jpsj

I just visited GEG. I was amazed at the lack of availability of AA in this market. I am trying to fly back east to SYR today. First flight out from GEG is at 830am to PHX! There is nothing going east before that--nothing to ORD, CLT. Then the next flight isn't until 2pm to Dallas. Amazing--UA has flights to ORD, DEN and SFO early morning, DL to SEA and SLC, SW to DEN. In order to get to SYR, it is a three-flight trip--PHX-CLT-SYR and arriving late tonight.

Perhaps the thinking here is to use the Alaska codeshare? But, I found flights doing that very expensive and also the drawback of upgrades, etc.

I have also noticed at SYR that the ORD early flight has been canceled. It seems like AA the options are not to connect north-south (PHL, LGA, CLT, DCA) instead or ORD.

bse118

Well, perhaps, if AA's schedules don't work for you - you should be flying another airline.

jpsj

LOL! Your comment is as helpful as the AA GEG schedule. Thanks!

enviroian

well he's right to be honest. Spokane isn't actually a hotspot for AA flights, they know that, and don't really care nor do they need to. They know a consumer will pick another airline's schedule if it fits better for their needs, plane (intended) and simple

bse118

What exactly are you looking for in terms of "help" ?

If AA's schedule doesn't work for you - it doesn't work. You posting on FT isn't going to result in AA suddenly adding flights at the times you want them to. Your choices are to fly AA at the prices/schedules offered - or fly another airline.

CloudCoder

Until recently, AA and AS were tight with each other. So GEG flyers could start on AS and eventually hop onto an AAircraft. Now that the AS alliance is history, perhaps AA will provide more options.Yep, AA needs GEG-ORD. They already have a GEG-DFW. Perhaps they need more frequency to DFW.

jpsj

ahhhh, ����

JDiver

Perhaps being 101st US city in size has to do with it? How much AA service does it have in comparison with SEA (#18), for example?

bridge29

Each of the Big 3 are weak in certain parts of the country. UA is weak in the Southeast, Delta is weak in Texas and AA is weak in the Northwest. The two main reasons are the lack of a hub to efficiently route traffic through the Northwest and the AS partnership. Since the AS partnership just ended, I think we'll see some increased service over time.

dls25

This. GEG is not a large market and all of AA's hubs are at least 2.5 hours away - this does not lend itself to a high-frequency of service. Remember, AA did not serve GEG at all until the US merger and even that is remnant of the former America West network...

3Cforme

If you keep smashing your head against the wall your head is going to hurt. If the UA redeye thru DEN works for your schedule and body clock, enjoy - it's the most time-efficient routing. Delta's GEG-MSP-SYR operates just 5x weekly (the second week of April, anyway).

Review that comment about AA hubs being at least 2.5 hours flying time away. 101st domestic airport (GEG) to 88th domestic airport (SYR). Yeh, AA's going to jump all over that airport pair.

sevastras

I fly to Geg once or twice a month. If you want anything worth while, fly Delta. You can not only connect through MSP but Sea or Slc. Lots of options lots of times

jpsj

Yes, there are other options besides AA--clearly. However, wanting to leverage miles, ExPlat, upgrades, etc. then I am looking AA. I am just surprised that there is no early morning ORD flight--nothing eastbound, it really makes for a long day going east! The loss of AS is a big deal in GEG.

In terms of hubs, UA runs twice a day flights to ORD--2.5 hour hops--early morning and red-eye. AA only runs one flight to DFW and it is 3.5 hrs. Seems like ORD would make sense as it opens up all the east coast for folks.

Appreciate the comments about GEG being an America West city. Are there other such cities like this in the network?

wetrat0

While I don't have a list of cities off the top of my head, before the AA merger, US was famous (infamous?) for the "barbell" route map with HP (later US-West) having lots of north-south routes on the west coast, and US having lots of north-south routes on the east coast. Going from a small West coast spoke to a small East coast spoke always involved a routing of AAA-PHX-PHL-BBB or AAA-PHX-CLT-BBB, owing to the fact that US lacked a mid-con hub. Needless to say this is a pain for the traveler but was very efficient for operations at the merged US. It allowed them to offer service to a lot of city pairs that wouldn't otherwise have been feasible on either HP or US prior to the merger. Of course larger cities would have had service to all three hubs and therefore afforded a single connection.

Post-AA merger, the combined airline has 2 mid-con hubs, but GEG lacks service to ORD while SYR lacks service to DFW, so you got unlucky.

TuxTom

UA serves DEN and SFO because those are short flights to major Western US hubs, but you would still have to connect somewhere else before getting to SYR from one of those flights. Same with DLs SEA and SLC morning routes. WN doesn't even fly into SYR so they're not even an option. The fact that you could chose between UA via ORD or DL via MSP for a 1-stop flight is pretty good considering GEG and SYR are both small markets. Yes, it sucks when your preferred airline isn't the best airline for a particular routing, but nothings ever going to be perfect.