PHL-BOS: The power of a monopoly airline route
The Philadelphia Inquirer Blog - Winging It
PHL-BOS: The power of a monopoly airline route
Tom Belden
Inquirer beat reporter Linda Loyd has a good story today detailing the long-expected impact of the end of Southwest service on the PHL- Boston Logan route: Fares have shot to the stratosphere on the only carrier left with nonstop flights, a rerun of the gouging US Airways used to do before it had competition on the route. Read it all here ...
Comments (3)
The question is..why did southwest leave phl in many other routes? They came in to PHL years ago with a lot of fanfare...and now, just like carpetbaggers, they leave...with no fanfare...and talk of low passenger loads....They were waiting for usairways to go under and sell their planes and gates...didn't happen, so they leave...ptty— STEVE5444- The airline is just like any other business. It tries to get the most money for the product. Southwest is the same where it has a monopoly. I do think a reasonable far increase would have garnered understanding and not a feeling of being gouged.— cedar
- My last PHL-BOS ticket on SW two weeks before they discontinued service was $41. They could have taken that ticket to $129 and kept the same load factor because US Air would just match it up. Then they would be making a profit for the route. The alternative is what we have now...US Airways taking it up to $250-$350 for one way. And with fewer destinations out of PHL, SW will continue to lose customers, as business travelers that now must use US Airways for the dropped cities will figure "I might as use US Air for these other flights" to maximize the reward miles.— Jim McCloskey
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About this blog
Tom Belden has been reporting about Philadelphia International Airport and other air travel subjects for more than 20 years, writing columns for The Inquirer's Travel and Business sections. His reporting (with colleague Craig McCoy) on baggage handling problems in Philadelphia have been credited with helping to improve the system. His previous blog was called Road Warrior. He can reached at tbelden@phillynews.com.
Reach Tom at tbelden@phillynews.com.
Tom Belden
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