Nov 26, 2014, 4:51 am
Last edit by: IADCAflyer
Speculation: New Routes, Hubs, Flights (2017 Onward)
Because there is community interest in having a purely speculative discussion about whether other airports will pop up to become focus cities or hubs, new routes, etc. the following new thread has been amalgamated on this topic.Note:
Going: 9 A330-300, ER190, some older 757-200 and 8 767-300ER (leaving 17), MD-80
Coming: Remainder of 16 Boeing 26 787-8, 22 Boeing 787-9 (began later 2016). A320 family - 100 A321neo, and B737-800 (100 737-MAX8) aircraft.
See Cranky Flier article on 2016 fleet changes, AA-HP-US. Link.
Also see: HELP DESK: General questions about aircraft equipment, fleet, seats, IFE, etc.
Speculation fun time: Will xxx be the next AA focus city / hub? (consolidated)
Obsolete posts from 2015 on have been moved to ARCHIVE: Speculation: Possible Routes (Flights) and Hubs, Discussion - 2015 on
All posts prior to 2015 have been moved here: ARCHIVE: Routes (Flights) and Hubs (Speculation, News and Discussion)
Speculation: Possible Routes (Flights) and Hubs, Discussion - (2017 on)
Jul 13, 2019, 2:55 pm
#1067
Join Date: Aug 2012
Programs: AA PLT, SPG Gold
Posts: 2,405
DFW-BCN makes perfect sense. I wonder if any chance they'd look at DFW-ATH? Isn't ORD-ATH doing much better than expected? Thought I read that somewhere.
Jul 13, 2019, 3:14 pm
#1068
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Austin
Programs: AA EXP +2MM- LT PLT! HH Diamond
Posts: 6,087
As this is a pure speculation thread, I would think that possible additional flights would be destined to where AA Cruises have a start and/or end destination that are also popular for stays beyond the cruise (before or after) so BCN and ATH would make sense. Keep it in the family (from an AA perspective) is probably the most profitable option for them. Cruising is a very fast growing travel category..
Jul 13, 2019, 8:07 pm
#1069
Join Date: Mar 2000
Location: Plano, TX, USA
Programs: AA: PPro, 4MM; HH: Lifetime Diamond; MAR Life Titanium Hertz: Prez Circle
Posts: 547
Adding to the speculation nature, anyone have any thoughts why AA doesn't serve any of the Nordic capitals on its own metal? Many of the speculated destinations in Europe seem to be tourist destinations, but you would think CPH, ARN, HEL, and OSL would have more business traffic and the potential for higher revenues than other destinations.
Jul 13, 2019, 10:10 pm
#1070
Join Date: Sep 2001
Location: los angeles, calif.
Programs: Alaska Airlines Gold MVP
Posts: 7,170
Adding to the speculation nature, anyone have any thoughts why AA doesn't serve any of the Nordic capitals on its own metal? Many of the speculated destinations in Europe seem to be tourist destinations, but you would think CPH, ARN, HEL, and OSL would have more business traffic and the potential for higher revenues than other destinations.
Jul 14, 2019, 2:29 am
#1071
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Austin
Programs: AA EXP +2MM- LT PLT! HH Diamond
Posts: 6,087
Adding to the speculation nature, anyone have any thoughts why AA doesn't serve any of the Nordic capitals on its own metal? Many of the speculated destinations in Europe seem to be tourist destinations, but you would think CPH, ARN, HEL, and OSL would have more business traffic and the potential for higher revenues than other destinations.
Because the yield is garbage and the traffic is Scandinavian-centric and will be more loyal to SAS/Norwegian. The market is also very concentrated on Miami and New York (SAS flies to all three capitals from MIA/EWR and Norwegian flies all three from FLL/JFK), even more so than other markets.
Jul 14, 2019, 8:02 am
#1072
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: Austin
Posts: 4,629
Jul 14, 2019, 1:05 pm
#1073
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Philadelphia
Posts: 2,508
Adding to the speculation nature, anyone have any thoughts why AA doesn't serve any of the Nordic capitals on its own metal? Many of the speculated destinations in Europe seem to be tourist destinations, but you would think CPH, ARN, HEL, and OSL would have more business traffic and the potential for higher revenues than other destinations.
