I used to think LAS might become a base, with 35 NB flights scheduled tomorrow vs. 23 in CLE. The trick is there are only about 110 pilots living in LAS… while CLE has just over 200 based there (and who knows how many that commute). And I seriously doubt enough LAS pilots would give up WB flying to make a NB base viable. PHX has over 200 pilots living there and 23 NB flights tomorrow, so I guess it could be a base that closely resembles CLE (with a LAX based CP to boot). But again, I don’t think enough PHX pilots would forgo WB flying to make for a viable NB base just yet. Maybe with some additional growth in flights and pilot population.

With the new terminal open in MCO, there is room to grow quickly right now and it would be very Kirbyesq to seize the opportunity. I believe we currently have a single WB capable gate at MCO, while the gates being vacated are international and WB capable since most of the airlines moving to the new terminal are international carriers. We could do an awful lot in the future with those gates, on our metal or with Star Alliance metal. MCO has 33 UAL flights tomorrow (including a few WB), and TPA has 18. I think MCO will be a full on NB base with TPA as a co-terminal and its own CP (as rumored toward the start of this thread). Plenty of pilots and flights to make it work (I’m assuming 300+ live within an easy drive, but don’t know for a fact).

With 36 flights tomorrow and assuming enough pilots live nearby, BOS could also support a base bigger than CLE.