Deltaflyertoo From United States of America, joined Nov 2000, 1590 posts, RR: 1 Reply 1, posted (10 years 12 months 4 days 18 hours ago) and read 1264 times:
I say another year at the least. I think CO will move in on DCA and that is. DL will have no interest.
ContinentalEWR From United States of America, joined May 2000, 3762 posts, RR: 14 Reply 3, posted (10 years 12 months 4 days 7 hours ago) and read 1188 times:
US Airways and Glory? Don't think so. US Airways always has been an also ran in the US airline industry. Service standards were never really good (most of the time it was just OK, but certainly nothing to brag about). It never grew into a truly national carrier. US Airways will probably go the way of Eastern and Pan Am within a year, with most of its assets going to CO, DL, and AA (the airlines that most likely can afford them).
Lousy airline, inconsistent product, great Airbuses, but an unworkable business model and truly inept management.
Deltaflyertoo From United States of America, joined Nov 2000, 1590 posts, RR: 1 Reply 6, posted (10 years 12 months 4 days 4 hours ago) and read 1133 times:
Some of you laugh at glory, but USAir DID have a glory period. The 80s, before they bought PSA and Piedmont. They were indeed a very very respected airline. Their business model was perfect. PIT and only PIT as a hub and PHL as a focus served them well. They were one of the first airlines to truley understand yield management. While UAL, TWA and PAN AM were flying 747s on routes like CLE to LAX or LAX to SFO, USAIr understood the value of using 727s and 737s instead. Their bottom line reflected this utilization of equipment on these routes instead of the need to be bigger and better. From a business sense, they were the only airline of the 80s that got this and to their credit they never did go out and buy planes bigger than they could handle (well maybe the 330 but I digress...)
As for service levels, there was one layout, coach. ANd the food was wonderful. IFE was above average for the time as well as they were one of the first carriers to install video on 737-300s. They were also famous for those ice cream sandwhiches I recall.
Then they came in and bought PSA and Piedmont and one thing led to another and we all know now where they stand. But in defense of USAir, I do feel that the decade of the 80s truley was their glory days.
ContinentalEWR From United States of America, joined May 2000, 3762 posts, RR: 14 Reply 7, posted (10 years 12 months 4 days 3 hours ago) and read 1107 times:
DeltaFlyerToo, very good comments. It's true that US Air could have become a niche airline, catering to business travellers and therefore maximized revenue, had it not had the idea to acquire PSA and Piedmont, which ironically, were both well managed operations with similar philosophies. However, it is what US Air Group Inc. did with those assets that are one major source of the carrier's inability to turn around. PSA offered US Air the chance to grab a sizeable piece of the intra-California/West Coast market long before Southwest got there and United Shuttle was created. The Piedmont acquisition gave US Air a common fleet (737-400's, a few 767-200's, and those pesky Fokkers) but it also gave them CLT, which was and still is a robust hub but it never has been marketed as a cheaper, more stress-free transit point compared with ATL and never had, and never will, have the multiple connections that ATL can offer.
US Air wrecked itself through lost opportunities, poor management, lack of focus, high operating costs, and a poor use of good assets. Yet, it has a powerful presence in a number of key airports (LGA, BOS, DCA, PHL, and even PIT) but I think those assets will be better used by someone else.
Markus From United States of America, joined May 1999, 275 posts, RR: 0 Reply 9, posted (10 years 12 months 3 days 23 hours ago) and read 1051 times:
I'm anxious to see what effect MidAtlantic Airways has on the entire structure of USAirways and Express. If they are planning on it being fairly large I believe that PSA, Piedmont and Allegheny could disappear when the leases on their aircraft start to expire and/or MidAtlantic starts taking over routes. For example MidAtlantic is supposed to start up in PIT which is PSA land. Those RJ's are eventually going to take over J328 routes from PSA. Could get interesting.
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