izbtmnhd wrote:Gulfstream500 wrote:jplatts wrote:
I agree with your point, especially with WN already serving many domestic destinations in the Mountain West, Southwest, Midwest, and South that aren't served by B6. WN also already offers 1-stop connecting service to domestic destinations not served by B6 from the Midwestern cities served by WN.
When I was talking about B6 possibly establishing a hub or focus city in the Midwest, I was primarily talking about domestic connections to the Western U.S., the western half of the Midwest, and the Southern U.S. from East Coast cities that do not require backtracking (as opposed to connections to the Caribbean from the East Coast through a Midwestern hub).
I don’t think a Midwest hub will happen. Our best bet for a mid-continent hub on B6 is AUS (it has flights to all of the B6 hubs; no other mid continent airport can say that) and that’s a stretch. As for any airport becoming a B6 focus city, I think that DCA or PBI is our best bet.
With increasing non-stop transcontinental options for East Coast and Midwest cities, what would be the attraction of flying all the way down to AUS to connect to the West Coast? The only sensible flow would be north-south. AUS as a B6 LATAM hub? I don't see it.
I see it as an O&D focus city that can support connections like MSY to SEA, or ABQ to TPA. B6's focus city at LGB barely supports connections at all; your only options are to/from JFK, BOS, AUS, and PHX. Otherwise, you're backtracking.