Originally Posted by
hirohito888
That's certainly not true. If the fare and timing are competitive, then there is little noticeable difference between connecting in YYZ or ATL or MIA. If backtracking or connecting domestic vs. transborder was really an issue, then how would AC make all that money selling 6th freedom flights to Europe? There are many routes where stopping in YYZ is slightly longer, such as BNA-YYZ-MAD vs. BNA-PHL-MAD or MCO-YYZ-FCO vs. MCO-JFK-FCO. Same applies for US-Canada-South America, it's not that much longer as compared to other transit hubs domestically.
Moreover, many Northeast/Midwest cities in the US is not that connected to South America. YYZ and JFK are the only 2 airports (north of ATL) to serve all 4 major South American cities (GRU, GIG, EZE, SCL). Other cities only get 1 or none. BOS/EWR/IAD/ORD-GRU only, DTW/CLE/CVG/PHL/MSP have no South American flights.
First of all, connecting in YYZ or YUL from the U.S. to Europe is not backtracking in the same way that connecting in Canada to fly to Latin America would be. Canada is directly on the flight path for many U.S. services to Europe anyway, whereas flights to Latin America are in the complete other direction. It's as illogical to fly from the U.S. to Latin America via Canada as it would be to fly from Kuwait to Dubai via Istanbul. And no, AC's fares to Latin America are not competitive with UA's or many of the U.S. carriers.
You also completely misunderstand the point about connections. No one is saying that "many Northeast/Midwest cities in the US" are well connected to South America. However, there ARE hub airports in the United States which ARE well connected to South America and which can be easily reached by a DOMESTIC flight from the U.S. Midwest or Northeast. A domestic connecting flight will always win out for a U.S. traveler over one in a third country unless the third country airline (in this case AC) can offer a rock-bottom fare. Which, as we know from Canada's high airport taxes, fuel taxes and other levies, just ain't happening.