Pit Shutting Down?

[n757st]

I wonder what they lose in PHL with all the delays and lost luggage? USAir cut so many flights from PIT that there was no way to make money from the operation. CAL makes maoney in CLE, a smaller town and DAL makes money in CVG, also a smaller town. USAir just doesn't want to be in PIT anymore. PHL is just a better airport for delays.

That said... PHL's market is 2.5x bigger in the metro area, and also has an encachment FAR larger then PIT because it can draw people from Jersey, NYC, and Baltimore. (All within 2hrs driving time) Profits wise, US Airways dominates both domestically and internationally the 5th largest metro in the United States...Pittsburgh is down the list at 22. Besides that, PHL area has a lot of money, especially up in bucks county.

 

[buckeyes95]

The point is not the size of PHL to PIT. The point is that USAir could make money in PIT if they choose to. CAL does in CLE and DAL in CVG. You can't fit many more a/c in PHL. The place is a nightmare already.

 

[n757st]

The point is not the size of PHL to PIT. The point is that USAir could make money in PIT if they choose to. CAL does in CLE and DAL in CVG. You can't fit many more a/c in PHL. The place is a nightmare already.

US does make money at PIT... they just make a lot more in PHL. PHL does have capacity issues, but simply put there is not much money to be made at PIT... especially with competition from JetBlue and Southwest.

 

[CA1900]

Come on, you know it's only because of all those corporate jets that Philly is all backed up!

 

[nwa_contrails]

Closing the Pilot and F/A Domiciles as well:

A Letter to Pilots from Ed Bular
October 3, 2007
Dear PIT-based Pilot,

Today, Doug Parker will be in Pittsburgh to announce news that many of you have been anticipating, that is, that we’ll be reducing service once again at Pittsburgh to 68 departures (22 mainline, 46 Express) from 108 (31 mainline, 77 Express), in order to operate the hub in a way that serves our customers and also makes financial sense for the company.
The news of most importance to pilots is that we are also, unfortunately, closing the PIT pilot and flight attendant domiciles, affecting 182 pilots and 312 flight attendants.
The bulk of the base reductions will occur in January and February, with total base closure occurring in the spring. We will have management and HR people here at PIT for the next few weeks to meet with you and help you with any relocation questions. Please also talk with Jim Corbusier and the PIT Flight Ops team if you have any questions (and of course, feel free to email me). We’ve also attached some documents with more detail that might be helpful for you.
As required under the terms of each respective transition agreement, we’ll be setting up meetings as soon as possible with ALPA leadership to share the PIT economic analysis outlining the cost savings associated with the base closure.
Other groups are affected by this decision, of course. We’re announcing today that PSA will get out of the ground handling business entirely, affecting more than 350 PSA airport customer service and fleet service employees. Their work will be taken over by US Airways mainline employees at the airport. We anticipate mainline ACS reductions (fleet and ticket agents) totaling more than 100 employees. Everyone whose job will be affected at the airport will be offered other jobs in the US Airways system.
Some of these latter changes will be phased in over the next few months; most are final effective with the January 6 schedule.
Today’s announcement does not, however, affect our plans to build the new Operations Control Center at PIT and bring 150 new jobs from PHX to the 450 already at OCC. Our Maintenance operation will stay open as well. We will still be a major employer in the Pittsburgh area.
I know from conversations with many of you that this is unwelcome but not entirely surprising news. Pittsburgh is a very different city with different demographics and a different business community than it was when I worked there not that long ago. The competitive picture has changed and, as a result, we’ve lost $40 million at PIT in the last 12 months. Clearly, that’s unsustainable, and it’s time to make decisions that are right for the whole company.
Needless to say, commuting in and out of PIT just became much more difficult on our own metal. We estimate that we currently have about 500 pilots and flight attendants who live in the area and commute. That means that approximately 1,000 pilots and flight attendants will intend to commute come January. More on commuting will be addressed in the coming weeks, but in the meantime take advantage of Jumpseat agreements and familiarize yourself with cabin space available interline agreements with the OALs at PIT.
Again, this was an extremely tough call for the company to make and our number one priority is to take care of our people. Many of you have been through the mill in the last few years and this is a disappointing turn for so many of you that have stuck by this company, your colleagues and our customers. I can’t thank you enough for your outstanding service and commitment to safety and excellence.
We’ll have more specific information about employment impacts, commuting and other detailed information over the next few weeks. Please talk with Jim or any member of the flight management team if you have specific questions. We’ll try to get information to you as soon as possible. You can also find more information on awaCompass and theHub.
Sincerely,
Ed Bular
Senior Vice President
Flight Operations/InFlight

 

[Murphy]

The rust belt just got rustier.

