USAirways has jumped the shark

[eaglesview]

Are you willing to pay $2 for a beverage as flight crew?

35% paycuts, I think I have already paid for it.

 

[carl p]

I dunno about that, Airways has proven to be the turd that won't flush.

Bud, that is the line of the year!

 

[Air1980]

Here's a novel idea; why don't the carriers stick with the fare hikes and keep service the same. European carriers (BA, LH, VS etc) have increased their prices, but KEPT, and in many cases improved quality of service. That way Joe businessman, while probably not enjoying paying more, at least gets the same experience on the plane, and may even enjoy it.

Last (and only time) I jumpseated on US Airways it was the worst experience I've had. Awful F/A's, advertising all over the place, a whopping 1 choice of purchaseable food, passengers subjected to the worst inflight service I've seen. I was truly embarassed to be a pilot , and felt sorry for the very professional guys who gave me the ride that see this on a daily basis. I couldn't be happier flying cargo now - away from all that. God help us if the Europeans start flying domestically; they'll wipe the floor with us.........

 

[Captzaahlie]

35% paycuts, I think I have already paid for it.

Excellent point and my answer to the first pax that asks me about my coffee/soda consumption!

 

[Redmeat]

America has always been about the best combination of price and quality. Fare shopping on the net has turned that on its head. No more thoughts of quality. Just a simple list of fares in order of cheapest to most expensive. It's ridiculous.

But since you asked, NO, I don't always go for the cheapest on everything. I refuse to shop at WalMart and haven't even been inside one in years. This obsession with cheap crap is destroying this country. "More lead in that GI Joe, son?"

The first rule of bizzness is you gotta give the customer what they want or people won't buy your product.

That includes quality but unfortunately... more these days price.

I'll give you one example. You can buy a Craftsman hammer for $20 or a chinese hammer at Wally World for $5. How much will the quality of that product factor into the decision?

That's kinda what our industry faces. People say 'I'm just gonna pound nails with the damn thing...what do I care about quality? Translate: I'm just gonna be on the plane for 2.5 hours what do I care about service, I can take it.

Maybe this topic has to do more with the state of our country as a people than the state of our industry...

 

[brokedash]

Southwest will OWN LAS after this summer. And they won't give it back. I would expect that they will take all of the A and B gates. US will be lucky to beg for a handful out in the south 40. When good times return US will be sitting there with their mouths hanging open watching the cash roll by.

Oops, forgot, they have Philly - well oiled machine that it is.

Interesting story regarding HP/US @ LAS. When the red eye bank first opened in the mid-80s it was to better utilize planes that would have sat on RON.
Apparently it made more financial sense to keep running flights with modest profit levels. From what I understand the LAS hub, particularly the red-eye bank was never a huge money maker. Now with today's economic enviorment it appears the LAS hub, especially the red eye bank, is a losing proposition. LAS will lose hub status by years end, but the red eyes get axed after Summer ends. On one hand it is sad to see another vestiage of HP fade away, but then as mentioned the airlines have hit a down cycle and it's survival time.

Yes, WN will dominate LAS, but the growth will be cautious given current conditions. When this cycle comes on the up swing, WN will become LAS airline of choice and Doug and Co. will not have the resources available to build LAS back to hub status if it even made sense. I'm sure WN has been quietly working on a take over of old US gate space for some time so they can get to work striking a deal with LAS to insure there future dominance there.

 

[PCL_128]

The first rule of bizzness is you gotta give the customer what they want or people won't buy your product.

The problem is that it is no longer possible to give the customer what they want, because what they want is unreasonable. Sorry, but you can't fly from New York to California for $199 and still get free drinks, food, and IFE and expect the airlines to stay in business. Doesn't work that way.

I'll give you one example. You can buy a Craftsman hammer for $20 or a chinese hammer at Wally World for $5. How much will the quality of that product factor into the decision?

For me, a lot. My garage is filled with Craftsman tools. Not a single thing from that godforsaken rat hole you call Wally World, though.

 

[PBRstreetgang]

Fuukem, we got some of their money, lets try to get the rest!
PBR

 

[SaturnPilot]

Don't like it? Write you Congressman and Senators and tell them that you want re-regulation. Otherwise, stop yer b!tchin' about paying $2 for a drink on a $99 ticket that takes you 1500 miles across the country.

I'm going to disagree with you there. This $2 charge is not going to do anything other than anger the passengers. How much extra revenue is this expected to generate anyways? It's certainly not enough to even come close to making them profitable.

This reminds me of when NW decided to stop serving pretzels on their flights in order to save a whopping 2 million dollars. Doug Steenland makes that amount in a few months.

This $2 charge might get them some extra money, but I guarantee it will be a small amount, not even close to what the executives paychecks are, meanwhile it will enrage the passengers who feel even more nickel n' dimed. It's just not worth it.

 

[airborn]

This thread has gone insane.


Tell you what, don't like the charge, don't fly US Airways. Enough said. Speak with your wallet.

The airlines are paddling as fast as they can just to stay 10 feet underwater. They have to do something to try to make it back to air.

You all could argue with a brick wall.....it's made out of cinder blocks, no it's not, its brick veneer, no it's not it's stucco..............oh boy