I'm beginning research on an extra credit project, but i was curious, what would be the best place to hub a new airline, probably composed of emb 190's, st. louis, las vegas, phoenix, palm springs, or any recommendations on the west coast? The East Coast in my opinoin is already loaded with lcc's, and firm feeder carriers. From what I understand, the only big guys on the west coast are america west + horizon. The reason i choose vegas + phoenix is because they have been the 2 fasted growing suburbs in the past 15 years, and are expected to grow substantially in the next 20. I was thinking about st. louis because it is a surpisingly quiet airport (ive flown in numerous times), and many of the facilities are quite nice, and already exsisting. My airline target market would be to fly emb 190's in a low cost market place. However, if i was hubbed out of palm springs i would raise prices at a hub there. A flight into and out of palm springs is exactly where flying should be priced (think if regulation was around pricing), and I feel if i offered service at a slightly reduced price, i would sell. Any thoughts on this are much appreciated. Thanks!

 

start a hub and spoke right in the F'n middle of the country, then people wouldnt complain about going backwards before going forwards

 

KC or Nashville. Each has plenty of space, runways(4), and labor force.

 

Well, STL has 4 runways now, and no traffic whatsoever. The city has over 50 gates that aren't being used at present, and could easily fit E-190s into the terminal space they have dormant.

My vote----STL. TWA had 365 mainline jet flight per day in/out of STL, to over 100 destinations. AA has only 48 jet flights today, to only 10 destinations. AA abandoned it, just like they did at BNA/SJC/RDU; gave away the market share and decided to let some other carrier reap the benefits of that market and make those profits!

 

Have you ever been to the Palm Springs airport?? I have flown in there multiple times. Mostly on EMB-120 Brasilias! There is a reason why there are many 30 seat turbo props and 50 seat RJ's on these routes. Palm Springs does not have that much demand. It is actually somewhat of a trick for flying standby on United. To get to vegas, fly SFO,LAX,DEN TO PSP, and then connect PSP-LAS. Worked for me last memorial day, when they were using denied boardings on my direct flight.

Pretty much you got United from SFO,LAX,DEN,LAS on 30 and 50 seat commuters. US Air from PHX, and like one flight from LAS. American from LAX, and Alaska from SFO on MD-80'S, and Delta from SLC on RJ's. And these flights are not full. Palm Springs is a relatively small town. I went there on vacation at least once a year for 5 or 6 years, and I love the town, but it is pretty darn small.


Now that I have shot down your PSP idea (it's for the better), I have two recommendations for your hubs.
San Diego
Sacramento

San Diego (SAN) is the second largest city in California, (one of the largest on the west coast), an amazing vacation town, and perfect for a low cost carrier. No carriers are currently hubbed there.

Sacramento is the capital of California, and the suburbs are growing rapidly. This city can definately support an airline hub, and no airlines are currently hubbed there. The nice thing about Sacramento (SMF) is you are centrally located on the west coast. For instance, you can have a plane originate in SEA, fly to SMF, and continue on to SAN. Passengers can stay on the same plane, and the flight time is only slightly longer than a nonstop. However, the flight time will be significantly less than going, say (SEA-SLC, (change planes) SLC-SAN).

Both of these airports are not terribly busy and weather delays do not seem to be much of a problem (occassional valley fog for SMF).
LAS and PHX are TERRIBLE ideas. First, you already have US Air hubbed there. Next, you are competing in Southwest's strong holds. Yes, these airports are busy, but literally every airline flies from everywhere to Vegas. And these fares are already pretty low. Plus, with all the MOA's around Vegas, it is not unusual to fly a long detour at low altitudes (FL 270 or so) to get to your destination. Not a lot of direct routing is allowed into Vegas. Also, the last few times I have flown there we have had busy related delays. I would not recommend these two airports.

 

Only a FOOL would start a scheduled airline in todays enviroment.

 

I would agree with BNA(Nashville)...City Managers are user friendly when it comes to the airport since AA pulled out...But I would stay away from the RJ size aircraft if you want to make money...The yeilds of the profit margin are too close and you could loose your bum fast...Examples...Midway and Independance Air tried to use those types as a primary aircraft and lost money with them....I would look into contacting airport managers and get info from there...You'll be surprised how expensive it is to utlize an airport as a hub...Some places charge ramp parking at different rates if it's lighted!...Good luck with your reasearch project.

 

Why hub? When you hub you need more gates because everything is there at the same time. When you have more gates, you need more equipment. When all of those gates are occupied with your airplanes, you have to have employees to staff every gate. Then, after all those planes head out those employees are sitting idle until the next push. When something bad happens at the hub and delays occur, it screws up your airline up system wide, which adds expenses.

I really think this is what makes Southwest work. Sure, the fuel hedging, single aircraft type, and other factors contribute but this was there before the fuel savings. Other airlines have also gone to "rolling hub" concepts to try and increase utilization and minimize ground time and it has worked for them too.

If all else fails, go for STL. I'm looking at an empty D concourse and the biggest thing sitting on C is a 757. The new runway is spiffy too. We now have the capability of using both parallells in bad weather which will really be a big boost.

 

Did you not read the original post? Was there anything said about starting a new airline? Or was there something said about an EXTRA CREDIT project? Yes EXTRA CREDIT project was said.

 

Gary Chicago Indiana