Tuesday, October 09, 2007

More Irrationality from USAirways

USAir just announced a drop in service levels at Pittsburgh International Airport which was once their largest hub. In contrast to the reactions to previous rounds of cut-backs, most Pittsburghers seem to be just shrugging their shoulders and moving on.

I do like that Southwest has come here and that I can fly to Chicago and Philadelphia for very little. I also like that other airlines have ratcheted up service a little.

But I also miss being able to fly direct almost everywhere in the US. It's becoming nearly impossible to fly direct from Pittsburgh to the West Coast. Toronto is also out which I think may be the end of the "International" in Pittsburgh International.

And I still don't understand USAir: I've already mentioned that 9 flights a day from Philadelphia to La Guardia seems absurd. Today I learned that one can fly on USAir from Pittsburgh to White Plains, NY through Charlotte or Philadelphia (although one might not be able to pay utility bills for a few months after paying the fare). Again, this means that USAir flies from Philadelphia to White Plains.... why?

I certainly understand why USAir concentrated on Philadelphia as an international hub. But why all these short routes to other spots in the megalopolis? Why does the federal government allow this when air traffic around New York and Philadelphia is out of control?

And who flies from Philadelphia to New York?

2 comments:

JSE said...

And who flies from Philadelphia to New York?

Maybe people who are flying from Philadelphia to international destinations which don't have direct flights from Philadelphia? That's why I fly from Madison to Chicago, which is not much farther.

Adam said...

Well, I thought about that but then why White Plains and La Guardia?

I think it's the other way: USAir wants people in New York to fly to Philadelphia to connect to their international flights. But I don't think USAir really flies anywhere in Europe that someone doesn't fly to from JFK or Newark.

I can understand flying from Madison to Chicago to get on a flight to London--no flights to London from Madison, right? But it's hard to understand flying from LGA to Philadelphia to get on a flight to London when there are lots of flights to London from New York.