NEWS: Southwest Airlines May Add to Pittsburgh Service
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review has an article that may be giving a preview of Southwest Airlines' continuing assault on the northeast market. According to a member of a Pittsburgh business group Southwest is looking to add five new destinations from their fair city. One destination mentioned specifically is Chicago-Midway. Industry analyst feel that Baltimore, Las Vegas or Phoenix, Tampa or Orlando are other likely destinations that could be added from Pittsburgh. Southwest CEO Gary Kelly plans to officially announce their plans at a local press conference on Thursday.
The US Airways pull-out from Pittsburgh is giving Southwest a very good opportunity to get a foothold in the northeast sector of the US. Obviously, Pittsburgh business is very hot on getting them to increase their service. It goes to show just how vital easy access to local business is to the folks who run those businesses.
US Airways is very exposed to this sort of expansion from Southwest in my opinion. I am betting JetBlue, Delta, AirTran and others aren't exactly welcoming the competition either.
Watching Southwest Airlines go to work on the northeast reminds me a bit of a thing called "island hopping" that the military used in the Pacific Theatre in WW II. They would skip over islands that geographically were "next" and get a foothold further down the line. Without losing everyone on the strategy behind this I'll just comment that Pittsburgh seems like one of those footholds for Southwest and leave it as a point to ponder.
The US Airways pull-out from Pittsburgh is giving Southwest a very good opportunity to get a foothold in the northeast sector of the US. Obviously, Pittsburgh business is very hot on getting them to increase their service. It goes to show just how vital easy access to local business is to the folks who run those businesses.
US Airways is very exposed to this sort of expansion from Southwest in my opinion. I am betting JetBlue, Delta, AirTran and others aren't exactly welcoming the competition either.
Watching Southwest Airlines go to work on the northeast reminds me a bit of a thing called "island hopping" that the military used in the Pacific Theatre in WW II. They would skip over islands that geographically were "next" and get a foothold further down the line. Without losing everyone on the strategy behind this I'll just comment that Pittsburgh seems like one of those footholds for Southwest and leave it as a point to ponder.
posted by The ACK at
10:21
