Originally Posted by
bcard519
United pulls out of certain routes because AC still flies them. EWR for example. YOW has over 5 million travelers so its not a super small station. Star Alliance funnels everything via YYZ. At one point lets say 5-6 years ago there was about 7 flights to ORD a day. Now there is none cause United knows AC will pick up the slack and just send people via YYZ.
What you describe is illegal. UA would need to be able to show an independent justification. They can drop the route because it's unprofitable, or because another route is more profitable and they need the planes or crews; they can't drop the route because it's helps AC.