Familiarity breeds complaints about US Airways

Response regarding US Airways' future ran 5-1 against our carrier, even following the resolution of its labor problems and clearance for take off to London.

While this is an admittedly informal, unscientific sampling, these customer comments -- many of them intense -- cut to several issues crucial to the long-term happiness of area travelers and US Airways.

Kent Hall, a frequent business traveler from the area who flies "60k to 80k miles per year on US Airways," wrote: "I agree that flying out of the wonderful Pittsburgh Airport is not as enjoyable an experience as it should be due to the policies and practices of US Airways. It's a virtual shakedown of the business traveler!

"Since the resolution of their labor troubles, service has not improved and prices have increased! I regularly fly from Pittsburgh to Norfolk. The price of that already expensive ticket has increased $80 since the labor resolution."

Jason Zahn wrote about trying to book a round trip ticket from Pittsburgh to Dallas for the July Fourth weekend.

"A direct flight from Pittsburgh runs around $525 round trip. However, if I book through Akron and take a commuter to/from Pittsburgh and catch the same direct flights, the fare is a measly $254 round trip. So I have to pay US Airways $300 to not fly on their commuter flights to/from Akron."

Gayle Lindsay had a similar un-fare experience booking trips, finding it $121 cheaper to drive to Cleveland and catch a commuter flight back to Pittsburgh, and then connecting to Houston.

She included a copy of a letter of dissatisfaction she sent to US Airways' Consumer Complaint Director. "On average we have to originate flights out of the Cleveland area 4-5 times a year in order to receive a competitive fare. Essentially, we are being penalized for living in the Pittsburgh area."

In-flight service is the issue for Paula Schaukowitch. "I can tell you from past experience that once US Airways takes over the Pittsburgh-London route, the service will not be the same.You can be sure that if I have to fly elsewhere to connect with British Airways to London, I will do so."

Barry Silverman is actively supporting US Airways' competition. "Having been working in Chicago, Atlanta and San Francisco, I have been flying a fair amount. Last week, as I waited at US Airways for a seat assignment on a vintage 1967 DC-9 to Atlanta, I wondered why I was doing this rather than stretching out on Vanguard."

He continues, "Why do Pittsburgh flyers choose more crowding, longer flight times and higher costs on major airlines? My actual flying experience [on Vanguard] has eased my fear of canceled and delayed flights, and I have actually come to view Pittsburgh's upstart airlines as preferred carriers in many cases."

Dan Thias, "a proud flight attendant for US Airways," wrote to complain about me picking on the airline, citing the economic advantages and convenience area travelers derive from living in a city with a hub airport.

"It is as if you were a sports editor for the Post-Gazette and you hated the Steelers. Why can't you root for the 'hometeam' airline? You are biting the hand that feeds you."

Actually, I have always rooted for US Airways, just as I rooted for Allegheny Airlines before that. As a Pittsburgher, I was and still am slightly pleased when I'm in a distant airport and see the US Airways tail logo out on the tarmac. For all sorts of reasons, there's no carrier I'd rather see survive the competitive turbulence that has buffeted the skies for two decades and is only likely to get worse.

But sometimes I think I care more about my hometown airline than it cares about its hometown.

Out of the 969 flights that depart from Greater Pittsburgh Airport on a given day, 873 of them are operated by or associated with US Airways. Even if in a relatively small airline market, that kind of dominance breeds the same kind of monopolistic disregard associated with Microsoft.

Of the other 96 flights, only half are operated by the nation's other major airlines -- generally a connection to that carrier's hub airport.

Yes, area travelers have the benefit of a lot of US Airways flight options, although those flights often are more than half full when they arrive. And yes, there are usually options other than US Airways to get from here to there, although surprisingly few of them offer e-savers or other deeply discounted fares.

But as many fliers have observed, it often costs astoundingly more to fly from Pittsburgh than through Pittsburgh. And it's also clear that US Airways doesn't have to resort to the competitive tactics that it must in other markets to attract passengers.

Effectively, it can charge some Pittsburgh passengers whatever it wants, knowing they have no other realistic option.

There are hub airports with large carriers that still have lively competition from other airlines. Then there are fortress hub airports, where few other carriers fear to tread.

Something is wrong with the equation when people are willing to drive to another city to catch a flight, whether the attraction is lower price or a better quality of service.

In the long run, both this area and US Airways will wind up on the short end of that migration.