A U.S. Airways 757 lands at Phoenix Sky Harbor. Umm, would a visit or two from an A330 be too much to ask?
Note from Wandering Justin: Since I live in Phoenix, which is a US Airways hub, I plan to keep a closer eye on its activities. I won’t regurgitate press releases, but rather analyze what it means from a traveler’s perspective. I am also not an industry expert, just a curious flying enthusiast. Feel free to debate or tap me wit the clue bat!
Back on May 26, US Airway announced that it would fly from Charlotte, NC, to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
On the surface, I have to wonder how much sense that flight makes. Obviously, the airline is going to do anything rash. It wants to make money, so it’s going to analyze the numbers to see if this makes sense for them. So I guess they found some sense in a BBQ Belt to Sunny Samba flight. The flights will start on Dec. 2.
I’d love to read more than what’s in the press release (look for it here). I’m guessing US Airways is funneling passengers from other Eastern cities to this flight. Why Charlotte rather than Philadelphia, another nearby hub? I have no earthly idea.
Still, seeing Charlotte snag a major international destination fills me with some hope – hope that it will deem its Phoenix hub worthy of some major international destinations. Right now, we have the most boring big airport on the planet. Great for getting to Cleveland, but useless for getting to Copenhagen. So if a small city like Charlotte can land a good flight, let’s hope Phoenix starts getting more love and attention from the scheduling powers that be.
I know I sound like a broken record, but it’s ludicrous for a person in the nation’s 5th-most populous city to fly to LAX for virtually any interesting international flight.
Switching gears a bit, I have to give US Airways a hearty mazel tov ( or perhaps l’chaim!) for its new service from Philadelphia to Tel Aviv. Good call. That’s a nice direct flight, and an alternative to flying El Al, which few have described to me as unbridled joy. Plus it just sounds like fun: 5,700 miles on a shiny new Airbus A330-200. I know I’m a loon – most people think neither of those elements add up to fun. Wusses. Just to put this flight in perspective, it only takes two stops to get me to Tel Aviv. Whereas I’m looking at least three to land in Panama. Lovely. The service to Tel Aviv is already rolling.
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I sort of feel your pain, except it’s all in reverse here in the Twin Cities. Northwest, of which MSP was it’s main hub, has lots of great nonstops for a market our size. London, Tokyo, Amsterdam, etc. As far as I know, those flights still exist since the Delta merger, but along with anything else Northwest around here, I have a sneaking suspicion that they’ll be disappearing soon.