Originally Posted by
MrAndy1369
Why do you think PHL and PHX seems to have "failed" somewhat as primary gateway hubs? As in, why do you think JFK is so wildly successful over PHL? I find it interesting how the pmUS hubs aren't as "vibrant" or busy as the pmAA hubs overall, except for maybe DCA.
I'd guess that successful gateways need to be important tourism or business destinations in and of themselves, which PHX and PHL are not (compared to JFK, LAX, ORD, DFW). It also helps if gateways see significant traffic for alliance partners, which no US hubs really do. PHX would need to make serious upgrades to their concourses (or build a new terminal) in order to accommodate more widebody traffic. I don't know if there's space for that.