Originally Posted by
JimInOhio
They're probably not losing money but it's been mentioned many times in this forum that LHR slot-squatting is entirely possible here.
To a certain extent, yes, but generally speaking in cases where LHR slots are surplus to UA's needs for a period of time, they've been seasonally leased or temporarily swapped to *A JV partners for short-haul flights. The A++ airlines have a shared interest in the TATL flights covered by the JV to perform well. If there is excess capacity then everyone takes a hit.
Most recently, once the COVID slot waivers expired, UA leased a few slot pairs to Brussels Airlines and Austrian in 2023/2024 for BRU/VIE flights, respectively, while LHR traffic was on the rebound. But that hasn't been the case since last summer.
There's also a use-it-or-lose-it rule that requires 80% of an airline's slot holdings to be flown during a given season, otherwise slots may be relinquished. That gives airlines an extra margin to do day-of-week cuts of underperforming slots, but discourages pure squatting.
Originally Posted by
ijgordon
At the end of the day, this comes down to what proportion of travelers are buying the "really" expensive tickets, which are less than 3 day A/P, and fewer than 2 day min stay. Because it doesn't take a PhD to see that there is PLENTY of low-priced business class inventory if you can plan even the slightest bit ahead. For domestic routes, that close-in/short-trip purchaser is not an uncommon profile. Less so internationally, but of course if there is a route where it's more common, it would be this one.
Exactly. This is LHR's bread and butter, especially for EWR. Not every TATL market is like this.