AndrewCX, you seem to move westward to Oz, so you may not realize that UA's flights across the Atlantic (esp. from the IAD hub) are a source of revenue rather than a drag on UA. The flights are largely full, sometimes overbooked. And there is also plenty of revenue on cargo. I don't know the numbers, but I can't see how forgoing these routes would help UA (and, of course, I have a personal interest in these routes ).