Originally Posted by
Speedracer2
I think AA needs to go the opposite way and expand at ORD. First, AA wants to grow in Asia and has no other logical connecting hub for the east coast. Second, now is the time to go on the offense as United is hurting.
Philadelphia?
I think it's the largest metro area in the country without a single flight across the Pacific. Lots and lots of connecting flights to help fill a plane to Tokyo or Shanghai. PHL is still a vibrant business center and I'm certain that some US frequent flyer faithful in PHL have been helping to fill UA planes to Asia. If new AA can keep them in the fold, maybe a nonstop to NRT would be the ticket.
About Chicago and Asia: AA already flies to the three top destinations in Asia from ORD, and other than possibly ICN, I don't predict any other destinations will happen. HKG? Dunno, given that CX already does that (and does it better than AA could ever hope to do).
Holes in the AA network to Asia? NYC to China, PHL to anywhere across the Pacific and LAX to PEK and ICN, perhaps to TPE.
If you were thinking BKK, SIN or KUL - those ain't never gonna happen nonstop. And immunized joint venture partner JAL already does a bang-up job connecting passengers to those destinations over HND or NRT.
