Philadelphia is planning an expensive new project to add another runway. How expensive? Try $1.8 billion according to the city, $3 billion according to US Airways and other airlines, with most of the costs ultimately failing on the airlines. US Airways and UPS, both of which have major operations at the airport, do not want the project to proceed at this time but the city doesn’t seem to care what the airlines thinks and wants to go ahead now. Obviously, this has the potential to shift US Airway’s focus away from PHL:
“The danger in this plan is it brings Philadelphia up to the cost of a JFK, or a Dulles, without the revenue to go along with it, and that makes it unviable,” said Michael Minerva, US Airways vice president of corporate real estate and airline properties. “The whole US Airways story is that we make less money, but our costs are lower. The way we survive is by having a cost differential.”
Where could US Airways move some capacity to from Philly? Well, there’s always Charlotte…
