All week long, it has been made quite clear from the viewpoint of the Wall St consensus that AA's interest in US/HP would be, at best, a very long shot .. and, one with few real synergies. As most have noted all week long, US/HP would bring precious little to the table for AA outside of the shuttle and slots in a few key facilities.

While it's true that AA isn't a northeast carrier and it doesn't have a solid foothold in the Mid-Atlantic, it sure seems to me that looking to takeover US/HP is a massive price to pay for these small jewels.

I firmly disagree that AA would have any reason to consider a hub in PHX as an asset to its already entrenched systems in both DFW and LAX. (Isn't this the NW/DL scenario with DTW/CVG/MSP?!?)