Originally Posted by
BearX220
Acquiring US doesn't do anything for AA except take seats out of the system. This seems like a real long shot and would only happen if CO/UA goes through. And then I think AA would do a TWA 2.0 kind of deal to US... e.g., buy it and park it.
Here is what US brings to AA. And, let's remember US-AA at one point had an alliance, and AA looked at purchasing US back at that time.
1. US owns more slots at LGA and DCA than any other carrier. AA would suddenly be able to capture a huge presence in the DCA market. Right now, they are minimal at best.
2. AA would pick-up the Shuttle. While not as valuable as it once was, taking the Shuttle BOS-NYC-DC is still a lot faster than Amtrak, especially now that the TSA has the security wait times under control.
3. CLT is a fanastic airport for a hub. It serves the SE very nicely. And, unlike BNA or RDU where AA had tried to build a hub at one point, CLT is already established as a hub.
4. PHL. Say what you want about PHL itself, it serves the largest metro area in the US with only one major airport. It's a profit center. Plus, with its connecting opportunities already established, AA would have a strong foothold in the Eastern US-Europe market. (JFK is more local O&D than connecting traffic.)
5. PHX. AA has almost no west coast presence except for a token presence at LAX.
A combined US-AA with hubs in PHL, ORD, CLT, MIA, DFW and PHX plus major operations in LGA, JFK and DCA would be a nice fit, in my opinion anyway.
Also, US is not the mess it was a year ago. Operations have drastically improved and stabilized, and the on board service has been improved where cuts had gone too far before.