ty97

AA flies summer seasonal service from ORD to DUS, a large airberlin hub (I do realize ORD is not NYC or PHL)

6P&E

Agreed. AA will be focusing on the hubs where it is has substantial O&D traffic, domestic and international. CLT is a bit over served for its relatively small size.

ashill

I don't think anyone's arguing that AA is developing PHL to capture NYC-Europe O&D traffic. The point was that they're using PHL to capture combined PHL O&D traffic (for which they have no nonstop competition on most routes, and certainly no competition for PHL-based travelers who want non-stop service to multiple destinations in Europe) and 1-stop traffic from all around (mostly US cities without nonstop service on a given route) to Europe instead of fighting for every NYC-Europe route.

And pretty much every NYC-Europe market that AA is serving 1-stop can be served better via LHR than PHL.

Fanjet

AA would be competing with LH, DL and SQ on JFK-FRA. IIRC, AB flies almost 2X daily JFK-DUS and 10X weekly JFX-TXL during the peak months. I remember reading an article that IAG was thinking about expanding Open Skies operations. And I think that has a better shot of competing with already existing TATL service out of JFK. A 757 with J/W/Y seating versus a 763 with very high CASMs or a 330/777 with too much capacity.

DWFI

Intriguing indeed. An expansion of EC would be an interesting (and arguably logical) play for IAG and the oneworld TATL JV.

US @ DEN

The current AA schedule at DEN is attractive to the traditional hubs: DFW, ORD, LAX, MIA, CLT, PHL, PHX, and BA to LHR.

Are any of these AA, OW, or AA partner routes possible adds to DEN?

AA to JFK/LGA
JL to NRT
EI to DUB
IB to MAD
QR to DOH
EY to AUH
AS to PDX, SJC, SAN

I ask the question as recent DL announcements and AS gate changes could challenge AA's solid 4th place position (2nd largest US3) at DEN.

DL is now flying to LAX and SEA in addition to their other hubs and plans to construct a Sky Club at DEN. Rumors also include possible DL (or Sky partner AF/KLM service) to CDG/AMS, two top, unserved O&D markets from DEN. Proximity to SLC an obvious consideration here.

AA's partner AS has recently moved from an AA-adjacent location in A to the C gates and only serves SEA -- I thought AS could possibly re-start PDX and add SJC and SAN if they wanted to expand at DEN, which would have been good for AAdvantage members.

stc

While PHL can be a pain to connect thru (at least it is airside) as can JFK, have you ever connected at LHR? I avoid that at all costs. I'd much prefer PHL, JFK, or AMS.

DWFI

I think you could definitely see AS adds. AS is being very aggressive about expanding outside of SEA. I think you could also see AUH/DOH in the future, simply because ME3. But everything else is a longshot. IB and EI each have more cities to tackle before Denver, and for JL, there is not enough Japan point of sale traffic to Denver to have a prayer of hope for that service.

bse118

As an AA flyer at DEN, I would love a JFK service, it's really the only thing missing from AA's service.

Yep. It took the 787 for UA to be able to make NRT work from DEN - with a hub at DEN and a partner hub (NH) on the NRT end. Can't see how there's enough market for JL to make it work, especially with no feed on the DEN end.

IADCAflyer

I wonder too if they are hedging a bit against Republic's financial troubles.

MAH4546

JFK-PLS resumes on July 3rd, operating on Saturdays.

eponymous_coward

Maybe PDX. Though AS dropped the route some years ago. It might make sense now (especially since they are transitioning to OO E75 RJs across the network, which are a much better fit on longer routes than Q400s that are better at ~400 mile routes).

SJC/SAN is tricky because WN, F9 and UA can actually connect you to other flights, AS would be fighting WN/UA/F9 for point to point traffic, they don't have anywhere they can connect you after DEN.

Is there really a compelling market for SJC/SAN-DEN that three other airlines can't serve, other than "I'm a oneworld/AA fanboy and would like EQM"? It doesn't strike me as the most OMG AMAZING MARKET OPPORTUNITY.

FWAAA

Agreed. More likely, IMO, for JAL fly NRT-IAD, to capitalize on AA's strength in the Washington metro area (the substantial DCA operations). NH flew NRT-IAD for a long time prior to the formation of the UA-NH joint venture (and for many years prior to the formation of Star Alliance, for that matter).

There's not a ton of WAS-TYO O&D, but with JAL's connections at NRT and substantial AA loyalty in WAS, that might work. Definitely more likely than JAL flying to DEN.

PHL-NRT on an AA 787-8 is more likely than JAL to DEN, and could be fed by the PHL hub.

TheBOSman

If JL can make BOS-NRT work with little extra feed at the BOS end (and now competing partly with CX for connecting traffic), I have to believe PHL-NRT would work with a 787-8 at this point with plenty of feed on the PHL end in addition to whatever PHL-NRT/Asia O&D exists. Definitely could see NRT-IAD (JL) or PHL-NRT (AA) working now.

ty97

If the rumored AS/VX deal happens, then you'll get DEN-SFO (currently operated by VX) as part of that deal.

Regarding DEN-NYC, *if* it were to happen on AA, I think it more than likely be JFK. While LGA-DEN is an allowed perimeter exceptions, there's a lot of competition on the route (UA, DL, WN, F9) and I find fares to be quite low. In fact, it's sometimes one of the cheapest destinations out of LGA which is bonkers considering it's also the furthest destination from LGA.