Originally Posted by
IADCAflyer
Say what? Weren't you the one who was opining that airlines are reducing their RJ flying? So, on the one hand you're claiming that airlines are reducing their RJ flying, but you're proposing that folks take RJ flights (which are more costly to operate) and fly them even longer distances than they fly now - resulting in increasingly large losses.
Wow.
As I mentioned, many of the airports concerned already have "longer" RJ flights to AA's hubs. These flights already exist, and AA is apparently making money off them. Perhaps US is making more money flying these people to CLT, I don't know. But once the airlines are combined, the extra benefit of getting them to a larger hub with more connecting options is going to be more important. Those who are flying regionally will still want to go through CLT, but anyone flying transcon or international will be better served by ORD or DFW.
Also, remember that as airlines cut regional flights (a trend which is going to be accelerating due to federal regulations) the remaining flights will see more passengers. Some of these might get upgraded to larger RJs, or perhaps even mainline if they are lucky.