty years, I have a different take on the reason they are hurting. It used to be very inexpensive to eat and stay on the strip, and the casinos all made money from the slot machines and tables. The last time I went, I was shocked at how outrageously expensive the hotels and restaurants have become. The casinos now treat the rooms and restaurants as independent profit centers. If you eat at many of the restaurants at the hotel, dinner for two is pushing $200, even without wine. Weekday rooms that used to be $59 now are $200 -$300 a night, not including internet access or health clubs. Even on an expense account the level of money-grubbing by the casinos was galling. Kinda like USAirways, when you think about it....

I agree with most of you.

Vegas is hurting

Casinos have got greedy

Prices are sky high but dropping

Eventually there will be to many Hotel rooms, shops and restaurants and prices will fall after alot of layoffs and billions in losses.

US Airways has to limit flights

And Miami has too many condos. Phoenix has too many homes in the sprawling suburbs. Adjustments will be made.

I go to Vegas every couple of months and it seems to be getting cheaper for me each time. Guess it depends on where you stay. As per USAirways, when it left Pittsburgh it made business travel very difficult for those that work out of here. Too bad for us, but USAirways owed us nothing, and they owe Las Vegas nothing.

The capacity reductions don't help Vegas, the only thing that will help there is some sanity when it comes to building, building, building. But I love the insanity. Better deals for me

Vegas is very much like the rest of the world - supply and demand.

There are tons of conventios - go during one of them and rooms will be high. There are tons of weddings - go during wedding season and rates will be high. New Year's is the most expensive night of the year - go then and you'll pay $500 for a dump.

Now, go in the summer and you'll get cheap rates. Go over xmas and you'll get cheap rates. Go when people don't want to and you'll get cheap rates. Book a package and you'll get good rates. Stay off strip and take a shuttle or cab to the strip and you'll get good rates.

What you'll also find is that comps are stiff - but available. Go a lot and gamble some and you'll get very good rates most times of the year, particularly if you can book well in advance or very last minute or for a slow time of year.

What will hit Vegas hard will be things like convention traffic going way down (fewer conventions and fewer people attending them); less discretionary income to fill boxing matches and rock concerts with tourists (as opposed to locals); people spending a larger portion of their vacation budget on airfare and not spending as much once they get there. Those things will hurt Vegas. High priced rooms and expensive restaurants not as much - those things will adjust or can be gotten around.

Vegas is also a major city for large conferences. It is getting very expensive to host a conference out there and with the econonmy down the toilet, companies are very reluctant to send their employees to attend one. I don't think US cutting flights is any major problem Vegas going to face in the near future.

If the casinos want to bring in people badly enough, they can form partnerships with airlines and subsidize tickets. The airline can offer a PHL-LAS roundtrip for $250 as long as the MGM Mirage corporation is footing the other $200.....

I think the "ungenerous" comps are loosening up a bit. I'm going to the new Palazzo (part of the Venetian complex) in a few weeks for a combination bachelor/bachelorette party. 16 people. 4 of the rooms are comp'd and the others are $179 on the weekend nights. The "Player Development Representative" (i.e. Casino Host) arranged the rooms all on the same floor with strip views and some connecting.

The 4 comp'd rooms are the result of minimal play a few months ago by a couple of the guys in the party along the lines of $50 blackjack tables for not more than a total of a few hours in a span of a few days.

I don't mean to digress, but Vegas will find ways to bring people out there. It's Disney World for adults. They (we) always can justify a reason to go.....no matter what the airline.

Oh...and I'm *NOT* flying US from PHL to get there.....

OK, I know this goes against the 'beauty of capitalism' comments in earlier threads but, like it or not, airlines ARE a public utility, and should have certain civil obligations to meet. I.e., if an airline withdrawing service from a community results in economic hardship in that community, then that airline should receive Government support to keep flying and to help that community thrive. Call me an old fashioned European socialist - and I don't refer this comment to Las Vegas, which I think as the world's largest resort will ultimately not have a problem - but government does have a role in ensuring that communities have a dependable transport infrastructure in order for them to be able to grow and/or survive.

You old-fashioned European socialist!!!

Seriously, I understand your point about how government my have to intervene if the airline industry implodes. But from what you're writing, you're implying that my home of Philadelphia should never worry about US folding because of the airlines' economic impact on Philadelphia. I find it hard to believe the United States gov't would act on behalf of one city because one airline decides to call it quits.