Airport traffic up again (Philadelphia, Pittsburgh: bill, renewal, budget)

[LIRefugee]

Originally Posted by Evergrey

Delta to ground Comair regional airline - Pittsburgh Business Times

This is part of the effort to reduce flying of the Bombardier Torture Tubes, which is a good thing. I can't see this affecting PIT much at all; Comair's presence is minimal here, and as the article states, Delta as a whole can adjust to its disappearance. It also looks to me like one more hole in CVG's hub bubble.

[Evergrey]

Pittsburgh International Airport fares, climbing for 3 years, trail national average | TribLIVE

Pittsburgh International Airport fares, climbing for 3 years, trail national average

Cleveland’s Hopkins International Airport hardly attracts Pittsburgh-area passengers these days because its average fare of $449.90, as of April 1, exceeds Pittsburgh’s average $359.34, the latest data show.

“Cleveland’s fares are above ours, so we’re a much better value,” said JoAnn Jenny, spokeswoman for the Allegheny County Airport Authority. “We have more local travelers today than we’ve ever had, which makes us a better airport than when we were a hub for US Airways.”

Pittsburgh International’s traffic count rose by 1.3 percent to 8.3 million passengers in 2011, compared with less than 8.2 million in 2010, airport authority figures show.

[gg]

Sorry, but "a better airport than when we were a hub..."? She must not travel or hates any direct flights. Too funny though. How about just saying, we are doing better now, but please don't compare when we were a hub. I hate not having any direct flights and would gladly pay extra for them because it takes away the chance of missing connections and lots of time lost in travel.

[pman]

if you had fewer local travellers than when it was a hub, perhaps the majority of people don't agree with hcurtis since they weren't willing to pay extra.

[globalburgh]

Originally Posted by h_curtis

Sorry, but "a better airport than when we were a hub..."? She must not travel or hates any direct flights. Too funny though. How about just saying, we are doing better now, but please don't compare when we were a hub. I hate not having any direct flights and would gladly pay extra for them because it takes away the chance of missing connections and lots of time lost in travel.

Sorry, but you failed to comprehend the point of the article. The price point matters more than having a direct flight. The hub stifles competition at the airport. Hence, the use of the term "fortress hub". More from the article:

"The shift in Pittsburgh air service showed in average fares the following year. Until 2006, Pittsburgh fares were consistently higher, usually by about $100, than national averages dating to at least 1995, Transportation Department data show. Since 2006, average Pittsburgh fares have been lower than the national average."

Of course, thanks to the rising price of fuel, the national average is up and is expected to continue to climb. Hub status was nothing more than civic pride. It's like having a professional sports team. The community will accept any boondoggle (like subsidizing direct flights) for the status privilege.

Curtis, your outdated thinking is what is holding Pittsburgh back.

[Evergrey]

Originally Posted by globalburgh

Curtis, your outdated thinking is what is holding Pittsburgh back.

Agreed.

[AaronPGH]

Personally, I am able to fly to places a lot more now due to the lower costs of flights than I was before. So yes, PIT is a better airport for me (a Pittsburgher), than it was before.

[LIRefugee]

I'm glad to see some sanity from some posters. It's nice and all to have a hub and be able to fly direct to a large number of places, but you pay for that privilege in the form of higher fares, and higher fares form a barrier for local traffic. It should shock no one that CLE has higher average fares than PIT; shrunken as it is, it is still a United hub.

[Geeo]

When we were a hub people were unhappy because fares were too high and there was only one choice of airlines. So they drove to Cleveland for lower fares.

Now fares are low and there's a choice of 12 or 13 airlines, and some are still not happy.

The Pittsburgh Airport has more local traffic than ever, just not the people transfering from one plane to another, so that brings down the overall traffic. It's serving the purpose of meeting the needs of the local market. You can get to most of the major cities non-stop. If you want to go to Dubuque, you'll have to change in Chicago.

[LIRefugee]

Poor, poor CVG, their overall traffic is below that of PIT, despite being a Delta "hub", and the average fare there is $526.25, as compared to $359.34 for PIT. Additionally, CVG is serviced by five airlines, one of which is Air Canada, flying only to YYZ, while PIT is served by eight (recent mergers and the economy have killed several).

I'd rather by a flyer living in Pittsburgh than Cincinnati.