Originally Posted by pbarnette

That accurately illustrates just how clear the divide is. You can claim that the answer is different, but without evidence to support such a claim, it will only show that you don't understand basic arithmetic.

Are my estimates off by enough that it would complicate the picture? Did I not consciously make them conservative, by excluding JFK (and CVG), rounding down the number of US destinations served ex-ATL, and (probably incorrectly) assuming that DTW matches the reach of ATL? Do you actually have any sort of evidence (or even estimates as well-documented as mine)? Feel free to prove me wrong. I know, and you know, that I'm not.

Let's see your math. When you come up with a substantiated and different answer, then come talk.

Originally Posted by pbarnette

...Let's assume that DL serves 100 US cities from ATL (I think it is actually more, but couldn't be bothered to count). That gives us 2000 US-European city pairs served with one-stop service.

NW, by contrast, serves 4 European destinations from DTW. Assuming the same 100 US cities served by NW via DTW (heck, it could be 300 without upsetting the calculus), this gives us 400 US-European city pairs....