Perhaps. I might note that the most consistently profitable carrier flying JFK-SFO/LAX is B6, who doesn't have ANY F product (and that's not one of their core routes), that it is taking VX considerably longer to reach profitable status than it took B6 (and JFK-LAX/SFO IS a core route for them), and the two carriers with three-class product on that route are some of the LEAST profitable carriers in the US market (UA and AA). (Insert the usual reference to the most successful US carrier of the last 40 years having NO first class seats here.)

I am not convinced that NYC-California is a gold mine for a carrier- especially since the most lucrative business (things like SAG requirements for an F cabin) is tied up in corporate contracts (which aren't AS's strength, given their relative weakness in larger US cities). Yes, they sell lots of high fares, but they have to operate planes with stupid high CASMs to get those contracts and charge those fares- fuel-hungry and aging 762s with (10F/30J/119Y) splits, or 752s that are even MORE elite dense (12 F/26J/72Y). One might also note that UA has basically coughed up JFK service altogether outside of those routes... and that AFS and p.s. are dim shadows of not too long ago.

Also, yes, I do think it's cutthroat- you have two LCCs on NYC-SFO/JFK (B6/VX), and four legacy carriers (CO from EWR, UA, AA and DL from JFK). Doesn't get much more cutthroat that that- each of the players has established a true hub at either JFK or in CA, and nobody is going to have pricing power on that route. AS, at best, has a focus city in LAX (which in many cases is more hub/connecting point for north-south and partners than O/D power out of LA, and the latter is what you REALLY need to make CA-NYC work), the slowly evaporating remains of a focus city at SFO, a new focus city coming online in SJC.

That's why I think IF AS wanted to dip their toes into the CA transcon market (dubious question since I don't work in revenue management- this might lose money hand over fist), the logical route to start with is SJC-EWR. Nobody flies it, it wouldn't enrage AA and DL like muscling in on JFK would, you could fly it with standard issue AS 738s since you're not going against UA/AA 3 class planes, AS already has operations at EWR and could run it similar to their DCA operation (where planes go SEA-DCA-LAX or LAX-DCA-SEA), and it might work for people wanting south Bay Area access to Manhattan and vv.- AS isn't going to be making bank connecting people, it's going to be point-to-point.