LH A380 FRA-IAH To Begin In August

flood · Wed Dec 07, 2011 4:05 pm

Per PR Newswire:

HOUSTON, Dec 7, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Houston Airport System announces it will welcome its first double-deck A380 at George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) on August 1, 2012, when Lufthansa upgrades the aircraft on its Houston to Frankfurt service. Houston's Bush Intercontinental Airport will be Lufthansa's fourth A380 market served in the United States.
[...]
The new A380 service will operate from Terminal D. Over the next several months, the Houston Airport System will be renovating Terminal D and in anticipation of the A380, making accommodations to handle the extra-large aircraft.

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-relea...rlines-a380-service-135167458.html

BC77008 · Wed Dec 07, 2011 4:19 pm

I was shocked when I read this, but this is pretty awesome news! I wonder if this will result in a reduction of frequencies (flown by both LH and UA) between IAH and FRA?

wilco737 · Wed Dec 07, 2011 4:25 pm

Quoting flood (Thread starter):

Oh boy... Another 744 destination axed... Congrats to IAH for getting the big bird.

wilco737

HOMER71 · Wed Dec 07, 2011 4:26 pm

Which gate will they use - D11/D12?

Good news, great get for IAH

IrishAyes · Wed Dec 07, 2011 4:28 pm

I'm surprised this came before ORD, but I suppose they want to keep ORDFRA at high frequency levels and IAHFRA can be consolidated to one high capacity flight?

airevents · Wed Dec 07, 2011 6:07 pm

@ Wilco
but not a destination most of our 747 crews (at least in the cabin) will be unhappy to give away methinks...

dxing · Wed Dec 07, 2011 6:22 pm

That's good news. Nice to see that IAH gets first shot in Texas at handling the A380. It will be interesting to see it on the ground here. Perhaps I will be visiting FRA later this year then!

airbazar · Wed Dec 07, 2011 6:32 pm

Quoting IrishAyes (Reply 4):
I'm surprised this came before ORD, but I suppose they want to keep ORDFRA at high frequency levels and IAHFRA can be consolidated to one high capacity flight?

IIRC, ORD is not A380 ready, although it claims otherwise. Besides, it suffers a lot from delays.

BC77008 · Wed Dec 07, 2011 6:33 pm

I wonder how the people in Dallas are taking this news?

LAXdude1023 · Wed Dec 07, 2011 6:34 pm

Quoting BC77008 (Reply 8):
I wonder how the people in Dallas are taking this news?

Why would we care?

Good for LH and IAH. IAH seems like a logical fit for an LH 380.

wilco737 · Wed Dec 07, 2011 6:46 pm

Quoting airevents (Reply 5):
but not a destination most of our 747 crews (at least in the cabin) will be unhappy to give away methinks...

I thought F/A love it to go shopping and there is IAH perfect as the hotel is in the mall

wilco737

something · Wed Dec 07, 2011 6:55 pm

Getting UA used to the bird?

I assume EK is probably bringing the A388 to IAH sooner than planned and LH wants to beat them to the punch - similar to what EK did to them at PEK and now MUC. So stay tuned for comparable announcements from the sandpit.

Great news for IAH as without these 'magical forces', it would have been the poster child 748 route and LH A380 service limited to more prestigious routes a la PVG, HKG, (GRU, MEX) etc.

Tdan · Wed Dec 07, 2011 7:49 pm

Awesome news!!!

Quoting something (Reply 11):
Getting UA used to the bird?

Won't happen

Quoting something (Reply 11):
I assume EK is probably bringing the A388 to IAH sooner than planned and LH wants to beat them to the punch - similar to what EK did to them at PEK and now MUC. So stay tuned for comparable announcements from the sandpit.

