Originally Posted by
TechBoy
Now that is just plain wrong. PIT is a larger metro area and has more O&D traffic than either CVG or MEM. The steel industry died 25 years ago. PIT was a large hub until 9/11 almost ended US which has perennially been the weak sister among the legacies. US could not support a hub 300 miles away from its largest hub in PHL.
Specifically regarding PIT traffic, what changed on 9/11? What made PIT worth having the day before 9/11 and not having in the period after it? Number of O&D passengers is only half of the story -- fares paid are the other half. Methinks if the revenue was there, US would have continued that operation. That revenue isn't there.
CVG just doesn't make sense with a stronger hub in a much larger market only 250 miles away. That doesn't mean that they will go away completely, but they will be limited to milking high value O&D routes.
I have my opinions on how strong of a hub DTW really is. The economy across Michigan is in the toilet. NW competes with WN and spirit in DTW. O&D fares out of DTW are really, really low.
Now, when you talk about "a stronger hub" and "going away completely" what are you talking about? Care to put a number of daily departures on that? I don't care to care to debate nomenclature issues -- they're meaningless.
The airlines are in the position they are because they hold on to old-school styles of operation. Those styles simply can't be supported in the times to come.
With oil at $130, there are just too many legacy hubs out there. And the 3 weakest are MEM, CVG and CLE. It would not be surprising to see them go even without the merger. But with a merger, I think it is inevitable unless oil drops fast.
I could see CLE being tossed without the merger. I can't see MEM and and CVG being tossed without the merger.