Originally Posted by
ksweeney
I don't believe that "JFK is the odd one out". While I'm not privy to AA strategic planning, it does seem that as the largest airline in the world, AA can effectively support two northeast international hubs better than anyone else. PHL vs. JFK is not a zero sum game. I don't use JFK often, but the few times I've flown in and out this year it has appeared as though AA is utilizing every gate. Personally, I wouldn't mind a few less International flights out of JFK in exchange for for connections to non-hub cities like STL or SAN. Either way I don't see any sign that JFK is being deprecated. UA on the other hand has retrenched into its EWR fortress and truly has deprecated LGA after abandoning JFK. I think AA is still bullish on NYC.
I think the issue is slot availability for AA. JFK is still slot controlled and AA is maxed out on what they can use based on their allocation, so the only way they could grow flights is to acquire slots from someone else. That will be an uphill slog since B6 and DL are in a back alley fight to get every slot they can to support their hubs. Meanwhile, UA wants back not JFK after selling their 26 slots to DL.
AA is not going to get any bigger at JFK anytime soon. Their only hope is the expansion announced last week will result in a bolus of slots becoming available sometime in the next several years. In the meantime, they will continue focusing on O&D and connecting traffic to other OW partners at JFK.