Goodbye America West--at CMH

[dan and scott]

America West Hub is closing in April at Port Columbus--so maybe we will be going via Delta/Chitaqua/South West or maybe Delta's Song??
Delta has a big press conference scheduled at CMH on Wednesday.

Scott
Hopefully we can get some direct flights and decent times but not holding our breath.

 

[Daisymeo]

I saw this on the news today, too. I had been watching for a flight on America West in July. I guess now I'm waiting for the Southwest schedule to come out. We used to fly Delta nonstop but now I don't want to do this since they have gone to the small Embraer jets that only seat 3 people across. They just seem too small to fly nonstop to Orlando. The choices are getting slim. I hope the lack of competition will not drive prices up.

 

[erikthewise]

See

http://www.americawest.com/aboutawa/companyprofile/aa_cmhpressrelease.htm

and http://www.americawest.com/aboutawa/companyprofile/aa_cmh_qa.htm

They say they had "strong competition" on all their routes, but their Orlando service was better than anyone else's, and I would gladly have paid a premium for it. I refuse to fly Chatauqua's Embraer jets, and I'm not excited about flying Southwest. Delta's nonstops out of Cincinnati are overpriced and fill-up quickly through feeder routes.

It would be very good news for Ohioans if Song were to begin CMH-MCO service.

All this is just one more reason why it's a bad idea to buy airline tickets far in advance. I have recently been regretting that I didn't grab America West tickets for Dec when they were under $200!

Daisymeo, I may be wrong but I believe I read that the jets Chatauaqua flies to Orlando have an operational limit of 1100 miles, and the flight is a little over 800 miles. That's pushing it too far.

 

[Daisymeo]

Just heard on the news that Delta is having a news conference tomorrow to announce expanded coverage at CMH. I wish they would at least go back to offering nonstop flights on 737's which is what we took our last two trips.

 

[erikthewise]

I'd be happy with that too, but that was Delta Express which is gone from CMH and unlikely to come back (or even survive). If it is the new "Song" airline, it should be a step up from 737s.

I don't think "plain Delta" would ever offer nonstops from Columbus due to the hubs in both Cincinnati and Atlanta.

(The Cincinnati hub is a pain in the neck. It means Delta more or less owns CVG, so prices for flying nonstop out of Cincinnati are outrageous. To get a decent fare, you have to start somewhere else. People in Cincinnati drive to Columbus in order to fly back to Cincinnati and then to their destination!)

 

[erikthewise]

Well, it turns out that their big announcement (http://www.delta.com/home/press/index.jsp) was just more Chatauqua flights, now four a day each way CMH-MCO. A big, big disappointment.

They can offer 20 flights a day but I will not consider putting my family on Embraer aircraft while there is any alternative. They can call it "Delta Connection", but that fools no one (I hope). It's still a dinky airline flying dinky aircraft.

The only bright side is that Delta is showing interest in the Ohio-Florida market, and perhaps after they have phased in Song in the East they will also bring it to Columbus.