Bluegrass60 wrote:What does preferred Midwest hub of international travel mean? preferred defined -" like better than another or others."
What are the other choices for International travel in the Midwest? ORD, DTW, MSP, CVG, STL, CMH, CLE, MKE, MCI and IND all have international flights: ORD, MSP and DTW have SUBSTANTIAL international services all supported by MAJOR HUB operations.
In addition to the aforementioned MW airports....the region has numerous int'l connection via one stops at: ATL, JFK, BOS, IAD, PHL, CLT, MIA, TPA, FLL, MCO, IAH. DFW, LAX, SFO, SEA, YYZ
Maybe the better/more realistic aspiration is preferred Indiana airport for Int'l travel? It is great IND has service to CDG, YZZ and various Mexico/Caribbean today. LHR and other Mexico/Canada/Caribbean are far more likely than TransPac.
Interesting discussion about DL Focus City at IND....similar to what NW had at one time....and a reason for stronger PAX growth (a passenger into IND that connects to another flight = 2 passengers...and there is no way to discern if that PAX is really O&D or connecting.....only one who really knows is the airline).
I don't think the term hub should be taken literally, but he wants to make IND an airport with a sizable amount of int'l travel, such that people from DAY, LAF, FWA, EVV, SDF, CMI, e.t.c will chose to drive to IND to fly int'l.
I'm a bit confused on your last point, to my understanding DL hasn't significantly changed its connecting passengers through IND. Really the only connections are going onto and off the CDG flight
Bluegrass60 wrote:Comments about BNA and Bridgestone/Nissan operations 'assuring int' TPAC....are not based on reality. While those operations in Nashville are "large" they likely produce less than 10 people/day to Asia.
If each company is sending 10 or so people a day to Asia, I would say that is a pretty sizable amount of travel
Bluegrass60 wrote:Dl Focus City at IND is interesting. CVG was dismantled in favor of DTW post DL/NW merger. O&D at DTW was big driver. CVG remains a focus city for DL with @100 daily departures on mainline/RJs. IND had been a Focus City for NW prior to DL merger. Now it appears that IND is progressing to become a DL Focus City with 50-60 daily departures? DL might be looking for growth by 'recreating the CVG hub' via Focus city ops in cities @ CVG...appears IND is next. Then maybe CMH and/or SDF. End result would be a formidable DL stronghold in CVG/IND/CMH/SDF encompassing a 10M+ catchment area.
It is a pretty smart strategy by DL, they have point-of-sale strength in a lot of non-hub markets: MCO, IND, CVG, RDU, and LAS, UA and AA can not say the same