Originally Posted by
YVR Cockroach
Well, it helps that London is one of the largest origin cities for travel, and one of the largest destinations too. Doesn't hurt that Los Angeles (Hollywood) is seen as the cultural capital, as far as movies and television goes, and the U.K. is certainly a large market for its products. Page 21 of the presentation in the posting above this gives figures (for AF travel?).
AA & UA had the slots, the aircraft and the market share. It doesn't matter if the customers sell entertainment or canned fish, it's still the airlines job to maximise revenue by providing what the customer is willing to pay for. I still think the US carriers had just the same opportunity as VS but failed to do the job properly.