----- Original Message ----- From: <JoeThree@xxxxxxx> To: <AIRLINE@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Monday, May 10, 2004 18:53 Subject: Re: [AIRLINE] US Airways and Eastern USA : I think it's telling that two other airlines operated a network that was very similar to USAirways' network. Both airlines collapsed. : : If you look at a route map of Capital Airlines in the late 1950s, or Eastern : Airlines in the late 1970s, you will see strong similarities to USAirways' : current network. I don't think Capital and, to a lesser extent, Eastern can be compared to USAirways. In the case of Capital, the airline industry was highly regulated. In Eastern's case, the airline operated in a highly regulated environment for all but its last few years. : Like USAirways, Capital was headquartered in Washington, DC, and had a strong : presence in Pittsburgh, but served no cities west of Minneapolis. After : several years of heavy losses, Capital was forced into a last ditch merger with : United in 1961, to stave off financial collapse. : Eastern Airlines also had a very similar pattern to USAirways. PHL and CLT : were originally Eastern hubs, and the USAirways shuttle was purchased from : Eastern. Eastern didn't have hubs outside of ATL. The vast majority of the flights were point-to-point (via, quite often, many points in between). : One other interesting common bond between Capital, Eastern, and USAirways is : that all three airlines purchased large numbers of foreign built aircraft : shortly before running into their financial problems. Capital almost completely : re-equipped with Vickers Viscounts in the mid 1950s. The Viscount was a huge : success for Capital for several years, but Capital's collapse was accelerated by : competition from other airlines' 707s and DC-8s in 1959-1960; Capital's heavy : Viscount commitment meant that Capital was unable to order pure jets in time : to remain competitive. : : In the late 1970s, Eastern Airlines purchased A300s. Eastern planned to use : A300s to replace 727-100s on a two for one basis; Eastern hoped to save money : through lower fuel costs from the much more efficient A300s. Unfortunately, : fuel prices plummeted shortly after Eastern took delivery of their A300s, leaving : Eastern stuck with high payments for new aircraft that would not be able to : deliver their anticipated fuel savings. The A300's, at least the intial batch, were given to Eastern. All they had to do was to pay for the operation of the aircraft. Airbus was trying to get a toehold in the US market and this was a good way to do it. : USAirways' decision to buy A320s is not the main reason they are in so much : trouble, but I think they would have been better off doing what Northwest has : done - extending the life of their DC-9s, rather than going into debt for a : fleet of new narrowbodies. David R : Comments, anyone? : : Joe Wolf