Originally Posted by
CBreezy
I'm sure the regionals can offer lower costs to certain cities based on operational need. Why is it that TSA/GJ have any continued presence in STL, RAH in PIT or PSA in DAY? If it is part of the agreement that the RFP cost is based on certain cities in the network, then the major is obligated to follow it. Yes, regional airlines are mostly at the whim of their major partners, but if you think they do it at risk of making no money or running an incredibly expensive operation with repos to maintenance outstations, then you are really have no idea what goes on behind closed doors.
I don't disagree with what you are saying. My point was that the major will not include a city pair in its network just because it is a mx base for one of its regionals. Using PIT as an example, I notice Republic has a lot of ferry flights between PIT and CMH (9xxx flight numbers). Presumably to move aircraft to mx bases? I'm sure Republic would love for one of their major partners to operate CMH-PIT. But with those two cities both being non hubs and only a 3 hour drive, it makes no sense to operate flights, and in this example Republic having mx bases in both cities makes no difference to AA or DL or whoever.