Based on the fact sheet, US flies 204 departures out of LGA, and 186 departures out of DCA. However, most of these flights are flown by regional carriers.
If it wanted to , US could make all of these flights mainline, making LGA and DCA respectable hub operations. (PHL has 224 mainline flights, CLT has 263)
1. Scale back PHL
2. Have major hubs at CLT, DCA, and LGA.
The competition is low, and the O&D market is fabulous.
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ERJ170 From United States of America, joined Apr 2004, 6626 posts, RR: 19 Reply 1, posted (8 years 3 months 2 weeks 2 hours ago) and read 4073 times:
DCA and LGA are too slot restricted. Plus with the perimeter rules, it doesn't allow for coast-to-coast nor international flights.. not a good formula for hub status..
Plus, at DCA and LGA, aircraft size make a huge difference.. sometimes a RJ does not equal a slot.. whereas a mainline always and forever equal a slot.. it's all about the rules..
SESGDL From United States of America, joined Jan 2001, 3384 posts, RR: 11 Reply 3, posted (8 years 3 months 2 weeks 1 hour ago) and read 3994 times:
Also, to places where US flies from LGA like CHO. Do you honestly think that even a 319 could fill that route? Upgrading from regional to mainline would have to equal enough demand on a route which there's clearly not.
727lover From United States of America, joined Oct 2001, 5713 posts, RR: 20 Reply 4, posted (8 years 3 months 1 week 6 days 23 hours ago) and read 3893 times:
US has only 24 mainline departures from LGA???????? That's down fro roughly 100 ten years ago. Are they still #1 in pax from LGA?
Cody From United States of America, joined exactly 14 years ago today! , 1918 posts, RR: 10 Reply 6, posted (8 years 3 months 1 week 6 days 2 hours ago) and read 3619 times:
This is a good question. It is my understanding that the DCA slots are differentiated in terms of regional and mainline. That is why they have increased the EMB 170 at DCA. The EMB 170 fits in the regional slot category, yet is capable of flying mainline routes. That explains the sudden decrease in turboprop flying from DCA. US AIRWAYS is now using those slots for the EMB 170. I believe the only US AIRWAYS EXPRESS turboprop flights out of DCA are with Colgan who actually owns the slots outright.
Now I think LGA is different. A slot is a slot is a slot. It can be used by mainline jets or regional jets. Why US AIRWAYS has elected to use a bunch of regional jets out of LGA as opposed to flying mainline jets to say, MCO is beyond me. My only assumption is, in recent years, their costs have not been low enough to effectively compete with JetBlue, Airtran, Spirit and others. But the RJ costs are lower since they are fixed. Therefore, right now, you see more RJ's at LGA. Now if and when the recent cost reductions start to help the bottom line, and they become competitive, I would guess we will see more mainline at LGA and less Rj's. But like I said that is only a guess.
If I am wrong about the slot issues, please enlighten me.
727lover From United States of America, joined Oct 2001, 5713 posts, RR: 20 Reply 7, posted (8 years 3 months 1 week 6 days 2 hours ago) and read 3602 times:
I will be at DCA this coning weekend. I will not see any USX dash-8s????
Cody From United States of America, joined exactly 14 years ago today! , 1918 posts, RR: 10 Reply 8, posted (8 years 3 months 1 week 6 days 2 hours ago) and read 3592 times:
727lover,
I don't think you will. As far as I know, the only remaining turboprops out of DCA are the SAABs, operated by Colgan, to CRW.
SHUPirate1 From United States of America, joined Sep 2003, 3661 posts, RR: 19 Reply 9, posted (8 years 3 months 1 week 6 days 2 hours ago) and read 3592 times:
Cody-if I am not mistaken, there are separate slot pools for mainline planes and non-mainline planes at LaGuardia. However, the line is drawn at 50 seats, which is why the only 70-seat plane LaGuardia sees all day is DL5500 (RDU 8:25A-LGA 10:06A), turning as DL5430 (LGA 11:00A-JAX 1:39P).
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Cody From United States of America, joined exactly 14 years ago today! , 1918 posts, RR: 10 Reply 10, posted (8 years 3 months 1 week 6 days ago) and read 3532 times:
SHUPirate1,
You might be right. I recall just prior to September 11, 2001, LGA did something odd with the 50-seat RJ's. They slot exempted them or something. All of the sudden, LGA became bogged down with RJ's galore. Then after September 11, they may have changed the rules again. Honestly these rules have changed so much that I lost track.
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From United States of America, joined Apr 2004, 709 posts, 
That's down fro roughly 100 ten years ago. Are they still #1 in pax from LGA?
, 1918 posts, 
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