Originally Posted by jasondc

The key distinction here is that UA had been in BKK for close to 30 years so knew the market pretty well, but hadn't been in the SFO - TLV market before.

Nice urban legend, but as I know the people who actually worked on the business case for this flight, I can guarantee you this is the stuff of legend that makes for good story telling. Airline route planners and sales people meet with interested groups all the time who talk to them about new route opportunities. When they see compelling ideas they may augment already-existing knowledge with the new stuff, but it's very rare that it's the main progenitor of such a route. Neat story though.

I, too, would love to see an IAD route. Time will tell.