Is US Airways a Low-Cost Carrier?

US Airways has had a long and troubling history. In 2005, they merged with America West. US Airways then branded themselves as "America's Largest Low Cost Carrier". The statement that US Airways is a low-cost carrier is often laughed at by many people. On the other hand, many people actually view US Airways as the largest low-cost carrier in America.

The largest test in determining if US Airways is actually a low-cost carrier is it's prices. The flight route samples below were randomly selected for flights on March 12, 2008. The US Airways prices are compared with America's leading low-cost carriers, Southwest and Airtran.

Philadelphia-Orlando
US Airways: $84 O/W (3rd Place)
Airtran Airways: $79 O/W (1st Place)
Southwest: $81 O/W (2nd Place)

Raleigh-Seattle
US Airways: $93 O/W (1st Place)
Airtran Airways: N/A (N/A)
Southwest: $98 O/W (2nd Place)

Chicago-Dallas
US Airways: $183 O/W (3rd Place)
Airtran Airways: $81 O/W (1st Place)
Southwest: $97 O/W (2nd Place)

Phoenix-Tampa
US Airways: $93 O/W (2nd Place)
Airtran Airways: $89 O/W (1st Place)
Southwest: $142 O/W (3rd Place)

Denver-New York
US Airways: $104 O/W (3rd Place)
Airtran Airways: $79 O/W (1st Place)
Southwest: $99 O/W (2nd Place)

As seen above in our random prices samples, US Airways clearly did not show us that it is a true low-cost carrier. They had the most 3rd place finishes and only one first place finish. Airtran took the gold on every single route it served, while Southwest closely followed most of Airtran's prices. This shows us that US Airways charges higher fares than Airtran or Southwest.

Average Fare (of the routes sampled):
Airtran Airways: $82 O/W (1st Place)
Southwest Airlines: $103 O/W (2nd Place)
US Airways: $111 O/W (3rd Place)

After averaging the total one-way fares of each of the three airlines above, US Airways stayed in third place while Airtran Airways kept it's first place finish from the original samples. This reassures us that US Airways is the most expensive of the low-cost carriers sampled.

Aside from the high prices, what does US Airways have to offer to the public. Let's See. Massive delays and lost baggage plague US Airways. Although they are currently improving in both the on-time performance and baggage transportation, who would want to pay more to have these problems? Airtran offers more than one hundred live XM radio channels while Southwest offers the industries best customer service. Neither have major problems with delays or lost baggage and they offer lower prices. If you have the option, flying either Southwest or Airtran instead of US Airways is currently your best bet for lower prices and a better product. As shown in the results, US Airways is not a true low-cost carrier. It is only a "discount carrier".