Bttc

I wonder if the direct Charlotte-Frankfurt flight is going to survive the merger. It seems like a star alliance artifact to me--maybe switch it for Berlin or Dusseldorf?

On the otherhand, if you get rid of the US-Germany flights, you won't need any German-speaking staff at CLT...

DCdeacon

I feel like this flight was around even prior to US joining Star. I could be wrong, but I wouldn't be surprised to see it live on.

FriendlySkies

+1

I would really like to see PWM-ORD started up on an E175 or CR7/9. Would be nice to avoid CLT/PHL when heading up to Maine.

Piedmont767

CLT-Frankfurt has existed from Charlotte since 1998 (give or take a year), well before US joined Star in 2004. IRC CLT-FRA was an A330-300 route before US joining Star, when there were only 9 A330s in our fleet.

There is actually quite a lot of O&D passengers going from Charlotte (and the Metro Area) to Germany, both to Frankfurt and Munich. There are a lot of German companies with HQs or Offices in or near Charlotte, quite a bit of traffic going from the South-East to US Military Bases in Germany and we also carry a lot of cargo on CLT-FRA, in fact the route could survive on cargo alone without passengers. I have also heard the same about Lufthansa's CLT-Munich route.

I have also heard that Air Berlin could launch Charlotte but personally I don't see it, as Air Berlin is in pretty bad finacal shape and cancelled their 787 order.

If Charlotte ever gets a flight to Berlin, it will be on AA and could replace Frankfurt, which I'm sure Lufthansa could, and probably would, pick up (in addition to Munich) for the reasons I mentioned above.

mAAine_flyer

I'd prefer BGR-ORD. The southerners already have UA on PWM-ORD and WN on PWM-MDW. All we had was seasonal UA service to ORD last summer but I'm not sure if it's returning.

Fanjet

CLT-FRA has existed for over two decades. Long before US was in Star. In fact, in its first year of service, it was a CLT-BOS-FRA flight. FA's have told me that it carries a lot of cargo on that route. Plus, it carries a lot of military traffic between the bases in the Carolinas and the ones in southern Germany. Not sure how moving it to TXL or DUS is going to be beneficial in that regard. Moreover, most of the connecting traffic that exists at DUS (which is not that extensive to begin with) or TXL, can be done via LHR (where US flies 2X daily from CLT), or on one of the direct AA/US flights from the U.S.

Cltfc

Clt- Fra also carries a lot of Florida and Miami connecting traffic, with AA launching a seasonal Mia-Fra flight this will certainly hurt loads. As for TXL and Dus or any other German city- it is not going to happen, except in some flight attendants dream

Fanjet

Not really. CLT-FRA used to be 2X daily. Now it's once daily (and IIRC, now on a 332). So that previous connecting traffic to MIA has been cut that way in essence. As for the other cities in FL. There are more FL destinations served from CLT than from MIA.

PWMTrav

I just want to see the hub competition - WN flies MDW, UA flies ORD. AA going to ORD might bring direct fares down, which would be nice for some weekend trips, but also hopefully start to bring down fares in general. Since the US/AA merger and economy getting a little bit better, fares ex-PWM have really been high. Planes are for the most part full, and US is not adding capacity (WN and B6 have).

You know, I saw BGR listed in AA's latest discounted award fares for Citi cardholders. I assume that's because US metal counts, as AA doesn't serve BGR at all, but I wonder if it's hinting at AA doing something there.

PS. There are very few people that get to refer to Mainers as "southerners" But I'm in York county, so guilty as charged.

Cltfc

Remember a lot of the connecting traffic over Frankfurt that supported that flight is now being routed over LHR. Lufthansa serves Muc instead of Fra which tells me the local O&D is more oriented to Muc versus Fra from CLT. I think there is a significant chance this flight will be eliminated or made seasonal.

cmd320

The whole Florida point is kind of moot. LH serves FRA nonstop from both MCO and MIA, and soon TPA. I would bet if CLT is to retain FRA service, it will be from traffic somewhere other than Florida.

ubernostrum

CLT and FRA are, as I keep pointing out in this thread, both major banking centers.

And as others have repeatedly pointed out, CLT-FRA existed long before US was in *A, and has continued after the *A exit; that flight was never about feeding connection *A passengers to LH.

Cltfc

Charlote is not a Global Banking Center, it is a US centric center and not on the same level as NYC, London, etc. While CLT- FRA might have exhisted before *A that does not mean it will continue to be flown. Once again all the traffic that used to flow/connect through Frankfurt is now routed via LHR...

ubernostrum

It's the headquarters of Bank of America and the eastern headquarters of Wells Fargo. The people who work there probably do not want to be routed halfway up or down the coastline of the US just to do a TATL hop, which is why I expect CLT-LHR and CLT-FRA to stick around. The tiny convenience of using LCY is enough for BA to fly an all-J TATL A318; why shouldn't the convenience of not adding 3-4 hours minimum to each trip be enough to keep a 1x/day frequency between two cities with lots of bankers?

Meanwhile, you're straying dangerously close to the kinds of posts that logically conclude in ending service from anywhere that isn't JFK, LAX or LHR to anywhere that isn't JFK, LAX or LHR, since the supply of Global Alpha Elite Uber World Tier Metropolis cities is too small to justify cutting everything except those cities.

cmd320

Are you suggesting that if the A318 had the range, that the all-J A318 service would be successful on LCY-CLT?

Between London and New York, there is a lot of competition. The BA service is there as a means to cater to a select group of customers in order to offer a service not matched by any competitor flying between those two cities in hopes diverting some of that business away from VS, DL, UA, etc.

Alternatively, between CLT and FRA, there is zero competition which in reality means that if that route was pulled and the equipment deployed elsewhere, where would this base of CLT/FRA bankers really go? No matter what they do, they will be stuck connecting somewhere, so they will pretty much be forced into enduring that JFK/MIA/PHL connection. Even if they move to UA/DL they would still find themselves connecting in IAD/EWR/ATL/JFK so there really isn't much potential loss for US/AA.