Airport traffic up again (Philadelphia, Pittsburgh: 2013, centers, tickets)

[South Range Family]

All of a sudden, spending a couple of extra bucks on a real airline doesn't seem like such a bad idea.

Direct Air: DOT offers guidance for travelers after Direct Air suspends flights - Chicago Tribune

[South Range Family]

Stick a fork in them. They are done.

Direct Air parent files for bankruptcy protection - BusinessWeek

[ditchdigger]

Some may find this blog post interesting. The author frequently comments on aviation related matters, but it's obvious that he's a Pittsburgh guy.

Terminal Leave and the American Aerotropolis

(And while it's not pertinant to this thread, he also frequently comments on the riding of bicycles here in Pittsburgh, which I know is of interest to many of our frequent posters.)

[MathmanMathman]

A story linked to that

The Washington Monthly - The Magazine - Terminal Sickness

suggests a grim future for many "fly-over" cities. Chiquita is leaving Cincinnati because they need good air service and Cincinnati has lost its Delta hub. I mean, they were in better shape than Pittsburgh with more passengers and flights to Frankfurt, Amsterdam, London, and Paris at their peak.

Under pre-1978 regulation, the CAB tried to ensure that cities, even rural areas, had air service.

A generation ago, Aguirre and his employees at Chiquita would not have had to face such a difficult choice. Until 1978, the United States viewed airline service as a “public convenience and necessity,” and used a government agency—the Civil Aeronautics Board, or CAB—to assign routes and set fares. This regulation was designed to ensure that citizens in cities like Cincinnati received service roughly equal, in quality and price, to that provided to other comparably sized communities like Charlotte. The government also made sure that smaller cities maintained vital links to the national air network.

But now we find ourselves at a moment when nearly all the promises of the airline deregulators have clearly proved false. If you’re a member of the creative class who rarely does business in the nation’s industrial heartland or visits relatives there, you might not notice the magnitude of economic disruption being caused by lost airline service and skyrocketing fares. But if you are in the business of making and trading stuff beyond derivatives and concepts, you probably have to go to places like Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Memphis, St. Louis, or Minneapolis, and you know firsthand how hard it has become to do business these days in such major heartland cities, which are increasingly cut off from each other and from the global economy.

And this is of concern

K&L Gates, one of the country’s largest law firms, used to hold its firm-wide management meeting near its Pittsburgh headquarters, but after flying in and out of the city became too much trouble, the firm began hosting its meetings outside of New York City and Washington, D.C. The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, the biggest employer in the region, reports that its researchers and physicians are increasingly choosing to drive to professional conferences whenever they can. Flying between Pittsburgh and New York or Washington can now easily take a whole day, since most flights have to route through Philadelphia or Charlotte. A recent check on Travelocity showed just two direct flights from Pittsburgh to D.C., each leaving shortly before six in the morning and costing (one week in advance) $498 each way, or approximately $2.62 per mile.

Getting to the David L Lawrence from the airport is not that convenient as it is, but apparently, even finding a convenient flight to Pittsburgh is tough. The US Airways "hub fortress" made air fares higher than average but a lack of flights could hurt Pittsburgh even more.

[Geeo]

Poorly researched article. There are at least five nonstops to National, a few more to Dulles and Southwest flies to BWI, so probably a dozen or more flights every day to DC. The city did not build the airport, the county did. And the regional economy has actually been getting much better the last few years. Other than those little details, great piece, too bad they didn't fact check.

[MathmanMathman]

Originally Posted by Geeo

Poorly researched article. There are at least five nonstops to National, a few more to Dulles and Southwest flies to BWI, so probably a dozen or more flights every day to DC. The city did not build the airport, the county did. And the regional economy has actually been getting much better the last few years. Other than those little details, great piece, too bad they didn't fact check.

From the outside, places are viewed as the city. Not many people know it is Allegheny county.

That's somewhat of a relief. But the story about Chiquita leaving Cincinnati for Charlotte for better air service (and incentives) is true. But for Pittsburgh, dropping from over 600 flights to under 100 doesn't make it look as good for businesses.

[BrianTH]

The airport authority and the County have made a 50-50 deal on future drilling revenues:

Airport drilling deal reached | TribLIVE

As explained in the article, nothing is likely to happen soon because of low gas prices. As we discussed above, eventually this deal would likely require a change in the FAA rules regarding revenues, which they are lobbying for, although they mentioned placing the County's half in escrow in the meantime.

[PITairport]

Originally Posted by ditchdigger

Some may find this blog post interesting. The author frequently comments on aviation related matters, but it's obvious that he's a Pittsburgh guy.

Terminal Leave and the American Aerotropolis

Here is a report with some interesting concepts and diagrams regarding the 'Aerotropolis' concept at PIT

http://www.cmu.edu/rci/images/projec...n_11092011.pdf

[PITairport]

Another 5% drop in passenger traffic compared to last May.

Considering the region added a vast amount of new jobs and even some population growth since last May, these numbers are quite disappointing. This (negative) growth is well below the national average of +1%.

Pittsburgh airport traffic dips in May - Pittsburgh Business Times

[pman]

I'd be interested in what the traffic looked like backing out the lost philly flights on southwest (and where those people went, I'd bet some are on jet blue)...are they on the turnpike? megabus?