Earlier this week on Twitter I saw that US Airways had a new product for its passengers between Boston and Philadelphia called FastPath. What does that mean?
Well, this route all of a sudden looks a lot more like a Shuttle flight.
In terms of schedule – the route was already there with plenty of frequencies during the day. Right now, US Airways basically has hourly service in each direction, and a quick check of schedules indicates 16 flights each way during the week.
But now US Airways is adding some perks commonly found for the Shuttle. BOS-PHL flights will now depart from one set of gates at either airport that the airline says is close to security. Flights now have dedicated check-in lines and baggage claims.
And here’s one perk that is not found on US Airways shuttle – priority security line access for everyone – not just elites or first class passengers. That’s nice.
So why is US Airways doing this? I have to think Southwest is the reason – they started up on the route in June with five daily flights and just bumped it up to eight, so US Airways now has to fight to keep customers.
But I do like how US Airways is thinking here. All to often the response to an LCC entering a market is lowering fares, and maybe tossing out some bonus miles, so it’s nice to see something creative.
And the moves do make sense to me – especially the security lines. At Boston, Southwest has a pretty sweet deal over in Terminal E. That’s the international terminal so it’s pretty quiet until the afternoon. Plus, Southwest basically has its own security checkpoint, as most long-haul passengers use a larger one at the other end of the terminal.
I have less experience with Philadelphia, but the security checkpoint that Southwest uses, which wast part of the new Terminal D/E connector, is very nice. The last time I went through a US airways checkpoint at Philadelphia, the experience was fine, but the facility just isn’t as nice.
As always – let’s see how it all shakes out. But I really like what US Airways is doing here. It will be interesting if we’ll see any response from Southwest here.
This is definitely a direct response to Southwest. Read the bottom of the US Airways FastPath page: “…and we have hourly service and a First Class cabin every weekday, with complimentary upgrades for Preferred members.”
That’s directly calling out Southwest, who obviously doesn’t have a first class cabin…
I think the security priority is actually a great feature, and a relief to many who have dread of airport security whether it’s warranted or not.