Pittsburgh Tribune-Review “Signs Of Life” Article Linky
Apparently the residents of Pittsburgh have short-term memory loss.
When I went to high school there, tickets to NYC(or to anywhere for that matter) were monopolized by USAirways, who controlled some 95% of all PIT flights back then.
Understandably tickets were prohibitively expensive, in the $200 range for advance purchase tickets for the sub-1 hour hop to NYC(forget about if you didnt buy it 14 days in advance with a Saturday night stay).
Along came Airtran in 2001 to take on big bad USAir and offered $98 RT fares, which of course USAir matched.
By this point everyone forgot about Pre-Airtran prices and flew with USAir.
Airtran brought the RT price all the way down $58 before calling it quits the same year the service started. They cited lack of support from the Pittsburgh community for their flights. (Airtran would go on to shift their NYC flights to, and start a mini-hub in Akron, OH, driving down fares in Cleveland as a result…)
Of course once Airtran ended PIT-NYC service prices to NYC went up overnight.
Luckily for Pittsburgh, in 2006 Jetblue bought regional jets and decided that Pittsburgh was once again ready for NYC flights.
Unfortunately the same cycle is happening again, with Jetblue introducing flights at $98 RT before dropping them to $58 RT (Or even $24 RT for Ctown readers)
Speaking about Pittsburghers a Jetblue spokesman said, “JetBlue’s four daily flights to New York and two to Boston have many empty seats…They continue to fly US (Airways), but now they fly at the $59 fare vs. the $199 they charged before we entered the market”
-Why won’t Pittsburghers fly with the airline causing the low fares?
-Is Pittsburgh just not capable of supporting an LCC?
-Pittsburgh Ctownreaders-Support your LCC carriers: Use them or lose them(Believe me CLE will more than happy to have Jetblue)!
Leave a Reply
3 Comments On "Jetblue: "We’re Still Looking For Signs Of Life In Pittsburgh…""
All opinions expressed below are user generated and the opinions aren’t provided, reviewed or endorsed by any advertiser or DansDeals.
Hopefully Jetblue will take Airtran’s lead and setup in Cleveland.
i’m looking for a epson printer for $20 or less after rebates
i like epson printers because they print good prints and their ink are not expensive.
Thank you very much for all you’ve done for the jewish people
I am reading and posting from the JFK Jetblue terminal returning to Pittsburgh. Some of us get it – especially when you throw in free wireless internet and the TV/Radio on the plane for whenm they (as all airlines do) keep you HOSTAGE on the tarmac (one day it will be time to bring legal action, can you imagine if you agreed to give someone a ride and did not let him out of the car for a few hours?)Although some of USAiraways’ allure is Newark and Laguardia. JFK is a schlepp. I sometimes fly Southwest to Philly and drive from there to avoid JFK and the city.
RDW