Originally Posted by
dlen111
My thought was that UA does not have a hub in the greater southeastern US ala DL in ATL and US in CLT. Anyone who lives in the SE and wants to travel within the SE cant fly UA. additionally, MEM could help southeasterners get to the northeast in the winter without a connection in EWR. and could server as a relief airport to both IAH and EWR in severe weather situations. Im sure the city of Memphis would make great concessions to snag a large hub operator again.
Just a thought.
MEM wouldn't help these problems. MEM isn't really in the southeast, it's in the northern fringe of what is traditionally thought of as the south. Someone wanting to fly intra-southeast would still be inconvenienced to fly NW to MEM and back SE again. Furthermore, MEM is much too far west to serve flows between the southeast and northeast, which are better served by either of IAD or EWR.
Reliever hubs really aren't sustainable in the current marketplace. That's why STL/PIT died, it's why MEM is dying, and it's why CLE/CVG are reduced in significance. The best hope is to garner additional service supporting local traffic, of which STL has certainly had the most success.