Met the BOS-based moderator of this forum last week in the JAL lounge at HNL and commiserated over the decline of AA from that market. But the reality is that the largest provider of any product or service is the one most affected by new entrants into any market. And AA has been a victim of this phenomenon as BOS saw new players on the domestic scene (JetBlue/SouthWest/VirginAmerica) eat into that market, and new nonstop European routes by other carriers eat into the transAt market AA enjoyed pretty much to itself. By emptying the back cabin, and lowering those fares, it is the business traveler who suffers because this clientele is not large enough to off-set the lower resulting margins from low cost competition. AA can only respond by rationalizing service and routes, which is just one more reason why it has had to enter Chapter 11 and restructure.

See BOS as a case study of legacy airlines' plight.