Pittsburgh Int'l Airport slipping slipping slipping.. (Philadelphia, Washington: buy, maintenance, live)

[Renaldo5000]

I actually kind of prefer PIT being dead as it is. I go through security quick as hell and there are no lines for anything. It's super convenient.

[pman]

any thoughts on what this means to PIT?
Southwest Airlines to buy AirTran

[BrianTH]

Here is a useful chart:

PIT - Flight Information : Daily Nonstop Flights

The only competing destination I found was Orlando. So it might be reasonable to hope this will overall be good for Pittsburgh, assuming significant efficiencies from the deal.

[pman]

The deal promises to be transformational for Dallas-based Southwest, the largest U.S. carrier of domestic passengers, by providing access to the large Atlanta business-travel market for the first time, as well as potential expansion to smaller cities and international destinations.

Southwest Airlines to Buy AirTran - WSJ.com

[RockLobster]

I'm thinking the only real change in Pittsburgh flights will be an increase to the florida market from Pit. With USAIR now totally out of the Pit-Florida market and both Airtran and Southwest having increases in seats from Pittsburgh to Florida, I can see some increase in service to the Florida market.

[AaronPGH]

I want to know when AirTran or Southwest, or Midwest or SOMEONE is going to freaking give United a run for their money on a PIT - DEN route! I have to fly out there a couple of times a year, and non-stop flights are unbelievably expensive because of United's hub out there. They're the only airline doing flights now that US Airways pulled theirs back. I would have thought that with Southwest gaining so much steam in Denver that it would have happened by now.

</personal rant>

[jimmyev]

Originally Posted by pman

Southwest Airlines to Buy AirTran - WSJ.com

It would seem to me that Southwest would need one of their mini-hubs like Midway, Hobby, BWI, Las Vegas or Love Field to cushion the back-ups resulting from increased service to the clogged airports of Boston, New York, DC and Philadelphia. BWI might work if there are enough gates left, or Buffalo, but Pittsburgh would seem to be a logical choice too. Then maybe there would be a non-stop or two to Hobby. Or am I just wishing?

[pman]

Originally Posted by jimmyev

It would seem to me that Southwest would need one of their mini-hubs like Midway, Hobby, BWI, Las Vegas or Love Field to cushion the back-ups resulting from increased service to the clogged airports of Boston, New York, DC and Philadelphia. BWI might work if there are enough gates left, or Buffalo, but Pittsburgh would seem to be a logical choice too. Then maybe there would be a non-stop or two to Hobby. Or am I just wishing?

I'm not sure I follow. they moved into PHL AFTER they were in BWI. Interestingly, OTP at PHL improved afte southwest moved in, largely because it forced US Air to get serious about fixing their problems there. Generally airlines build padding into the schedule which is why sometimes you arrive early or, when you sit at PHL for 25 min, you still arrive on time. the way southwest operates, I don't think they're in the business of setting up hubs that don't generate their own traffic. BWI was a great way to tap into some of the Philly/Washington market but ultimately it wasn't enough for them so they moved into PHL going for US Air's jugular. It must have worked well enough since they started moving into other large airports after that. I wouldn't be surprised to see slow, steady growth at PIT. I do think they should have gotten a flight to london before one to paris though. flights FROM london to other places are much cheaper

[BrianTH]

If I'm not mistaken, AirTran had recently been adding more direct routes in Pittsburgh than any other carrier. That's really about the extent of my ambition for this deal--that the combined AirTran/Southwest would keep adding direct routes from Pittsburgh to new destinations within their wider combined area (e.g., like the aforementioned Denver route).

In fact, just looking at that list I provided above, right now you have exclusive nonstops to some pretty major destinations, including:

Cincinnati (Delta)
Cleveland (Continental)
Dallas (AA)
Denver (United)
Detroit (Delta)
Houston (Continental)
LA (United)
Miami (AA)
Minneapolis (Delta)
San Francisco (United)
St Louis (USAir)

Competition on any of those routes would be nice, and then there are some more decent-sized cities with no direct service at all.

[BrianTH]

Article on the implications for PIT of the merger:

Southwest's bid to buy AirTran could bump US Airways as dominant carrier

I gather most people agree that with the possible exception of Orlando, this shouldn't result in service cuts for PIT. On the other hand, it sounds like maybe Southwest doesn't have much in the way of plans for PIT, so it could be a problem if AirTran would have been more aggressive.