Originally Posted by
phlwookie
PHX is the southwestern US equivalent of CLT
...
World class cities often generate higher margin O&D traffic, but capacity, infrastructure and cost issues can make them less profitable to route connecting traffic through.
Why is this so hard for so many people to understand? This last paragraph could be pasted in response to most of the comments on the NYC thread.
AA is big enough that they can pursue both strategies (high margin OD and cheap connections) at the same time in different cities that fit those strategic niches.