gosha83

This is a different type of a TR. I was not planning to write one, since a flight from LHR to Cincinnati is not a TR worthy thing. But I have not taken the Paris - Cinci non-stop before, and given the uniqueness of this route, it got me thinking about the decline of American hub airports of the past. I might not have my facts all correct, but this was written more from feeling than from an academic standpoint.

Full TR can be read here, with photos: http://unsettledrover.blogspot.com/2...hub-or-tr.html

It's an interesting thing - time. It moves forward without any relent, it changes ideas, people, places and just about anything that comes along. No, these are not some philosophical musings, it is a reality that I am confronted with as I sit in seat 25F on a Delta flight from Paris to Cincinnati. A few years ago, as recently as 2011, this would have been but one of several daily arrivals from Europe. Alas, a merger with Northwest, and the subsequent creation of bigger hubs in Detroit and Minneapolis, have reduced this once-proper hub into a blip on the aviation map of the U.S. Rumour has it that the only reason the Paris flight still exists is due to the demand for parts from the GE engine factory in Cinci by Airbus of France.

As I glance across the nearly full Friday morning flight, with folks speaking in French, Swedish, British English and other languages that are not your standard mid-American affair, I cannot help but wonder how much cities like Cincinnati are losing with the demise of their hub status. I am not under any great assumption that cities in Ohio, Missouri or Tennessee attracted its tourists on the strength of their once-might hubs. People who want to go and see Nashville or St. Louis or Cleveland will find their way there regardless. But it is the greater awareness of, and the connection with the world that one stops feeling when a stop-over in Houston or Dallas or Atlanta is, all of the sudden, required.

I have lived through this once before. In 1994, my parents and I moved from Moscow to St. Louis, a city not previously known to us to any great degree. We did not expect much, but what we found was a bustling, happening place with several Fortune 100 companies, a great history and culture (and sports!) and the pride of being a global gateway for a great airline - TWA. Every time we went to meet people at Lambert St. Louis International Airport, I couldn't help but feel the excitement of stepping into the international wing of the main terminal to watch 747s other wide-bodies touching down after trans-Atlantic journeys from places like Rome and London and Frankfurt. People stepped off those planes and their first experience of America, on that day, was St. Louis. How great was that! Not the dump that is Newark or the soulless expanse of the Atlanta airport or, indeed, the frankly squished and depressing JFK. People here got to see a more real America, one that was not taking the arrival of its foreign guests for granted, as if it were a processing plant. In fact, things were going so well for the St. Louis aviation market that some adventurous minds in city hall decided that a secondary airport was required, and built it. Calling the multi-million expenditure on the creation of Mid-America airport a victim of near-sightedness is an understatement, to say the least.

In 2001 TWA collapsed, and, whether related or not, it signalled an acceleration of the city's downward spiral from a regional powerhouse to an also-ran, which it remains. McDonnell-Douglas, Anheuser Busch and other once-proud St. Louis institutions either disappeared or became parts of other companies. American Airlines, the recipient of TWA's assets, quickly de-hubbed St. Louis and made into a sad blip on its network's map. If you visit the airport today, you will be struck by how much there was, and how little remains.

These stories are repeated across large swaths of America. Memphis, Kansas City, Pittsburgh, Cleveland have fallen victim to unrelenting drive for commercial efficiency.

There is something poetic about being able to step out of the office on a Thursday after lunch, drive to the airport, and board a flight to somewhere far, so that on a Friday morning, while your colleagues are waking up to face another day in the office, you are waking up to a new adventure in Paris or Madrid or London. I do feel that impulsive acts of travel are greatly aided by non-stop flights, and they really do wonders to people's ability (and capacity and desire) to sample what the world has to offer.

And you know what, perhaps, on this flight today, there is a Parisian who decided some time ago to go ahead, give Cincinnati a shot - it is but a single flight away and there is so much to see that Hollywood has not shown you yet. Maybe this passenger is going to ride up and down the Bourbon trail or go to the Kentucky Derby. Or maybe he will go to Dayton and see, what I think, is the best aviation museum in America. Or perhaps he will enjoy Ohio and Kentucky's natural splendour. Whatever it is, I would argue that the chance of him doing any of this is greatly reduced if Cincinnati was something you had to get to from Atlanta or Detroit.

