Originally Posted by
eponymous_coward
Japan is considerably closer to Hawaii and has a considerably less tropical climate than SE Asia (especially in winter), and also has a considerably higher per-capita GDP. Also, local airlines (like AK) have significant advantages in marketing to local populations (like Indonesia and Malaysia). All these things matter when you're talking about markets you want to serve with planes that cost many millions of dollars.
All very true. And yet people still fly from all over the world to Hawaii and the continental US. So clearly, if you advertise it well, people will travel. There are pros and cons for a hub in Hawaii, just as there are in PVG. That's what speculation is about/like.
I like speculation as much as the next person. But there's speculation, and there's "Well, where did you get whatever it is you're smoking? How much is it? Can I have some?"
"It's too far" and "Planes are really expensive" is hardly upping the game on the rest of the posts in the thread.
The history of the airline business has a number of really bizarre and stupid decisions, followed by airlines going bankrupt from them. Picking random points in Asia and saying "AA should fly there! It'd be, like soo cool!" would be well within that tradition, but isn't it better to have decisions that are well thought out?
I don't think you understand what the word "speculation" means.
