Upgraded!

Between AA and BA there are LHR flights from MIA, ATL, RDU, BWI, IAD, PHL, EWR, JFK and BOS so either those connecting to CLT in order to fly to LHR will now have direct service or there will be a new hub. My point was really that it may make more sense to send the connecting traffic elsewhere and send the O/D traffic two hours away to RDU.

ty97

AA and BA sustained all of those LHR flights without the help of US passengers. US sustained the CLT flight without the help of AA/BA passengers. Now that AA and US have combined, why would these flights not continue to all be unsustainable, unless we are assuming that LHR passengers will, for some reason, leave the new AA?

paytonc

One strategic decision that the new management will have to make: shall they try to poach high-value UA customers at LAX, NYC, & ORD, or take the easy route and hunker down in the PMUS fortress hubs? They're head-to-head at LAX & ORD, and with both JFK and PHL, new AA can conceivably eat away at two sides of UA's EWR home turf.

Charlotte's long been the largest city and commercial center in central North Carolina. Raleigh has been growing much faster since the 1960s, both in population and income, but with considerably different economic strengths: eds/meds and professional services in RDU, vs. finance, trade, and management in CLT.* Historically, CLT was the better hub location: it was set up by Piedmont Airlines, which had its headquarters in Greensboro (about halfway between CLT & RDU).

Yes. Shhh

* Economic Development 101 quick reference tool: the BLS Location Quotient calculator tells you what industries your city is over/under-represented in.

DCdeacon

Okay, I should clarify, yes, I'm sure it's possible to buy a connecting ticket on that flight. What I was trying to say is that I believe that flight came into existence because of the demand for local biotech/pharmaceutical traffic from Research Triangle Park and London. If that didn't exist, that flight wouldn't exist today.

akarneboge

Great information. According to their latest timetable, effective January 8th two of the CRJ7's are now being flown by E75's.

ty97

Yep, I understand (didn't mean to sound like I was picking at you, I wasn't! ) Just poking fun at AA.com's constant insistence that I consider routing to LHR through RDU or BOS rather than non-stop.

Now if they suggested I route JFK-LAX-LHR for the same/cheaper price, that would be worth it for the miles!

Upgraded!

True, but perhaps there is a desire to sell fewer really cheap seats. Just because all of the routes were previously sustainable doesn't mean that there aren't ways to improve yields.

I suppose some of the CLT traffic will depend on what kinds of contracts the new AA is able to win from Bank of America and, to a lesser extent, Wells Fargo. Forgot about these two behemoths in my previous post so perhaps certain routes, like NYC, LHR and SFO will continue to be big enough with O/D to justify keeping them.

morrisunc

CLT LHR isn't going anywhere - it will probably become 2 times daily. BA used to serve CLT when US wasn't in Star - and that was like 20 years ago - the idea that CLT won't have a nonstop to LHR is crazy.

UA wanted US almost entirely for it's CLT hub - it's the only viable hub outside Atlanta to serve the fastest growing region of the US. US management loves CLT and it isn't going anywhere.

DCdeacon

No worries! I'd maybe consider doing a JFK-RDU-LHR just once, just for the different line on the map!

DCdeacon

Also, speaking of CLT TATL flights, I've been waiting for the announcement to come from Lufthansa that they're pulling the CLT-MUC flight, now that there's not going to be any Star Alliance feed. I guess the timetable for US leaving Star was just finalized earlier this week, but LH still has that flight loaded through the end of their schedule. I'm curious when that's going to go away, you would think they'd pull it sooner rather than later, as each passing day increases the chance that more people are going to book for a future date when the flight won't be there that they'll have to reaccomodate.

Again, all of this presuming the flight is in fact going away...

FWAAA

I'm not convinced that LH will give up on CLT, in part for the reasons I posted above in post #82. But I've been wrong before.

LH serves USA cities that aren't Star Alliance hubs, like BOS and DFW (among others), not unlike the way BA has long served USA cities where it doesn't get any feed from AA or other partners. Of course, O&D to/from London is huge and perhaps that is the difference. A lot of people have mentioned the large number of German companies in the Carolinas, so LH might have enough business if it has the right-sized plane for the job.

DCdeacon

True. If the route does stay, I don't see it staying on an A340-600 though. I see it more of an A330-300 and perhaps only 5 or 6x a week, instead of daily. But we'll see!

MAH4546

AA is, by far (and this was pre-merger), the largest airline by revenue at LAX. That's why it has the most gates and OW has the largest lounge, since LAX dives that up by revenue. It has a very solid position in Los Angeles among high-value customers, and this is largely thanks to insanely strong and historic ties to the entertainment industry that date back to the 1950's.

In Chicago, the combined airline is now the largest O&D carrier in Chicago. More people fly to and from (as opposed to through) Chicago on American Airlines than any other. That gives it a very solid position in the Chicago loca market.

The new airline will absolutely continue it's market leading position in Los Angeles among high value customers, look to continue to strengthen it's position in Chicago as being the favorite local airline and continue it's true strength in New York, where it continues to have the largest share of corporate travel contracts, flies to just about every major business market non-stop and is the largest airline to New York City's four largest markets - Miami, Los Angeles, Chicago and London.

And that won't exist exclusive of keeping it's positions in Charlotte and Philadelphia.

CApreppie

My guess is that CLT keeps its regional flights but the international flights get axed and the transcons get reduced. PHX has the most to lose in terms of flight frequency and destinations. I think business as usual at the other hubs.

6P&E

Not that it matters, but Piedmont was headquartered at Smith Reynolds Airport in Winston-Salem. Piedmont served INT with scheduled flights until @1980, but with GSO only a few miles away, it made no sense to serve both airports. If I remember correctly, when Piedmont was considering putting a hub in NC at about the same time, they looked at GSO due to its proximity to INT as well as CLT. They chose CLT for several reasons including CLT's willingness to work with Piedmont.