“Capacity discipline—that’s one of the ways we’ve been able to survive,” US Airways COO Robert Isom said of the carrier’s strategy. Along with capacity discipline, ancillary revenues have been helping the carrier offset the high price of fuel, he noted. It earned a $71 million profit for the full year 2011 on a $1.2 billion year-over-year increase in fuel costs.
“Charging for luggage has been a huge deal,” Isom told attendees at the Aviation Week MRO Americas conference Thursday. He said the carrier has earned ancillary revenues in excess of $5 million a year, largely from baggage, but also through the growing popularity of its “choice seats” program.
Looking ahead, Isom said he sees a “mature marketplace in the US” and expects that “growth is going to be very limited in the US marketplace as a whole.” The carrier this year plans to take delivery of new aircraft to replace aging aircraft, rather than increase fleet size.
Article Source : ATW Daily News
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