bobbysamd
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I read this in the Denver Rocky Mountain News this morning. Hmmm, interesting.........
New hub for DIA?
Continental considers filling void if UAL leaves Denver, sources say
By David Kesmodel, Rocky Mountain News
March 7, 2003
Continental Airlines Inc. is exploring whether to ratchet up service at Denver International Airport - including possibly launching a DIA hub - if United Airlines slashes operations at the fifth-busiest U.S. airport.
In the past two to three months, schedule planners for Houston-based Continental have been studying the potential redeployment of aircraft, the profitability of routes from DIA and possible capacity changes by United, -DIA's dominant carrier, people familiar with the matter said.
If United, operating under bankruptcy- court protection, dropped the airport as a hub, significantly reduced DIA service or went out of business, Continental would look closely at expanding flights, these sources said.
A Continental spokesman, David Messing, said that "as things stand now, we don't expect to expand in Denver."
However, he said, "The industry is in a great state of flux. If industry conditions change dramatically, we'd have to take a close look at new options that present themselves."
He declined to elaborate.
Dan Melfi, a DIA spokesman, said Continental told him it was doing studies. He said other airlines, including AMR Corp.'s beleaguered American Airlines, also are doing analyses and might look at some type of expansion.
Continental's studies add weight to comments made by the carrier's outspoken chief executive, Gordon Bethune, before United's Dec. 9 bankruptcy filing. Bethune told The New York Times that Continental, which once had a Denver hub, might want to expand in Denver to increase its foothold in the West.
Continental, which has its own financial problems, "has plans that think through all the different" actions Chicago-based United might take, one source said. Continental also is analyzing what other airlines at DIA might do if United slashes operations.
Continental would be, by far, the most likely of the major U.S. airlines to start a DIA hub in place of United, analysts said.
Executives at UAL Corp.'s United say they want to keep DIA as a hub as part of their restructuring strategy. However, the company said recently that its board asked executives to explore closing up to three of the carrier's U.S. hubs, including DIA, as a possible alternative.
United, which has a total of five U.S. hubs, had no comment on Continental's planning.
Continental, the world's seventh-largest airline, has U.S. hubs in Houston, Newark, N.J., and Cleveland. It has 13 daily flights from DIA; each goes to one of the hubs.
Continental was Denver's dominant carrier in the 1980s at Stapleton Airport. After the airline's own bankruptcy and fierce competition with United, it drastically reduced its presence in Denver when DIA opened in 1995.
"If United were to go away, Denver would be an obvious candidate for a major hub again" for Continental, said Scott Hamilton, a Seattle-based industry consultant. "Continental could recall some planes parked in the desert, they could shift capacity, or they could close the Cleveland hub, which has always been kind of a marginal hub for them."
He rated Northwest Airlines Corp. "a distant second" to Continental as a DIA hub candidate and called Southwest Airlines Co. "a way-distant third."
Eagan, Minn.-based Northwest is "very much married" to hubs in Minneapolis and Detroit and could take advantage of Continental starting a Denver hub through its code-sharing alliance with Continental, said Bill Swelbar, managing director at ECLAT Consulting Inc.
Northwest declined comment.
Dallas-based Southwest has long cited high airport costs as a deterrent to serving DIA. The discounter also tends to enter airports with a bigger "catchment area," the population area for which the airport is the closest and most convenient airport, Swelbar said.
Southwest did not respond to a request for comment.
Melfi said Delta Air Lines Inc. and American are among carriers doing studies of adding capacity at DIA if United slashes operations. Delta spokeswoman Peggy Estes, however, said the Atlanta-based carrier is not studying Denver and is focused on its Western hub in Salt Lake City. Fort Worth, Texas- based American declined comment.
"If United liquidates, some (airlines), if not several, are going to have an interest here. Continental is a real possibility," said Elise Eberwein, spokeswoman for Denver-based Frontier Airlines Inc., which serves 12 percent of DIA passengers.
"We'd be interested in growing our presence as well," she said, but added that discounter Frontier would not have the size or wherewithal to stop a large rival from moving in.
Continental, like other major U.S. carriers, has struggled since the U.S. recession and the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. But its losses have not been as great as larger rivals United, AMR and Delta.
Continental posted net losses of $95 million in 2001 and $451 million in 2002. It had $1.34 billion in cash and cash equivalents on Dec. 31.
"Certainly, their balance sheet is very fragile," Swelbar said. "They will be thinking through (any Denver expansion) very carefully."
Continental was among airlines lobbying the federal Air Transportation Stabilization Board last year to deny United's request for a $1.8 billion loan guarantee. The board denied the guarantee Dec. 4, and United filed for Chapter 11 five days later.
(emphasis added)
It would be nice if Continental steps up to the plate, especially because it had input into the design of Denver International Airport. United had more input, but it appears United might being bailing.
