Originally Posted by
NickB
I am not so sure that the codeshares would make such a big difference. People are not going to backtrack to ATL/DTW/IAH (nor are they going to add several 1000 miles to connect to NW's Asian services), so we are still talking about O&D traffic only. Do NW, DL and CO have a sufficient presence in SoCal to make a significant impact, bearing in mind that even their FFers might prefer to fly on their own metal, albeit with a change, for a variety of reasons, such as upgs for instance?
I think that Pucci is spot on. It seems to me that the best rationale for such services is to attempt to weaken your competitor by reducing their profits on their home turf rather than generate substantial revenue per se (a kind of réponse du berger à la bergère for BA's CDG-JFK) pretty much like we witnessed on intra-European in the early 1980s and probably with the same outcome in the medium term.
I would say that there is a better chance for AF gaining customers from the US than from the UK with the new routes. And regarding the attempt to weaken one's competitor, I would guess, given the price premium paid by high-yield passengers flying from LHR in comparison with CDG, and BA's greater reliance on high-yield passengers on TATL routes, that BA has much more to lose than Continental Europe carriers such as AF or LH.