And I have anecdotal evidence to prove it!
First off, this is a complete 180 degree for me. A flip-flop. A John Kerry. I've always thought that the west could use a flight or two to Europe.
And then today happened.
I just came back on DL15 (FRA-ATL on the 777) with a friend. For some reason (which is worth a completely seperate thread), she got held up in customs for about an hour.
During that hour, I stood in the middle of the area where people recheck their baggage onto connecting flights. This was the busiest time of day for international arrivals, with the FRA and CDG 777s, an LGW flight, and there were others too...I don't remember which ones specifically, but several European flights.
So in that hour, I watched people bring their bags to the connection desks, and I just casually glanced at their luggage tags to see their final destination. The following people had a final destination which would make sense to connect in SLC:
PSP - 1
LAX - 1
LAS - 6
SEA - 1
If you add me (SLC) and my friend (TUS) into the equation, we're looking at a grand total of 11 passengers....among at least five flights. I easily glanced at several hundred tags in that hour. The most popular tags seemed to be MCO (of course), GSO, MEM. and IAH.
Sure, this doesn't count passengers going through CVG or JFK, but I would think if there was demand for a Europe flight out west, I would have seen more than 11 passengers who terminated west of the Rockies.
So, to all of you who have argued against my pleadings for a Europe flight, I have seen the light, and am ready to be welcomed into the clan. Is there a secret handshake or anything I need to learn?