New hub for DIA?
Continental considers filling void if UAL leaves Denver, sources say
By David Kesmodel, Rocky Mountain News
March 7, 2003
Continental Airlines Inc. is exploring whether to ratchet up service at Denver International Airport - including possibly launching a DIA hub - if United Airlines slashes operations at the fifth-busiest U.S. airport.
In the past two to three months, schedule planners for Houston-based Continental have been studying the potential redeployment of aircraft, the profitability of routes from DIA and possible capacity changes by United, -DIA's dominant carrier, people familiar with the matter said.
If United, operating under bankruptcy- court protection, dropped the airport as a hub, significantly reduced DIA service or went out of business, Continental would look closely at expanding flights, these sources said.
A Continental spokesman, David Messing, said that "as things stand now, we don't expect to expand in Denver."
However, he said, "The industry is in a great state of flux. If industry conditions change dramatically, we'd have to take a close look at new options that present themselves."
He declined to elaborate.
Dan Melfi, a DIA spokesman, said Continental told him it was doing studies. He said other airlines, including AMR Corp.'s beleaguered American Airlines, also are doing analyses and might look at some type of expansion.
Continental's studies add weight to comments made by the carrier's outspoken chief executive, Gordon Bethune, before United's Dec. 9 bankruptcy filing. Bethune told The New York Times that Continental, which once had a Denver hub, might want to expand in Denver to increase its foothold in the West.
Continental, which has its own financial problems, "has plans that think through all the different" actions Chicago-based United might take, one source said. Continental also is analyzing what other airlines at DIA might do if United slashes operations.
Continental would be, by far, the most likely of the major U.S. airlines to start a DIA hub in place of United, analysts said.
Executives at UAL Corp.'s United say they want to keep DIA as a hub as part of their restructuring strategy. However, the company said recently that its board asked executives to explore closing up to three of the carrier's U.S. hubs, including DIA, as a possible alternative.
United, which has a total of five U.S. hubs, had no comment on Continental's planning.
Continental, the world's seventh-largest airline, has U.S. hubs in Houston, Newark, N.J., and Cleveland. It has 13 daily flights from DIA; each goes to one of the hubs.
Continental was Denver's dominant carrier in the 1980s at Stapleton Airport. After the airline's own bankruptcy and fierce competition with United, it drastically reduced its presence in Denver when DIA opened in 1995.
"If United were to go away, Denver would be an obvious candidate for a major hub again" for Continental, said Scott Hamilton, a Seattle-based industry consultant. "Continental could recall some planes parked in the desert, they could shift capacity, or they could close the Cleveland hub, which has always been kind of a marginal hub for them."
He rated Northwest Airlines Corp. "a distant second" to Continental as a DIA hub candidate and called Southwest Airlines Co. "a way-distant third."
Eagan, Minn.-based Northwest is "very much married" to hubs in Minneapolis and Detroit and could take advantage of Continental starting a Denver hub through its code-sharing alliance with Continental, said Bill Swelbar, managing director at ECLAT Consulting Inc.
Northwest declined comment.
Dallas-based Southwest has long cited high airport costs as a deterrent to serving DIA. The discounter also tends to enter airports with a bigger "catchment area," the population area for which the airport is the closest and most convenient airport, Swelbar said.
Southwest did not respond to a request for comment.
Melfi said Delta Air Lines Inc. and American are among carriers doing studies of adding capacity at DIA if United slashes operations. Delta spokeswoman Peggy Estes, however, said the Atlanta-based carrier is not studying Denver and is focused on its Western hub in Salt Lake City. Fort Worth, Texas- based American declined comment.
"If United liquidates, some (airlines), if not several, are going to have an interest here. Continental is a real possibility," said Elise Eberwein, spokeswoman for Denver-based Frontier Airlines Inc., which serves 12 percent of DIA passengers.
"We'd be interested in growing our presence as well," she said, but added that discounter Frontier would not have the size or wherewithal to stop a large rival from moving in.
Continental, like other major U.S. carriers, has struggled since the U.S. recession and the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. But its losses have not been as great as larger rivals United, AMR and Delta.
Continental posted net losses of $95 million in 2001 and $451 million in 2002. It had $1.34 billion in cash and cash equivalents on Dec. 31.
"Certainly, their balance sheet is very fragile," Swelbar said. "They will be thinking through (any Denver expansion) very carefully."
Continental was among airlines lobbying the federal Air Transportation Stabilization Board last year to deny United's request for a $1.8 billion loan guarantee. The board denied the guarantee Dec. 4, and United filed for Chapter 11 five days later.
(emphasis added)
It would be nice if Continental steps up to the plate, especially because it had input into the design of Denver International Airport. United had more input, but it appears United might being bailing.
