Originally Posted by
jsloan
While I agree that (a) UA has implied this in the past; (b) it's true; and, (c) I don't think BKK is returning -- UA's strategy seems to have pivoted a bit. They've been adding a bunch of routes that I don't think they would have considered under the "business markets only" mantra -- AGP, PMI, ATH, BNE, PPT, SMA…)
Except for Brisbane (which is synergistic with Virgin Australia I suppose), all of those destinations are much closer than a place like BKK. One of the reasons AA stated they pulled back substantially on Asia routes a few years ago is that aircraft utilization is so poor to those destinations. They could make much better profits on shorter long haul routes. No doubt the same economics are in play for any US airline trying to serve that region.