US Airways may get last laugh over skeptics

09-18-2005

Despite of a host of obstacles, US Airways seems to be on the verge of confounding doomsday skeptics and finding a way to keep on flying.

The twice-bankrupt carrier is on the brink of completing a complex merger with America West Airlines. The resulting carrier will be known as US Airways, even though it will be largely managed by America West executives and directed from its headquarters in the Phoenix/Tempe region (an appropriate place from which to launch a resurrection).

Last week, America West chairman Doug Parker came to town to provide local travelers with a sense of the new US Airways and how it will serve travelers and Pittsburgh. Not surprisingly, with a deal that has been put together at a relatively breakneck pace, specific plans are still evolving.

According to the latest business plan, the merger will create the first full-service nationwide airline (international really) with the consumer-friendly pricing policies of a low-fare carrier, a hub-and-spoke network linking more than 200 cities across all 50 states, Mexico, Canada, the Caribbean, Latin America and Europe, while providing "robust" passenger amenities such as assigned seating and first-class cabin service.

Sounds good, but how is it likely to play out in reality? After all, we've heard rosy-sounding business plans before.

First of all, don't expect any dramatic changes immediately.

Although all branding and signage will be converted as quickly as possible to reflect the merger (a transition that will be most noticeable to America West's customer base), the two will continue to operate as separate carriers for the immediate future, pending many developments that have yet to be finalized.

Most important, the separate route and schedule systems of the two carriers will remain substantially intact, a consequence of service continuity and the relative lack of overlap between US Airways' primarily East Coast-oriented operation and America West's primarily Southwest-oriented operation. From Pittsburgh, America West now operates one daily flight each to Phoenix and Las Vegas, both of which are also served by US Airways, so it seems probable that Pittsburgh International may eventually lose some departures to those destinations.

Otherwise, passengers holding tickets on either carrier for departures through the end of the year should proceed as if the merger hadn't occurred, while passengers making future reservations may find themselves on flights operated under a code-sharing ticketing authority of one of the two airlines.

FlightFund, America West's frequent-flier program, will be rolled into the US Airways Dividend Miles program; in the interim, members of both programs will be able to use their credits for free flights throughout the combined route network. Similarly, the airport in-flight clubs will be available to members from either airline.

The new US Airways also will maintain its membership in the Star Alliance, the cooperative group of 16 international carriers, a commitment underscored by America West's recent announcement that it was severing its long relationship with British Airways at the end of October.

Presumably, however, at some point both America West's Web site and its marketing brands will slowly fade into the sunset.

For area travelers hardened by the myriad manipulations, machinations and missteps undertaken by the various management teams than have piloted US Airways during the decades of its slow death spiral, the most important changes from this merger will be more subtle. It has been a long time since this carrier has been headed by knowledgeable airline people whose primary purpose is making it a passenger-oriented operation, rather than simply keeping it alive for a merger or selling off its assets to protect their investment.

On face details at least, this merger has the makings of transforming a lose/lose situation for Pittsburgh International into a win/win proposition.

Certainly, it will be a major improvement if America West pricing paradigms prevail, if air fares are rationalized so that prospective passengers can be confident of finding reasonable cost tickets when they want to fly rather than the complex, arcane crap shoot that buying a US Airways ticket has often become. While fare sales and e-savers are widely promoted, as often as not making reservations, especially for regular midweek trips, can result in a case of sticker shock, if not outright indignation.

Let's also hope that other America West customer-friendly policies are implemented, from greater availability of free seats for frequent fliers and less confiscatory refund policies, to employees who feel good about both their jobs and their employer.

It's also conceivable that the Phoenix-oriented perspective of the new managers will be different in other ways from one based in Arlington, Va. With the new possibility of routing some Europe-bound passengers from points west through our wonderfully open and accessible airport rather than cramming them all through Philadelphia or Charlotte, it's conceivable that we might again see some trans-Atlantic flights departing from Pittsburgh International. That would be a huge positive for us and might just be a good strategic move against further incursions from Southwest Airlines.

Although there remain many hurdles to the success of this venture, the development portends positively for Pittsburgh, even more so than the entrance of Southwest into the market. It's crucial to have competition, but for the foreseeable future, US Airways is likely to be the dominant carrier around here.

The good news is that now it may truly be a new US Airways.

We can only hope.

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