Originally Posted by
EWR764
I think Kirby is trying to rectify this issue as quickly as he can, and when we talk about 'structural disadvantages', that's a big one. If you look at the bulk of the cities added in the last year or so, many fall into the 'connectivity' bucket: BIS, SLN, ACV, ILM, LBL, BFF, PUB, ELM, LBF, ELM, CNY, VEL, CKB, SGU, CHO, COU, RST, SGF, STS, etc., all of which were announced in the past year with 50-seater service (and not counting other spoke routes to existing cities). Few, if any, of these routes have competitive two-cabin RJ or mainline service.
That's an interesting thesis. Those generally aren't Spirit/Frontier/Allegiant markets, so he's implying that AA and DL are putting it to small-city travelers and the avg fare will be rich.
While UA may not face much direct
route competition from those cities, it will find itinerary competition with 2-class planes from some (of the several I checked) airports on your list. A Delta CR7 from ELM isn't great in coach but it will offer an F cabin, E+, wifi, and power to F and Comfort+. Time it right and ride in a Delta MD-90 from BIS, or a 717 from CHO.
If we accept that CR2s aren't the end game, does the current pilot agreement allow for enough E75s, etc.?