Winging It

Tom....If BA uses it's gate twice aday, in the evening, will USAIR be allowed to use the Lufthansa gate when their flight leaves around 6 pm and the Airfrance gate when their flight leaves around 6:30?.....and will someone plase tell me why Fontier is at an international gate if they only use that gate in the early morning and around 4 pm?.

also when do China flights usual leave from the east coast, morning or evening and are we looking at more Usair service to the far east?

Thanks,

Jim

Tom says: The use of gates by other airlines hasn't been mentioned to us as an issue by US Airways or the airport. And US Airways has said it wants to use PHL for more service to Asia but those are probably very long-range plans.

Hi Tom,
I've been reading your column on a regular basis for about a year, and always look for the Road Warrior column on Monday, and also enjoy the extra stories you add to the Sunday Business section. (The last Inquirer columnist I followed was John Grogan. You're not going to write a book about a pet plane, are you?)

Anyway, I see myself in a lot of the others who wrote to you. Forced to use US Air, disappointed by their people,etc. You know that drill.

I've also been frustrated by the PHL airport in general, such as small baggage area for Southwest, lack of arrival pickup at Terminal F, delays on cloudy days,etc. I even confronted a couple of PHL officials, who were doing a Travel Show in King of Prussia, after they stood in front of a poster claiming PHL was the voted second best airport.

The reason I felt motivated to write is to offer up a point I haven't seen in a column yet. As US Airways crawls back to a better option, what do they need to do to get old frustrated guys like me back? It won't be enough to match what others now do. Somehow, they'll need to exceed others to motivate them to change a habit.

I occasionally drove to BWI to get a better fare on Southwest. I hated the 2 hour drive, but I'm conscience of costs for my employer, and I couldn't justify paying $500-600 to go to Raleigh or Providence when Southwest would do it for $100-140. I jumped on the Southwest bandwagon once they entered PHL in 2004, and have now reached the Companion Pass level the past two years.

I know that some hated the cattle call, but they generally are a fun bunch of employees, get planes in and out faster than anyone, and never lose a bag. The new boarding procedure seems to be working well, and lines aren't forming 40 minutes before a flight anymore. I'm attaching an email they sent to a colleague of mine the day after the Red Sox won the World Series. They gave the New England customer base three Rapid Rewards credits for the hell of it!

These are the types of things that Southwest does. I can't imagine anyone at US Airways being so loose, creative, or fun. It will be tough for me to ever go back to US Airways. The more gates, and baggage area, that PHL can provide to Southwest, the better off the flying public will be.

PHL will never become a world class city until it develops a world class airport. Any proposed additions or improvements to the existing infrastructure is IMO simply a waste of $ and will serve little but to increase the chaotic state of the place. What is the status of the FAA Capacity Enhancement Program and is anyone in the airport authority or city government sponsoring any of the 3 Alternatives in the proposal to rebuild the entire airport? By Mr. Isdell's comments, I'm not certain he is aware of how poorly the airport is judged by many passengers who use it and how that judgment reflects very negatively on the city as a destination. Someone has to set an indelible marker on the new mayor and inform him that no matter how spectacular center city may be (becoming), the 1st and last experience visitors remember is the airport.

The aircraft (330-200s) which were ordered (purchased) from Airbus and the 2 (330-200s) which are being leased from SWISS, via a leasing company, are scheduled to start delivery in 2009. However, these aircraft are not capable of flying from PHL to Peking. The route requires the 340-300, which US Airways is attempting to acquire, but as of now has not. These are 4 engine long range airplanes which can reach most of Western Asia from Philadelphia. Also, I wouldn't be surprised to see US start a PHL-Narita (Japan) flight within the next 2 years, since they expressed a desire to fly there during a recent Analyst conference.

TOM replies: The portion of the comment about Airbus jets is correct. We will make it clear in future stories what type of jets are needed to go PHL-Beijing. US Airways first said last year it is interested in Narita.

For someone that doesn't travel very much currently (in a prior life I traveled extensively for work and play), the rules on going through security seem to keep changing (what to do with the one quart bag, laptop, shoes, electronics etc). It would seem to make sense to have a bulletin board, poster etc as you enter the security area telling you what to do with various items. On my most recent trip, I had one bin for my video camera, one bin for my shoes, belt, keys and wallet, one bin for my backpack, one bin for my liquids and one bin for my laptop computer. I basically filled the whole area prior to the scanner. However the TSA employee was quite angry with me that I should have put the laptop case in a separate bin from the computer itself. HOW WAS I TO KNOW? This would save the TSA employees a good deal of time in educating each passenger as they go through the security area.