Originally Posted by
BoeingBoy
1 - you imply that US could compete transcon out of BOS without a competitive F/C product (or whatever a "big premium product" is) but then say that UA is eroding US' transcon business out of PHL. It can't be both.
I'm not implying any erosion of business on either end. My reply about UAL flying to Philadelphia was in response to a prior post that said that UAL would chafe at US competition to Boston of any sort -- I simply noted that US could point out that UAL competes on key routes to US hubs on transcons, so UAL would have a double standard.
Originally Posted by
BoeingBoy
2 - US leaving the Star Alliance would not "shut Star flyers out of the East Coast almost entirely." UA's IAD hub provides quite a bit of East Coast service, with much better Star Alliance connectivity than either PHL or CLT's single LH flight per day.
Oh, it almost certainly would shut the Star Alliance out of the East coast almost entirely.
Most eastern business travelers aren't looking for long-haul flights to Europe (although US does offer quite a few of those from Philly). A large number of eastern biz travelers are FrequentHoppers (get it?) from Boston to NYC to Baltimore to Atlanta to Miami to Cincinatti to Philly.
UAL's presence on the east coast is, well, pathetic to put it mildly. The IAD hub is all well and good, but UAL is a no-go choice for a large number of east coasters in Boston, Philadelphia, New York, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Charlotte, Miami, Jacksonville and other eastern cities who want quick nonstop or 1-connection trips between those destinations.
In addition, US and Delta own smaller airports UAL doesn't service in fairly major smaller business markets in New England, Pennsylvania, upstate New York, and the southeast.
Both Delta and US have excellent short-hop networks between the major cities. United, in comparison, cannot even get you from Boston to New York. Who would choose a connection in IAD over the US or DL shuttles?
On top of that, if a person in the east is a frequent hopper and also wants long-haul, a Star Alliance without US isn't viable either. After all, if I can do short hops on Delta and Continental for my eastern seaboard travel -- and fly long-haul on NWA, DL and CO around the world -- why bother with United?
US brings Star extensive coverage of eastern cities that UAL from IAD cannot touch. Without US, Star wouldn't be interesting to folks in a large number of cities -- and SkyTeam would increase in interest significantly.