Jul 14, 2019, 8:38 pm
#1074
Join Date: May 2009
Location: PHL
Posts: 2,842
Not AA specifically, but I'll throw out that BA takes over all of the PHL-LHR flying. They will already have the majority this winter with 12x vs. AA's 7x. Seems like at the moment BA has a wider range of options in their fleet across the 788, 789, 772, 744 that can meet the seasonal demand changes. AA is stuck with the 332/333 and not sure they'll have enough 787 in the immediate future to also handle PHL-LHR after all of the 763 route replacements.
Jul 14, 2019, 9:42 pm
#1075
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: PIT
Posts: 759
Not AA specifically, but I'll throw out that BA takes over all of the PHL-LHR flying. They will already have the majority this winter with 12x vs. AA's 7x. Seems like at the moment BA has a wider range of options in their fleet across the 788, 789, 772, 744 that can meet the seasonal demand changes. AA is stuck with the 332/333 and not sure they'll have enough 787 in the immediate future to also handle PHL-LHR after all of the 763 route replacements.
2 x Daily AA 333
2 x Daily BA (777 / 789)
Although with their JV, the revenue is shared, I really can't see AA dropping LHR from a key international Hub portfolio. Also, I'd be surprised if the existing AA commercial contracts for the route would accept a foreign carrier (BA) as a total replacement.
Jul 15, 2019, 8:26 am
#1076
Join Date: May 2018
Posts: 314
Adding to the speculation nature, anyone have any thoughts why AA doesn't serve any of the Nordic capitals on its own metal? Many of the speculated destinations in Europe seem to be tourist destinations, but you would think CPH, ARN, HEL, and OSL would have more business traffic and the potential for higher revenues than other destinations.
Also, I cannot imagine a universe where AA completely removes their own metal from PHL-LHR.
Jul 15, 2019, 10:29 am
#1077
Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: DCA/IAD
Programs: AA EXP; 1W Emerald; HHonors Diamond; Marriott Gold; UA dirt
Posts: 7,816
I would think that AA would have to be studying WAW. I recognize that WAW is a Star Hub, but the Chicago area has a HUGE Polish population - the claim is that more Poles live in the Chicago area than most cities in Poland.
Jul 15, 2019, 12:03 pm
#1078
Moderator: American AAdvantage, Travel Safety/Security & Texas, FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: AUS / GRK
Programs: AA, HHonors, Hertz
Posts: 13,488
True, there are a huge number of Polish Americans. However, I don't know many who actually have kept in touch with others in Poland (some of my great grandparents came from Poland; since I've done some family history/ancestry research I do know where, but have not found any confirmed living relatives in Poland. The area they came from is much closer to Berlin than Warsaw, and thousands of others also came to the US from that area).
I could see some value in KRK since it makes an excellent tourist destination. Since this is the speculation thread, why not have something really wild out there. According to their website, there are no flights from North America to KRK, so AA would have an advantage there.
As we've seen elsewhere, the AA leadership doesn't like competition, so this would be a route without any.
Nov 1, 2019, 5:31 pm
#1079
Join Date: Sep 2015
Posts: 366
It has been reported that Southwest is ending LGA-MKE next year in April, which was an inherited route from AirTran. I believe AirTran and later Southwest had a downward pressure for fares for this market pair, and likely unattractive for AA as it is not that large, but without Southwest, it leaves Delta alone on MKE-LGA. Does it become viable for AA? Since LGA is slot controlled, AA would have to fund it from frequency decreases or route elimination of other underperforming LGA routes if they exist. Likelihood or not that AA adds it?
Nov 2, 2019, 7:23 pm
#1080
In Memoriam, FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Durham, NC (RDU/GSO/CLT)
Programs: AA EXP/MM, DL GM, UA Platinum, HH DIA, Hyatt Explorist, IHG Platinum, Marriott Titanium, Hertz PC
Posts: 33,857
It has been reported that Southwest is ending LGA-MKE next year in April, which was an inherited route from AirTran. I believe AirTran and later Southwest had a downward pressure for fares for this market pair, and likely unattractive for AA as it is not that large, but without Southwest, it leaves Delta alone on MKE-LGA. Does it become viable for AA? Since LGA is slot controlled, AA would have to fund it from frequency decreases or route elimination of other underperforming LGA routes if they exist. Likelihood or not that AA adds it?