Competitors add flights in US Airways' territory By Barbara De Lollis and Barbara Hansen, USA TODAY While US Airways is cutting some flights in an attempt to regain its=20 financial strength, fliers along some of its key routes are getting more=20 choices. This month, Delta Air Lines launches non-stop flights to eight new= =20 cities out of Washington Reagan National, an airport US Airways dominates.= =20 American Airlines has started hourly shuttle service from National to New=20 York and New York to Boston. Low-fare carriers America West and AirTran=20 have also been beefing up in US Airways' territories. "US Airways is=20 getting attacked from all sides," says airline consultant Mo Garfinkle.=20 "It's going to be a tough road for those guys." "Other airlines are=20 circling like vultures" around US Airways' route network, says Ray Neidl,=20 an airline analyst at Blaylock & Partners. Since it filed for bankruptcy-court protection in August, US Airways has=20 cut flights by about 13% but kept service to all but one of its cities.=20 Last week, it said it will eliminate about 100 weekday flights from its=20 January schedule of about 1,500 total. US Airways says it is addressing the= =20 competition. It's fortifying its key hubs, offering incentives on its=20 Washington-New York-Boston shuttle flights, earning top rankings in=20 customer-service measures such as on-time performance, and moving ahead=20 with its partnership with United Airlines, spokesman David Castelveter=20 says. Besides, he says, "Most every carrier is in a weakened state.=20 Everybody is losing a significant amount of money." The biggest battles: Delta. "We want to be your No. 1 out of Washington, D.C.," Delta declares=20 in new radio ads in the Washington area. This month, Delta is adding=20 non-stops from National to Charleston, S.C.; Columbus, Ohio; Huntsville,=20 Ala.; and Jacksonville, Orlando, Fort Lauderdale, Tampa and West Palm=20 Beach, Fla. It's increasing service to Atlanta, Cincinnati and New York=20 JFK. US Airways CEO David Siegel has publicly denounced the strategy. But= =20 Delta says US Airways shouldn't take it personally. Delta is building on a= =20 strategy of using small jets to travel to more small and midsize cities,=20 especially on the East Coast, spokesman John Kennedy says. Given US=20 Airways' East Coast franchise, Delta is bound to run into them, he says.=20 Delta also is making strides in the battle for shuttle passengers.=20 President Fred Reid told analysts last month that Delta gained 4% of US=20 Airways' customers on the Northeast shuttle the prior three months. American. The biggest airline entered the East Coast shuttle market in=20 September with service from New York to Boston, then added Washington-New=20 York LaGuardia flights last month. American has 10 flights each way, vs. 15= =20 to 17 each way for US Airways and Delta. American spokeswoman Lisa Bailey= =20 wouldn't comment on the shuttle's performance except to say, "Passenger=20 response has been good." Since American entered the market, the airlines=20 have been offering discounted fares and bonus frequent-flier miles.=20 American says it's been looking at the East Coast high-frequency markets=20 for years because it had less of a presence there than other carriers. Low-fare carriers America West and AirTran. Two weeks ago, America West=20 launched two daily non-stops each way between Phoenix and Pittsburgh, one=20 of US Airways' hubs. Before that, US Airways was the only carrier providing= =20 the service, with three daily flights each way. America West says the route= =20 is one of six to be launched in markets where it thinks its new fare=20 structure =97 no Saturday night stay requirement and lower price =97 will be= =20 popular. AirTran in January will add flights between Orlando and=20 Pittsburgh. Airline consultant Stan Pace of Bain Consulting says US Airways= =20 can't ignore the new competition, which has the potential to jeopardize its= =20 long-term strategy. "If they're successful with what they're doing, these=20 carriers can pre-empt US Airways from expanding and building back its route= =20 structure after bankruptcy." But Neidl says the tough economy means=20 "competitors probably can't take full advantage of US Airways' weakness."=20 'Not as loyal as I used to be' Some US Airways customers are looking around at new choices. Software=20 developer David Lannes of Richmond, Va., says that despite having top-tier= =20 frequent-flier status with US Airways, "I'm not as loyal as I used to be."= =20 US Airways angered him when it led the move among majors to crack down on=20 non-refundable tickets. Initially, it said it would ban frequent fliers=20 from applying non-refundable ticket miles to top-tier flier status. Though= =20 it retreated on the mileage ban, Lannes says he's open to flying different= =20 carriers. Instead of flying US Airways directly to Milwaukee recently, he=20 flew Midwest Express to its Chicago hub, then drove to Milwaukee. The drive= =20 took about an hour, but he saved more than $400. "More and more customers I= =20 talk to on planes have the same feeling. They're saying, 'I'm going to=20 start looking at other options,' " Lannes says. "They're cutting schedules,= =20 getting rid of (free) standby, things that made it attractive." But Terry Jones, a Columbus, Ohio, health care consultant, says Delta would= =20 have to give him "something sensational" to prompt him to give up the perks= =20 that come with being a top-level US Airways frequent flier. "I am heavily=20 invested in US Airways' perks and frequent-traveler programs, and it will=20 be hard to switch," says Jones, who has taken 150 flights already this=20 year. Carl Howard, a Columbus-based partner in an East Coast restaurant=20 chain, concurs. He says he's too used to flying first class to switch.=20 "Sometimes I panic when I fly in coach," he says. 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