Originally Posted by
Josephus
To take a page from CL65's book... isn't it going to be a ding to Star Alliance on the East Coast to lose USAirways?
Would it then make some sense for UAL to pick up B6 to have a ton of JFK feed they don't have, mostly to connect to their Star Alliance International partners?
I am not sure of their presence at LGA, but it seems that UAL is serves their NYC customers fairly well from EWR. So why not JFK to get the International connections from their Star Alliance customers and the local Long Island traffic?
Besides, UAL will be at a disadvantage compared to the other "big three" on the east coast after AA and USAir merge. B6 would bring a lot of east coast traffic (BOS and JFK) they don't have.
I dont think it would be that much of a ding to Star Alliance to lose US Airways. US had a decent amount of share in LGA (almost 17%) but has traded a significant portion of that to DL in the slot swap deal. US has a handful of departures in JFK and EWR, so I really dont think it will make a significant difference to the other Star carriers serving NYC.
Outside of NYC, US has a shrinking presence in BOS, and DCA isnt an international airport. CLT has 1 daily flight by Lufthansa, and beyond that there isnt a lot of other Star carriers.
UAL/CAL is by far the leader in NYC passenger traffic share. They are around 25% of all traffic, and the next closest is DAL with about 19%. I dont think they will be hurting at all along the east coast with EWR/IAD hubs. The DOT would never allow a UAL/B6 combo unless almost all JFK slots were divested.