Bankrupt US Airways today detailed network and schedule changes it plans to execute next February as part of its transformation, including the addition of 230 daily flights for a net system capacity increase of 7 percent. As many analysts, observers and airline executives continue voicing concern about industrywide overcapacity, and as US Airways' bankrupt alliance partner United Airlines plans to scale back domestic operations
(BTN, Oct. 18), the East Coast's largest carrier is moving in the opposite direction and growing its operations. The focus is on added lift in key business markets and new routes from Fort Lauderdale to Latin American destinations.
Meanwhile, the judge overseeing the US Airways' bankruptcy case on Friday granted interim relief from labor contracts, paving the way for new agreements with lenders and the federal government.
The network overhaul, which aims to incorporate low-cost carrier tactics into the traditional hub-and-spoke model, largely will be made possible by increasing aircraft utilization and deploying larger regional jets and mainline aircraft.
Some of the most notable additions will come at Reagan Washington National, where US Airways will add nonstop service to Atlanta, Chicago O'Hare, Cleveland, Dallas Fort Worth, Detroit and Houston. The carrier said total daily departures at the airport would remain unchanged, but capacity would increase 40 percent on larger equipment.
"The use of larger aircraft is consistent with the stimulated demand environment created by the launch of GoFares in the Washington market," said Ben Baldanza, US Airways senior vice president of marketing and planning, referring to the carrier's simplified fare structure.
Under attack by Southwest Airlines in Philadelphia, US Airways will increase daily flights to 495, up 7 percent from the current schedule, and replace traditional flight connection banks with a rolling hub format now in vogue at several large airports. In the Charlotte hub, US Airways will add "significant" capacity by tacking on 69 daily flights and two connecting banks. It also will boost Boston capacity 36 percent and New York LaGuardia capacity 12 percent by switching to larger aircraft.
US Airways plans no capacity changes for the Northeast shuttle operation and said transatlantic routes would be unchanged.
Down south, the carrier on Feb. 13 will double daily departures in Fort Lauderdale, which the airline is trying to develop into a mini-gateway between the East Coast and vacation destinations in the Caribbean and Latin America. US Airways will add 15 new nonstop destinations, including nine outside the continental United States.
US Airways said the new schedule "assumes" a fleet of 281 mainline aircraft and 169 regional jets, diffusing speculation that the carrier would downsize its fleet.
In the mean time, bankruptcy Judge Stephen S. Mitchell's decision last week to allow US Airways to impose interim cost cuts on its labor unions also enabled the carrier to continue accessing cash that had been set aside as collateral for a federally backed loan
(BTNonline, Oct. 15). The ruling permitted the company to slash unionized workers' salary and benefits by more than 20 percent for fourth months.
"Our request for interim relief was a regrettable but necessary step to build cash and assure our customers of our ability to continue operations," said US Airways CEO Bruce Lakefield.
The union representing the airline's flight attendants bashed US Airways' decision as "unfair and excessive."