 

[Groucho]

Airport Costs

The sad fact is that Allegheny County has always used PIT as a jobs program. The ramp control and those who work maintenance and snow removal make more than the average airline captain at that airport. It has made the costs of operation one of the highest in the country.

[FONT=&quot]Airport managers have argued that airport costs passed along to airlines make up[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]only 5 to 6 percent of total airline operating costs and therefore are never the reason for[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]high airfares, nor are they a deciding factor in airline route planning.1[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The importance of airport costs came into sharp focus in Spring 2003 when US Airways[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]announced, just prior to emerging from bankruptcy protection, that it was rejecting its[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]long-term lease agreement at its Pittsburgh hub and would discontinue its hub operations[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]at Pittsburgh unless the airport found a way to reduce its outstanding debt by $500[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]million. That level of airport debt reduction, US Airways argued, was necessary to[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]reduce Pittsburgh’s airport costs to “competitive levels.”[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Prior to US Airways’ restructuring, airport charges at Pittsburgh had been slightly below[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]the industry average of $7-8[/FONT][FONT=&quot] per departing passenger. Airport management had been[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]steadily reducing the cost per departing passenger at Pittsburgh despite the fact that the[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]airport designed for 32 million annual passengers had never handled more than about 20[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]million passengers. During the period of US Airways’ restructuring, Pittsburgh’s costs[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]increased to over $10 per departing passenger as the company’s significant flight[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]reductions at Pittsburgh forced the airport to spread its largely fixed costs over fewer flights and passengers.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Second, the actions taken by the Pittsburgh Airport to reduce costs (and to correct[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]misinformation concerning the level of future costs) alleviated some of the concern[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]regarding the actual level of airport costs that would result from US Airways’ cutbacks or[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]liquidation. Although industry analysts had speculated that Pittsburgh airport costs might[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]rise to as much as $25 per departing passenger in the wake of US Airways’ cutbacks, the[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]airport maintained that its success in tapping additional financing sources and reducing its[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]own operating costs would limit airport costs to the $12 range per departing passenger[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]following such cut-backs—a level found at some other airports. Nevertheless, the[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Pittsburgh experience has served to focus greater attention on the overall importance of[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]airport costs, a subject that is explored further below.[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]It is noteworthy that the two airports with the [/FONT][FONT=&quot]highest [/FONT][FONT=&quot]airfares in the above chart are[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Cincinnati, Ohio and Charlotte, North Carolina. Ironically, Charlotte has the [/FONT][FONT=&quot]lowest[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]airport costs of any airport listed.[/FONT][FONT=&quot] Cincinnati also has low airport costs, less than $4 per[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]enplaned passenger, which ranks it among the least expensive airports.6[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Fitch Upgrades Allegheny County Airport Authority, PA's $586MM GARBs to 'BBB+' from 'BBB'[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Business Wire[/FONT][FONT=&quot], [/FONT][FONT=&quot]May 19, 2006[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Management's focus on cost containment held expenses in line with 2004 levels. As a result, the airport's cost per enplaned passenger declined to $10.96 in from $11.03 in 2004.[/FONT]

 

[ExAF]

Ghost Town

PIT is already a ghost town. I didn't think it could get any "less busy." Every time I go there now, I think to myself what a ghost town it is compared to what it once was. For those that live or work there it has to be a real bummer. Good Luck. (sincerely meant, no sarcasm or hidden meaning)

 

[roughneck]

I was in PIT 2 weeks ago and the ops agent told us that we (SWA) were planning a hugh expansion in PIT starting in Jan. He said we were getting new gates, moving our ticket counters, and getting more bag room (T-Point) areas.

He said the operation would at least double next year and more than tripple by 09.

They must have known about USAir's cutback for a while.

 

[Groucho]

A new news article for PIT from the local paper now places the per/head cost in PIT just above $11.00

That's simply too much in todays low yield environment. SWA will no doubt increase service but even they have to pass those higher costs on to consumers in the shape of higher fares. When you drop the ticket prices then that $11.00 charge starts to become significant.