Pittsburgh International Airport (Philadelphia, Springfield, West Mifflin: sales, buying, living in)

[LIRefugee]

Originally Posted by PITairport

To be honest, I'm not sure if that applies to foreign carriers or not. They operate under their home country's aviation regulations, which in most cases comply with those of ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization), a branch of the UN. I'm not sure if the FAA has the jurisdiction to levy those sorts of fines on foreign carriers.

I guess in the case of the US Airways Tel Aviv example above, the federal gov't should have fined itself!

Yes, I thought of that. I believe the rules that apply to the flight depend on the point of origination, but then it becomes a lot grayer if a plane lands at an unplanned destination. If a flight to El Paso gets diverted to Albuquerque, can the flight attendants serve beer to first class passengers prior to taking off again if alcohol is not allowed to be served on the ground on flights originating from New Mexico? I suspect not, but I might be wrong.

[zman63]

Pitt airport travel on the decline. Less than 8 million people used the airport last year. A decline of 2 percent.

Pittsburgh International Airport passenger numbers down 2 percent | TribLIVE

[pman]

interesting detail. PIT, how is the houston route doing?

Southwest reported a 33 percent increase in passengers largely because of new non-stop routes to Houston and Nashville and its merger with AirTran, airport officials said.

Read more: Pittsburgh International Airport passenger numbers down 2 percent | TribLIVE
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[zman63]

Originally Posted by pman

interesting detail. PIT, how is the houston route doing?

Read more: Pittsburgh International Airport passenger numbers down 2 percent | TribLIVE
Follow us: @triblive on Twitter | triblive on Facebook

Probably due to the Western pa, Ohio Valley (Wheeling) and Mahoning valley's (Youngstown) demand in the natural gas industry. When you leave Allegheny County you see a lot of gas drilling trucks in Wash, Beaver, Butler, Lawrence and Mercer counties as well as the northern wv panhandle, southeast/northeast ohio state border areas.

[PITairport]

Originally Posted by pman

interesting detail. PIT, how is the houston route doing?

Read more: Pittsburgh International Airport passenger numbers down 2 percent | TribLIVE
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From what I understand, initial indications were it is doing well. The fares seem to be high as well; over $900 round trip unless booked far in advance. Many people think Southwest Airlines is 'low fare', but more often than not those low fares seem hard to find.

[LIRefugee]

Perhaps Fitzgerald ought to check out Norwegian Air for another potential long-shot carrier to expand international service at PIT.

With U.S. in Sights, Norwegian Airline Wins Irish License

[that412]

Originally Posted by PITairport

From what I understand, initial indications were it is doing well. The fares seem to be high as well; over $900 round trip unless booked far in advance. Many people think Southwest Airlines is 'low fare', but more often than not those low fares seem hard to find.

What are you talking about? The "Wanna Get Away" fares for PIT->HOU start at $154 each way. I don't know if this flight matrix will work as a link, but it's just totally false that SW is exorbitantly expensive on this route.

[PITairport]

Originally Posted by that412

What are you talking about? The "Wanna Get Away" fares for PIT->HOU start at $154 each way. I don't know if this flight matrix will work as a link, but it's just totally false that SW is exorbitantly expensive on this route.

Well I did say "unless booked far in advance". I guess that can be subjective, but if you look at your own link you will see that "Wanna Get Away" fares are not available for the next week; and that's normal. So yes, the business traveler making a last minute trip will be paying well over $900 for a round trip. Furthermore, I did not say it is "exorbitantly expensive"; it was my opinion that it is not "low fare".

[that412]

Originally Posted by PITairport

Well I did say "unless booked far in advance". I guess that can be subjective, but if you look at your own link you will see that "Wanna Get Away" fares are not available for the next week; and that's normal. So yes, the business traveler making a last minute trip will be paying well over $900 for a round trip. Furthermore, I did not say it is "exorbitantly expensive"; it was my opinion that it is not "low fare".

I took your initial post to be some kind of riposte to the general notion that Southwest is a "low fare" carrier. You backed this up by only talking about last-minute fares, and apparently considering anything purchased over a week ahead of time to be "far in advance." Just thought that was a little disingenuous.

[PITairport]

Originally Posted by that412

I took your initial post to be some kind of riposte to the general notion that Southwest is a "low fare" carrier. You backed this up by only talking about last-minute fares, and apparently considering anything purchased over a week ahead of time to be "far in advance." Just thought that was a little disingenuous.

Well I guess it was a 'riposte' to the general notion that Southwest is a low fare carrier.. because I feel when compared to legacy airlines they are not. In fact Southwest often charges more than the others. Since we are using Houston as an example, I just did a quick search on US Airways. Sure enough, if you book a round trip ticket to Houston leaving tomorrow on US Airways, you will save about $500 over Southwest Airlines (although you would be using Houston's other airport - IAH).

As far as "far in advance" being disingenuous... - it is mid-February - the absolutely slowest time of the year for travel. So while "Wanna Get Away" fares kick in in only about a week ahead, I'd wager that during the busier times of the year those fares are available only by booking far more ahead of time. The reality is yield management systems will adjust the fare based on the flight's demand (seats sold) to date, not on an arbitrary date before the flight departs.

Please don't take my post as cutting on Southwest, because I'm not. I just don't think they are 'low fare' in relation to the other airlines like they used to be. Due to bankruptcy proceedings, the legacies have gotten their cost structures down to that of Southwest.