GNRMatt

I was speaking to a pilot yesterday. He said he heard that PHL-EDI will be back in 2016 (and JFK-EDI will be removed). He also said it will be operated by a 757.

This is just a single data point, and cannot be confirmed with AA, but that is what the pilot said for what it is worth.

Cltfc

If this is true. I wonder if its Americans reaction to Delta staring year round JFK-EDI service starting Summer 2016?

sagechan

AA has scheduled a 2-off E175 into CRW, 4pm turn to CLT and RON in CRW going to CRW on 12/24-12/25. First time we've ever had a revenue 175 in CRW on any carrier. Hoping to see it later on but no word yet.

mAAine_flyer

NYC-EDI in the summer is a packed market with UA going double-daily and now DL, so AA is probably making a wise decision to revert to the PHL-EDI route (which offers a larger range of connections, anyway).

Piedmont767

Don't wish to be the party pooper here, but you should always take rumours from pilots and F/As (including me) with a pinch of salt.

After the cancellation of CLT-Manchester, a lot pilots and F/As were told by the US Airways Manchester station manager that CLT-MAN would return in 2016. And that the reason that the 757 didn't work on CLT-MAN was that the 757 couldn't carry containerized cargo and that US lost money on cargo side.

Yeah it would be great if PHL-EDI came back but I guess I'm staying dot get your hopes up too much.

FlightNurse

Did you or did you not see freshly pained MD-80's in STL?

Austin787

Just a rumor now, but PHL-EDI makes more sense than JFK-EDI: lots more connections available at PHL and no competition on the route.

MAH4546

Lot's more connections, sure, but you have to realize that JFK has all the important connections covered - Miami, Orlando, LA, Chicago, Washington, Boston, LA, SF and Las Vegas. That right there is probably 80% of the EDI-U.S. market.

ashill

Although all of those already have one-stop service via LHR (and with a wide body across the pond). PHL adds one-stop service from numerous markets without LHR service, plus competition-free nonstop service. So it will be somewhat illustrative to see what AA does next summer with a year of data competing in the JFK-EDI nonstop market.

Cltfc

Remember NYC has such high O&D you don't need as many connections to fill a flight some O&D and a handfull of connections from a few major cities can fill a flight . Last year, there was no Non stop from JFK to EDI, this year Delta has announced non stop year round JFK-EDI service. So the question becomes how much of the local O&D does AA lose to Delta and does it make sense to compete with Delta, move the flight to PHL or exit the market.

FWAAA

Isn't that basically the same logic that we were told made PHL-TLV such a winner?

With UA and DL both flying NYC-EDI, that's some evidence of the center of the O&D market - NYC. My guess is that of the Scots who say "Let's go to the States for holiday," a lot more of them are thinking New York City and very few are thinking Philadelphia. And of the people in the USA saying "Let's go to Scotland this summer," practically none of them reside in the Philadelphia metro area. NYC? Yep.

Wouldn't surprise me to see PHL return - hope springs eternal ("Maybe this is the year that we can attract higher yields from PHL and CLT").

See above. Lots more PHL O&D to TLV than PHL O&D to EDI, and yet PHL-TLV was a long-term loser.

Exactly. Isn't NYC one of the top O&D markets for secondary European cities? As in NYC has substantially higher O&D than, say, PHL or CLT?

See PHL-TLV as the sharp stick to poke holes in the viability of PHL-EDI.

The world's biggest airline (new AA) appears to be continuing the pmUS management policy of not aggressively serving NYC, ostensibly because of the competition from UA and DL. If not now, then when?

There aren't any more mergers on the horizon that will better enable AA to compete in NYC, unless they're waiting for B6 to seek out a merger partner. US flew the white flag several years ago in giving away most of its non-hub, non-shuttle slots at LGA when it was still single, and now, as the world's largest airline, with the biggest, most under-utilized terminal at JFK, is still shying away from competing there?

GNRMatt

Remember, from a management perspective AA is pmUS. It is the same leadership team that existed at US Airways. Whether or not you agree with their thinking is up to you, but that is a fact that cannot be argued. If that team thinks PHL is better to serve as a TATL hub than JFK, then that's all that matters. What people on FlyerTalk think or what pmAA thought is irrelevant to them.

FWAAA

You're preachin' to the choir, brother.

DWFI

Delta is plainly doing this to try to drive AA out so it is indeed interesting to see what their reaction will be. I predict they will hold.

JFK does indeed have the important connections. How many people do you really think are traveling CRW-EDI or MKE-EDI or RSW-EDI?

This reminds me of a recent article on the Qantas DFW-SYD service. It said that the top stations feeding the flight are BOS, MCO, DCA, LGA and IAH. The fact that DFW is AA's largest hub is relatively meaningless for the route. Again, how many people do you really think are flying TUL-SYD or CMI-SYD or JAX-SYD?

Austin787

But NYC has substantially more competition for that O&D traffic than PHL or CLT. Which impacts profits.

The US management team (and the former AA management for that matter) seems content to have a token presence in NYC - mainly flights to other hubs and a few profitable flights to other non-hubs.