Originally Posted by
Lefleur
I know (or have been told/heard) they (the airport authority) are building new runways, gates, and terminals at CLT....it would be akin to an ATL play with DL, but is there any room there? One of the largest metros in the country, tons of HQ for corporate clients that still travel, and would relieve some pressure on IAD (or those routes, like PHL-IAD, no longer in play).....
CLT is a pretty weak airport for local traffic. It gets as many O&D passengers as SMF or MSY. The bank HQs in the area are focused on back office operations (i.e. not a lot of travel) and the other corporate HQs tend to be low-margin retailers etc.
AA's hub is so big mainly because the operating costs are extremely low. See
https://www.thestreet.com/investing/...s-why-14312248
They are going to expand the existing concourses, not build a new terminal.
UA would get crushed if they tried to challenge AA in this market.