29-Oct-2009 8:34 AM
US Airways announces strategic plan to strengthen core network, cutting 1,000 jobs
US Airways announced (28-Oct-2009) plans to realign its operations to focus on the airline's core network strengths, which include hubs in Charlotte, Philadelphia and Phoenix, and a focus city at Washington's National Airport. The carrier will make the following changes to facilitate the realignment strategy:
- Reducing Las Vegas services from 64 to 36 daily departures by Feb-2010;
- Closing stations in Colorado Springs and Wichita;
- Redeploying the airline's 15 E-190 aircraft on routes between Boston-Philadelphia and on the Boston-LaGuardia leg of the US Airways Shuttle;
- Suspending five European destinations from the carrier's international gateway in Philadelphia:
- Birmingham, UK;
- London Gatwick, UK;
- Milan, Italy;
- Shannon, Ireland;
- Stockholm, Sweden.
- Seasonal service to Brussels, Belgium and Zurich, Switzerland will transition to year-round service in late 2010.
- Returning its Philadelphia-Beijing flight authority to the DoT until economic conditions improve, while retaining the option to reapply for this authority in the future.
- Rightsizing and repositioning its crew bases in Philadelphia, Charlotte, Phoenix and Washington DC by closing crew bases in Boston, LaGuardia and Las Vegas. The Las Vegas and LaGuardia bases are expected to close on 31-Jan-2010, and Boston will close on 02-May-2010.
The carrier will also reduce its staffing by approximately 1,000 positions during the first half of 2010, including approximately 600 airport passenger and ramp service positions, approximately 200 pilot positions and approximately 150 flight attendant positions. [more]