US Air long term survivability

[LearLove]

another question:

What about the contract carriers and WO. I would guess PSA and MDA (if it gets up and running) would be sold along with shuttle.

Also wrt the contract I'm guessing someone like DAL or CAL or NWA would come in to say PHL and say just keep flying what you are and change the paint, kind of like or just like Delta did in CMH when AWA left earlier this year.

As far as the turboprop flying goes on the east coast I think there will always be a market or atleast for some time to come. Just like Skywest's 120's and the Dash's for horizon out west there is just some flying here in the east that will be TP. Maybe some hope for Alg and PDT.

 

[FurloughedAgain]

ALG and PDT are assets which can be sold during the next financial crunch. Granted their value is limited by their aircraft type -- but I can think of one hungry regional that could quickly and easily absorb them....

 

[atpcliff]

Hi!

I think pilots who were trying to get on at USAir were misinformed. I know of guys who were leaving back in 1991, because the future didn't look great for USAir.

I hope all the furloughed and current USAir employees can find decent employment, especially if the whole airline goes under.

CLiff
DTW

 

[320AV8R]

Typhoonpilot is correct.

When USAir, Piedmont & PSA were put together, they had the potential to be a major player. The first mistake they made was parking the BAE-146s, leaving the West Coast, & concentrating on the East Coast. Their hubs, (DCA, BWI, PHL, LGA, PIT, BOS) were now competing with each other (except for CLT). Ed Colodny was smart, but not smart enough. They were operating a "major" airline with a "regional" (Allegheny) mindset.

The second mistake they made was retreating when SWA came into BWI. SWA then expanded along the East Coast, with a 7 cent (vs 12 cent) ASM cost, & started to eat their lunch. They lacked a strategic plan, which resulted in their eventual CH 11 filing.

Now the momentum is lost. They are pulling out of PIT. I'd wager to say that SWA, AirTran & ATA will be in PIT shortly. The Shuttle isn't as lucrative as in the past. (AirTran & SWA fly between BOS, PVD, ISP, BWI, DCA etc..) SWA going into PHL will prove to be the begining of the end. The only thing they have left is the CLT hub, which competes heavily with one of the busiest airports in the world....ATL.

My guess is that they'll end up as a much smaller airline, with only a CLT hub, or they will slowly fade away.

 

[reepicheep]

The pilots we hired in the late 90's who sought out the realists would have been told that they were hired for the Airbus training float and they would have been told that USAir did not have a sustainable business model and once the economy slowed down the airline would begin to lose money again and they would be furloughed. Too many heard what they wanted to hear and listened to the kool-aide drinkers who congratulated them and told them they'd soon be flying widebodies to Japan.

These same kool-aide drinkers can now be seen on our ALPA board advocating more concessions to "save our airline".

 

[FurloughedAgain]

yeah, but to be fair, not ALL of us flew with Chip.

 

[reepicheep]

Well, the bright side - if there is one, is that at least a lot of you were young enough to start over hopefully somewhere good. I wish they'd furloughed me back in 1990 when I was still marketable. Now I'm pretty much unemployable and stuck with 'em for better or worse.

 

[AA717driver]

Anyone who goes to work for a company run by Stephen "Don't call me Steve" Wolf cannot claim to be blindsided when things go bad.

That's like asking Carl Ichan to join your managment team...

Right after I upgraded at TWA, almost every FO I flew with was going to USAir. I really couldn't tell them what I thought because I hadn't been right too often in my guesses. I was right about that one, though.

The comment about hiring for the Airbus float is right on. I heard that from a friend who got recalled at the time.TC

 

[General Lee]

The addition of Southwest at PHL will obviously not help their bottomline. I think USAir will have to look again at their product and their strengths. East Coast travel will be bogged down with plenty of Low Cost outfits---like Southwest, Airtran, Jetblue, and Song---which will lower the North South fares on the East Coast. USAir will have lots of RJs---big and small---flying the same routes as some of those LCCs and their larger planes, and the passengers will choose what they prefer. (Jetblue will also have those EMB-190s doing the same)

There are some things that I think USAir is doing well---namely their Carribean flying. They offer a very comfortable plane (usually the A319) to many islands that only the rich and famous can afford---and the fares reflect that. They are branching out to Central America(mainly from CLT)---like San Jose, Costa Rica and even Liberia, Costa Rica, and Belize City----places that cater to rich Americans or Americans who want to act rich. That was very smart on USAir's part---and it is no doubt one of their shining stars. Their European network from PHL is also doing well I believe. Their Shuttle service from LGA to BOS/DCA etc. also is a money maker, and they have many loyal customers.

It will be interesting to watch what they do to combat the LCCs in their backyard. It is a problem many Majors are having to deal with---like DL in ATL with Airtran. Thank God the economy is starting to improve and hopefully brighter days are ahead for all of us.

Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[reepicheep]

There are many smart and observant people who conclude that US Airways' plan is to become sort of a seat broker - a dealer in commodities that rarely handles the product itself - at least insofar as a traditional "mainline" carrier goes. It will retain a small mainline - maybe 100-150 Airbuses - for select routes, and a large regional product - MDA - that will feed United and the Star Alliance. It will become more and more of a brand name and less of a real airline. The mainline may even disappear altogether.

A merger with United will never happen. Ask any United pilot on this board to comment on why.