http://www.charlotteobserver.com/201...charlotte.html
"US Airways is scheduled to receive 14 new Airbus A350 aircraft in 2017 - planes that will allow the airline to reach China and India from Charlotte or Philadelphia"
That's a lot of pie in the sky thinking for something 7 years out. Can the 350 fly to those destinations from CLT? Yes. Will it? Probably not, in favor of PHL.
While HNL is not international, this was a big deal to US because it was only competing with ATL and EWR for East-of-the-Mississippi direct service. Yet, no mention in the article about that route being dropped 9 months after it began.
And if the yields to GIG continue to disappoint the bean counters, you can count on it going bye bye too.
I love articles that try to position CLT as this great alternative, but at least this one was sober enough to admit that the connecting traffic is key. Without it, CLT is a ghost town like PIT became. PHL will always have the O&D, regardless which airline is flying a route like FCO, LHR, CDG or FRA.