US Airways CEO Doug Parker spoke to the UPoR the other day. The money quote, about the airline growing here in Charlotte, where it has its largest hub:
“I think it will grow kind of as the economy grows,” he said. “We have the right amount of supply for the existing demand. As demand grows, as the economy in Charlotte gets stronger … I think you’d expect to see our seats out of here grow accordingly.”
True enough as a general answer. But a closer look shows that US Airways is looking at a fair bit of growth in the number of seat from CLT over the next few years. As of August 4, US Airways had 629 flights a day from CLT. This breaks down as:
260 mainline flights, including 17 widebody or 757, 88 on Boeing 737-300 or 737-400, and 155 on Airbus A320 series (A319, A320, or A321) narrowbody jets
369 commuter flights, 169 on which are on large (70 to 86 seat) regional jets, 141 on 50-seat regional jets, and 59 on turboprops (37 or 50 seat).
The airline has orders in place for 70 Airbus A320 series jets for delivery through 2015. These will replace the airline’s 737-300s and 737-400s — which though old still account for a third of US Airways mainline flights from CLT — and early A320s. The replacement is not capacity neutral. US Airways’ 737-300 seat between 126 and 134 and the 737-400 seat 144 while their A320s seat 150 and the A321s have 183 seats. The replacement will, all other things being equal, result in about a 5 percent increase in overall capacity without adding any flights.
US Airways, of course, has some flexibility as to how intensely it uses its aircraft. But in general, if it wants to grow from about 2015 on, it will have to add more planes. Hard to see that happening given the current mess surrounding the airline’s pilots contract. That’s especially true since the current deal includes a minimum on the number of mainline aircraft US Airways must fly, with the airline now essentially at that minimum. The union really wants the carrier to grow as more of its members that currently are first officers would become captains (with a nice increase in pay) as a result. Hard to imagine Doug Parker and company giving up that bargaining chip without getting something return.