Originally Posted by
Kacee
ORD is not a fortress. It's a hub for AA and UA.
HA has multiple daily flights from OAK and SJC, all of which compete against UA's SFO hub for Hawaii traffic.
Again, HA does quite well in competition against UA. If they choose not to serve a market (e.g, IAH or ORD), it's not because they fear competition from UA.
Semantics. ORD may not be a fortress hub for AA, but it certainly is for UA. The point is that both airlines have large market shares with a large customer base. They both offer many 1-stop options to Hawaii, including the UA nonstops that HA would have to compete with.
HA isn't afraid of competition, but that's not the point. The point is that the other carriers that maintain hubs in these cities mentioned have a huge advantage over HA in those markets. It's called HUB FEED. UA doesn't have to rely only on people in Houston or Chicago to fill their nonstops. AA doesn't have to rely on the people of the Dallas metro area to fill the DFW flights. Everyone knows that when you die you connect in ATL on your way to heaven, illustrating the point that DL has massive feed to ATL. If HA were to enter those markets, they would have to rely on local traffic alone, to make the flight successful. A tall feat when competing with carriers who maintain hubs in those cities.