Originally Posted by
eponymous_coward
WN has zero hubs in the classic sense of "hub". They make a lot of money flying people in airplanes, though. So does B6 out of BOS service. SEA is not exactly well positioned to be a hub for DL, but they have O/D. MSP isn't ideally geographically positioned, either. DL didn't ditch it post merger.
It's not 2001, AA's financial structure isn't a disaster any more. And it's not time to turn planes into beer cans again. PHX is fine.
I don't think anyone's saying PHX is going the way of STL/CLE/MEM. Maybe some capacity shifting; some consolidation through DFW where it makes sense. There was a post upthread remarking on how some pmUS 321s moved to DFW - but so what? That's just optimizing a network with many more hubs and destinations.
PHX is indeed fine. My only point was that the geography of PHX for at least intra-US connections isn't ideal (as carlosdca says, it's pretty well positioned for CA - MEX connections). PHX has a good population base, a fair bit of industry, and a good amount of sunbird tourism. All that's going to stay in favor of it remaining a hub. But cross-country itineraries can just as easily connect in ORD or DFW as PHX, so it's prominence in the network, relative to pmUS days, may well diminish as the network gets less redundant.
Edit to add:
SEA is an Asia gateway for DL, not a connecting hub by any means. Sort of like MIA/PHL and to a lesser degree JFK for AA but on a much smaller scale. Not even close to comparable to PHX which has barely any OW, and no AA metal, long-haul international connectivity.
WN has a very different business model relative to AA, as does B6. AA is a traditional (and strident) hub/spoke carrier - so the fact that WN and B6 can make money flying point-to-point routes is sort of irrelevant to AA. My point on this front was that BOS, a large metropolitan area (top 10), does not support a connecting hub by reason of its geography and climate, and despite its catchment area, wealth, business climate, etc. Lots of O/D, no hub. Why it's not a gateway, though, I don't get.