FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - Alaska Air stock falls sharply on difficulties with Virgin, Horizon Air
Old Oct 27, 2017, 1:16 pm
  #101  
channa
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Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Bay Area, CA
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Originally Posted by Madone59
+1 Mind blowing there is no VX/AS service to CLT!
CLT is like IAH -- the bulk of the traffic is fabricated connecting traffic that has no need or interest in going to CLT. I can't find the report, but last I saw, CLT had the highest amount of connecting traffic (on a percentage basis) of anywhere in the country, and IAH was second or third.

Big East Coast airports with lots of flights, where nobody wants to go don't make sense for a West Coast O/D carrier. AS is at a disadvantage for these as their nearest hub is 2,000 miles away...they can't just send a feeder plane in and grab what little local traffic there may be. Unless they get enough West Coast volume, they can't make it work. An East Coast hubbed airline can do it, though.

You'll notice that nobody serves CLT from the West Coast, except AA who is the beneficiary of the flows through there. DL doesn't have LAX/SEA-CLT, UA doesn't have SFO-CLT, etc.
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