As for the flight itself, well, it is mostly uneventful. The plane, a recently refurbished Boeing 767-300, is no Dreamliner. The seats are thin and, for an 8 hour flight, less than ideal, in terms of cushioning. HBO isn't free (somehow my $1,300 ticket does not cover that expense) and the service is alright, at best.

The early morning Air France flight from London to Paris was a beast, as I had to wake up at 4am to make the 6:40 departure. The experience at CDG, Europe's worst major airport, I would argue, did not betray expectations (what with confusing signage that is remedied by 20 airport ushers who try to guide you despite the signs' best efforts to disorient you). The urge to get some breakfast was remedied only by some silly quiche and a croissant, along with a bottle of water - all for the princely sum of 13 euros. Yikes!

But despite all of this, I am actually excited that when I land, it will not be in JFK or ATL or DTW, with a potentially more convenient connection to Cincinnati. Instead, I will disembark, clear customs and immigration, and walk out into the open air to be greeted by my parents. And then drive home for lunch. That is great and if Delta ever decides to restart its service to London, they can safely charge a premium on that flight and I will still be the first person in line (and, cheekily, will reconsider taking my Elite status back to this carrier and away from British Airways).

michlflyer

Thank you for sharing. An interesting read.

I hope that while you didn-t qualify for HBO, you at least got a reasonable lunch from Delta.

Wasn-t Cincinnati once known as the Paris of America? In which case, it-s only right that there should still be a daily Paris flight.

As far as I know there is quite a wealth of 19th century architecture in the Over the Rhine district. I understand that the city is also quite a centre for fine arts and antiques businesses.

Obviously the contribution of GE to aviation is very important, but it-s nice to think that Cincinnati also has a significant aesthetic dimension to it and that this might bring other kinds of visitors to the city.

umichguy

Why would anyone go to OH apart from business pursposes? ;

ffI

1
Family
2
To see the heartland of the midwest
3
It is a bit like going back in internet time ...

I agree with the OP
When my friends visited from UK in the 1980s, DL had a hub at CVG. They bought a "standby airpass" - all of 399$ for a month of free travel from day of arrival in the US. DL was a full service airline with food on 2 hr flights.
One showed up at the gate and took a flight wherever it went. CVG was a HUB then (I say it again) So one day they went to SFO, then 2 days later went to LAX via SLC, then went to MCO to see Disney, etc etc. Epcot had a "kiosk of the future where they were predicting email etc etc"

camsean

Some interesting insights.

Too much travel

Thank you for a thoughtful, well-composed posting - it certainly makes a change from the typically anodyne trip reports that all but a dozen or so Flyertalkers tend to post.

I do think it is unfair to blame this solely at the feet of airline consolidation in the US. My guess is that the broader driver is actually the decline and de-industrialisation of much of the Great Lakes / Upper Midwest. Places like Detroit, Cincinnati, Cleveland (though arguably perhaps not Pittsburgh) used to matter a great deal more than they did in the US - indeed global economy - than they do now. Now they have been overtaken by the Hangzhous and Busans of the world, so there is a feedback loop involved that triggers a death spiral of erstwhile hubs.

Flyingfox

Wright brothers and the Air Force museum? I'm not from the US and even I know this.

Why would anyone go to Michigan? To go spa-hopping in Detroit?

maskedmesothorium

And don't forget about these!

greg99

Oooooh, I do miss Cedar Point and Kings Island...

Greg (a native Ohioan but a California resident for most of the last 25 years)

gosha83

Thanks for the comments, all.

For those wondering who'd want to come to Ohio, do remember that the airport (the only one in the region with a TATL flight) is actually in Kentucky and, at least once a year, is near one of the country's premier events - the Kentucky Derby. Also, the Bourbon Trail is world famous.