Colgan and PIT

[TNHillbilly]

Colgan Air Committed to Serving Communities

October 05, 2007: 05:19 PM EST


In response to US Airways' announcement reducing service in Pittsburgh, Colgan Air, Inc., an independent regional airline operating as US Airways Express, announced that it will continue to operate a normal flight schedule.
Colgan Air, a wholly owned subsidiary of Pinnacle Airlines Corp. (NASDAQ: PNCL), provides scheduled service from Pittsburgh to communities throughout New York, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, and will operate its current schedule through January 6, 2008. Flights after January 6 will be re-directed to another hub destination, allowing Customers connections to a global airline network.
"Customers can book their travel with confidence, even for dates after January 6, 2008," said Pinnacle spokesman Joe Williams. "Colgan Air has been closely monitoring the reduction of capacity in the Pittsburgh market, and we are exploring alternative hub options to continue to support the communities we now serve."
About Pinnacle Airlines Corp.
Pinnacle Airlines Corp. (NASDAQ: PNCL), an airline holding company, is the parent company of Pinnacle Airlines, Inc. and Colgan Air, Inc. Pinnacle Airlines, Inc. operates as Northwest Airlink with a fleet of 139 Canadair Regional Jets in the United States and Canada. Colgan Air, Inc. operates as Continental Connection, United Express and US Airways Express with a fleet of 42 Saab 340 and 10 Beech 1900 turboprop regional aircraft. For further information visit our web-site at www.pncl.com.

 

[Kaman]

Hello,
Interesting news clip. It is a shame to see such a fine facility being under-utilized, and the effect that it has had on the local PIT economy. However, I don't see very many good options for refocusing flights from PIT to another hub.
Here are some of the hubs that may or may not be considered and why or why not they are viable:

PHL
1. Major USAirways Int'l hub (2nd after CLT domestic)
2. VERY congested on the Express side
3. Notorious for delays
4. Good infrastructure, but little space to expand

LGA
1. Nuff said...BIG Mistake

CLT
1. Outstanding facility, and great city and area
2. Express side has been expanded, but already suffers from congestion.
3. Probably a little too distant to realistically serve with turboprops from the NE cities that hub out of PIT.

BOS
1. Inadequate gate space would be a problem there.

IAD
1. Excellent facilty
2. One of the few large airports in the US with alot of room to grow (3rd largest in the US by land area)
3. Underutilized
4. Good geographic proximity to many of the cities served by PIT hub.
5. A Gates are congested.

Solution? I think that CJC is going to have to rationalize their routes and basing to accomodate the changes in the USAirways system. What does all this mean? Probably more hub basing, but on the good side you may see these flights spread out amongst all the hubs (LGA, BOS,IAD and maybe others CLT, PHL).

 

[cjcpilot]

Most likely is IAD - although they have been trying to get JHW/BFD to IAD for 1 1/2 yrs with no success.

Other possibility is CLE. Its a long shot, but if CAL is willing to take the flights (as it was with Regions Air), it could happen.