Originally Posted by flymeaway
Probably not...those flights exist, in part, to reposition the aircraft at the hubs. Seems unlikely that they'll go away.
It is more than repositioning the aircraft. Also, makes use of an idle aircraft.
For example: IAH - GRU route uses two 764s - down and back are both overnight (can not do a RT in a day like to Europe).
Hence, when the GRU 764 is at IAH, it can be used for a RT - IAH to LAX in the day. At the other end, it does a RT GRU to GIG.
EWR to GRU uses two 762's, but likely rotates with earlier flghts to Europe, rather than EWR to IAH RT - like before. The 762 from EWR is idle all day at GRU.