Charlotte-Douglas Airport (CLT) Expansion

[Neo]

Very good news to hear! I think Charlotte-Douglas will do just fine with or without USAir.

[49er]

Most of the office towers in downtown Charlotte were evacuated, if not all of them. My building was.

[monsoon]

[uptownliving]

I am waiting for USAirways to drop its fares from CLT to Washington National...a much more conveinent airport than Dulles.

[monsoon]

[uptownliving]

It just might happen, since USAirways has lowered its fares to match iAir from National to every market that iAir serves.

See http://www.usairways.com/pro/specials/dc_gofares.htm#Between for more info.

[monsoon]

[Neo]

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!

Well, after reading the full article on this at Charlotte.com I agree that I think by this time next year we'll have a much smaller CLT, probably without USAir. This isn't necessarily a bad thing though, we can finally start over and obtain some other airlines that we've been unable to attract due to the presence of USAir.

[monsoon]

[Neo]

I'd say this is the death cry of USAirways...short term it is going to be devestating to the area considering how many people it employs but I think the long-term outlook on the area will gain from this.

[QC704]

I think the question if US Airways goes under is if CLT is picked up by another airline as a hub.

[monsoon]

[uptownliving]

Most airlines are running around 80% full these days. Its not so much an issue of capacity...the people are flying...its a matter of the business model. The majors still depend predominantly on business flyers which have not rebounded like the casual traveler has after 9/11. If USAirways is able to transform itself into a low fare carrier then it will do fine as its already in some great markets. I think the Pilots see the writing on the wall and will get their contract signed before the end of September, the other unions will follow shortly.

[monsoon]

[monsoon]

[Neo]

More news:

" If US Airways files bankruptcy in September, it may be liquidated, the airline's chairman told a Pittsburgh newspaper.

David Bronner said he would not be willing to fight for the airline's survival if it declares bankruptcy again.

Bronner says there is a 50 percent chance of winning employee concessions and averting bankruptcy. "

[uptownliving]

Yep...this is their last chance...I hope the workers realize this and don't ruin it for everyone else.

[monsoon]

[Neo]

This has to have an affect on local businesses and the prospects of attracting new businesses. Who wants to put their faith in a carrier that may or may not survive? Also, what business wants to move to a city that has direct flights but is very unstable? If we lose USAir I would say it would definately be a blow to the Chamber of Commerce in attracting companies as this was one of their major selling points. This will definately sting a little but hopefully not too long. Wasn't their word that a couple of low fare carriers were coming to Charlotte-Douglas? Southwest?

[uptownliving]

Independence Air starts in 2 months...expect Southwest Airlines sometime in 2005 along with jetblue.

I think its a little early to write the obit for USAirways. If by the end of September they still have a lot of contracts yet to be signed by their unions...then things will be serious....until then it will be a lot of speculation and rhetoric.

[uptownliving]

More bad news for USAir in the paper today. S&P has lowered their credit rating to essentially junk bond status saying there is little chance the Airline is going to get the required concessions from their unions. No surprise here, but the more interesting piece of news was that USAir's Charlotte employment was about 5,743. This is significantly less than the 8000+ that I have heard reported in the past. If they all get layed off, we have another Pillowtex, but the local economy should move on fine. Might hurt the Real Estate market a bit though.

Man we have come a long ways for the days of USAirways talking about moving their HQ to Charlotte. I guess Charlotte's days of being one of the centers of transportation in the USA will soon be over.

If USA fails I assume that Charlotte will lose its direct flights to Mexico, Europe, & the Carribean. Any thoughts on this?

S&P has lowered their credit rating to essentially junk bond status saying there is little chance the Airline is going to get the required concessions from their unions.

S&P lowered USAirways credit rating to CCC which is 2 levels above junk bond status. Also, S&P never said that USAirways had little chance of getting required concessions. They said that USAirways must accelerate their contract negotiations to avoid bankruptcy. The Pilot's contract is almost done, this will bring the largest cost savings to the company out of all the contects to be negotiated.

USAir's Charlotte employment was about 5,743. This is significantly less than the 8000+ that I have heard reported in the past.

USAirways has had the 5,743 employment level since about 2002 after their last round of layoffs. All the publications I have read reported that level since then.

If USA fails I assume that Charlotte will lose its direct flights to Mexico, Europe, & the Carribean. Any thoughts on this?

Most of the Carribean will be gone...but some destinations such as Cancun and the Bahammas would remain. I also think the London flight would remain and maybe one of the Germany flights as well.

[Neo]

Germany isn't so much of an issue due to Lufthansa is it?

[monsoon]

[Neo]

I read this today:

"Even as it struggles to reduce the high costs that threaten its survival, US Airways is hatching plans to establish a small Caribbean and Latin American hub at Florida's Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.

The nation's seventh-largest airline is scheduled to announce Monday that the hub will open early in 2005, with service to about 15 new cities in Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean and the Northeast. It currently serves four cities, including Charlotte, from Fort Lauderdale."

To see the full article CLICK HERE

This is brave...but I guess they have nothing more to lose so why not? I'd say they're motive for this is to keep customers since the prospects of them floundering are fairly high.

[uptownliving]

Yeah, the new Ft Lauderdale "mini hub" has really created a stir down there. People in S Florida are exited about it as it will provide comptetion to American Airlines lock on the Carribean and S America.

monsoon, I agree that Lufthansa would probably pull out....however I do think there is a possibility of some German flight to either Munich or Frankfurt.

I also think that BofA and Wachovia would be willing to subsidize a Charlotte London flight to keep it here....similar to how Glaxo subsidizes the Raleigh- London flight.