Business traveler Fred Ludy spent years dealing with the headaches of flying, before finding a simple solution. Now, when he has to go from his home in Gilbertsville to Boston or Pittsburgh, he climbs into his silver 2005 Mercedes-Benz E320 and drives for five or six hours.
"I just had enough," said Ludy, a former Philadelphia police officer, who works for a computer networking company. "I can't take it anymore. I know I don't have to wait an hour for my bags."
No one knows how many others there are like Ludy who have traded frequent flying for constant driving. But many business travelers who fly out of Philadelphia share his frustration with the airport's dominant air carrier, US Airways.
"I wouldn't fly them if they gave me a free ticket," Ludy said - and he has 106,000 miles in his frequent-flier account.
Last week's big news about US Airways concerned its proposed $8.66 billion takeover of Delta Air Lines Inc. But over the last several months, The Inquirer has chronicled an issue of more immediate concern to many customers: US Airways' struggle to improve its on-time performance and baggage service at Philadelphia International Airport, where it has its largest international connecting hub and carries more than 60 percent of the passengers.
The airline's senior executives have promised to solve the service problems by hiring more ground workers and upgrading airport facilities. The promises come at a time when US Airways and most other airlines are making money, with analysts' predicting that the industry will finish the year in the black for the first time since 2000.
Although fares remain low compared with the late 1990s, strong demand has allowed the major air carriers to raise ticket prices 22 times over the last two years, with the most recent increase adopted two weeks ago, analyst Jamie Baker of JPMorgan Securities Inc. reported in a recent note to investors.
Business travelers are vital to airlines. While they take about a third of all airline trips, industry experts estimate they provide most carriers with more than half of their revenue, because they pay higher average fares. A survey by one trade group, the Travel Industry Association, forecast only a 1 percent to 2 percent increase in business travel during 2007, slower than recent growth. In contrast, an American Express Co. survey foresees the overall cost of a business trip rising 3 percent to 6 percent in 2007.
