Unusual nonstops on AA?
 

Hi all,
I just noticed that AA has scheduled a _nonstop_ flight from TYS-BTR on 10/7 and from BTR-TYS on 10/9 (presumably because the Tennessee Vols are playing the LSU Tigers on the 8th). Are there other examples of oddball AA scheduled flights that involve nonstops between spoke airports? LIT-NRT doesn't qualify... There are seats available on the TYS-BTR round trip if anyone wants to fly an unusual route.

Thanks,
saunders111

BAHAHAH


Business - Upgrade (Including 2-Cabin Domestic First) https://www.expertflyer.com/include/images/help.png C 0 AA 5017 0 TYS
10/07/22
4:45 PM BTR
10/07/22
5:31 PM CR9 Su,F
NA / NA

All of the football flights are captured here.

I’ve got to imagine that those flights are packed and expensive!

That is pretty cool. I didn't know they did that. Can only hope they do that in the future for something out of MHK. (perhaps when we get to avenge our loss last weekend when we make the return trip to MSY in two years. There are a lot of people planning on making the trip to that game.

TYS is also a base for PSA, so I imagine that makes this a little easier

It's not just one-off flights timed to events. AA has introduced several long-term point-to-point (spoke-to-spoke) routes, especially due to shifting demand during Covid. Examples are BNA-TPA and AUS-IND.

Yes, but the reverse flights (not exactly sure why AA are running the reverse routes too) are empty and cheap. I've been pondering CMH-MSN (Madison) this weekend and CMH-CID (Cedar Rapids, IA) in October. Wisconsin and Iowa are playing at Ohio State, so those flights to Columbus on Friday night and back on Sunday are sky-high, but the reverse routes from Columbus are making me real tempted to be on those ridiculous nonstops to nowhere and back. Madison is at least semi-exciting to visit, but hotel prices there on any fall weekend, even during away games, are brutal.

But really, why would AA run the opposite routes? Obviously, Wisconsin fans want to go to Columbus Friday night and back on Sunday. Why would anyone go to Madison, be there while Wisconsin plays away, and then back to Columbus Sunday except an AvGeek wanting to collect bizarre nonstops (i.e. me)?

Repositioning doesn't even make sense, as one would assume that AA would way rather have that plane overnight in CMH than Madison or Cedar Rapids. Why have the plane go back almost empty to an even more remote outstation to sit overnight?

Yeah, I noticed an AUS-MSY flight option if I wanted to double connect as an option for a flight I recently booked.

Whether formally a hub or not, AUS is definitely a mini-hub of some sort, with AA flights to many destinations outside of the hubs. There is a dedicated thread on that:
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/amer...austin-tx.html

As for other flights that don't touch a hub, I think I remember there used to be some in Kansas and upstate New York (a hub-spokeA-spokeB-hub type flights), but I'm not sure if any of those still exist. Or even bouncing around among several spokes over the course of a day.

Is this all added utilization flying? If so, then the Friday night and Sunday morning round trips can possibly be accomplished without any additional crew RONs and without impacting the equipment's regular Saturday schedule.

From what you describe, the aircraft and crews would otherwise spend 2 RONs at the college town?

Could be that the airport authorities really jack up parking charges on home game weekends. Perhaps no ramp space available at all? Not to mention the cost of hotels for crew RONs. Hotels for crewmembers in college towns on home game weekends will not be cheap.

These are not even "questions" but stating the obvious! Yes, cheaper to fly a near-empty plane out and back, than to pay the parking fees, let alone find a hotel for the crew to stay 2 nights on a football weekend! The bean counters have this all worked out.

AA has some really odd nonhub routes out of BOS (all regional)

BOS-MDT which has been around foreever.

And seasonally:
BOS-HHH
BOS-TVC
BOS-ILM

All of which are such oddball routes that no one else flies them (except for BOS-HHH which Delta added recently), not even JetBlue or Delta, who both have a hub here.

I was going to mention MDT-BOS. It's been around since USAirways days. MDT is a lovely and convenient airport but having grown up in the area, I still don't understand the demand for this route (over any other mid-sized city in the general region).
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yep

My college town airport doesn't get these flights scheduled ever (yet?), but hotels within 50 miles are usually booked up ~365 days in advance (~as soon as bookable). Not sure what deal has been worked out to overnight the 1-2 crews that they hotel in town, as is.
And the airpplane parking situation is tight too. Lots of charters and private planes fill up the limited tarmac space.

Don't forget BOS-YHZ, Saturdays June through October. Will fly that one of these days just for the novelty.