Originally Posted by hillrider
That makes sense. The LAX route is 4.3% longer (more costs to AA for same $$) and, including stopover times, takes 1:51 longer than flying through ORD. Heck, even DFW is a better transit point: it's "only" 1.0% longer and saves 1:38 to the passenger over the LAX routing. So AA is obviously facing unexpectedly low counts on LAX-NRT (hence the "sudden" change).
The only plus: a "direct" routing will save ~$7 in taxes: $2.50 in segment tax + $4.50 in airport fees (in the case of ORD, DFW and most other airports)!
I see the point that you are making, but you are ignoring the fact that the majority of the costs are fixed, not variable. The cost delta is far less than a comparison of transit times would imply.
As for the LAX loads, J and F seem pretty full near the weekends just like DFW and JFK. Also, there is quite a bit of competition on that route already and not all regular flyers would switch loyalties overnight.