If only the A388 had the legs, but alas will have to wait for an A380IGW or LR. LAX and SFO are in the same boat as well for EK with regards to needing the A380 capacity. IAH really only needs the F/J capacity of the A380

something · Wed Dec 07, 2011 7:56 pm

Quoting Tdan (Reply 12):
IAH really only needs the F/J capacity of the A380

But wouldn't that make the case for the A380 going there sooner than anticipated even more? An A380 can do DXB-IAH easily even today. Just not with a full payload.

hooverman · Wed Dec 07, 2011 8:24 pm

So what is the connection between Germany and Houston to justify this upgrade?
There isn't (as far as I'm aware) a big oil company in Germany with connections in the states.
However there are a few German service company's in the oil industry.
Or is it the Star Alliance brotherhood with United?

IrishAyes · Wed Dec 07, 2011 8:24 pm

Quoting BC77008 (Reply 8):
I wonder how the people in Dallas are taking this news?

People in Dallas (or former Dallasites transplanted in the Midwest, such as yours truly) have enough on their minds to be excited about.

We've had an awesome year - QF (a successful route going up to daily next summer), EK, VX (also supposedly doing well), the NK expansion and now B6 coming onboard.

We've also got challenges - AA, presumably.

Quoting something (Reply 11):
I assume EK is probably bringing the A388 to IAH sooner than planned and LH wants to beat them to the punch - similar to what EK did to them at PEK and now MUC. So stay tuned for comparable announcements from the sandpit

Quoting something (Reply 13):
But wouldn't that make the case for the A380 going there sooner than anticipated even more? An A380 can do DXB-IAH easily even today. Just not with a full payload.

Quoting something (Reply 11):
Great news for IAH as without these 'magical forces', it would have been the poster child 748 route and LH A380 service limited to more prestigious routes a la PVG, HKG, (GRU, MEX) etc.

As glamorous as the A380 is and whatever hyped up 'stature' it gives to the routes it is deployed on, airlines don't just throw large capacity planes around for prestige. There has to be business logic behind it, especially for carriers like LH who are tightly-run and constantly feeling the heat from the growing Middle Eastern carriers.

After EK added its second daily IAH and LAX flights, they saw yields plummet on both routes, and adjusted capacity accordingly by redeploying the aircraft to DFW and SEA. Good for them, too, finally realizing that ULH flights are much costlier to operate than DXB-MAN/PVG/MUC/CDG etc.

Based on this, I think it's a bit premature to suspect that IAH is A380 ready for EK and that LH is simply fighting for the glory of being the #1 A380 carrier in Houston. The rational behind the move is that it doesn't require two aircraft for LH to operate IAHFRA, it is a hub-to-hub route and and the demand is large enough to warrant the aircraft. The same isn't true for EK. This route, and EK's number of A380 aircraft available on hand, have been around long enough that if the demand was really there, the switch would have probably happened by now.

wolbo · Wed Dec 07, 2011 8:25 pm

Nice to see another USA destination added for the A380.

Recently read some early A380 (A3XX) threads and back then there was a lot of discussion about US airports not being prepared to make the necessary investments to accommodate the A380 unless the (European & Middle Eastern) airlines were willing to pay for the upgrades. It's good to see that, like many other objections hurled against the A380, this is turning out to be a non-issue.

What other A380 flights to the USA are known or expected to be added in 2012?

Tdan · Wed Dec 07, 2011 8:34 pm

Quoting something (Reply 13):
But wouldn't that make the case for the A380 going there sooner than anticipated even more? An A380 can do DXB-IAH easily even today. Just not with a full payload.

Oh don't get me wrong, they'll fill the back-end with traffic going to India/Pakistan, but that's not the reason for upgrading the route. At 1x daily 777LR, it's basically sold out every day up front, but 2x daily was a little too much capacity (100F/C, 472Y 2x 77L vs 90F/C, 399Y 1x A380) plus the increased cost of a 2nd 16-17 hr flight that could be consolidated into one. Additionally, the route typically goes out very heavy with cargo.

AA737-823 · Wed Dec 07, 2011 10:42 pm

Allow me to be the first person to say I'm disappointed.

I was very much looking forward to my first 747-8i flight, on LH ex-IAH.
Where on Earth will they send 748's, if the 380 is going to Houston, of all places?!?!

CODCAIAH · Wed Dec 07, 2011 10:52 pm

Quoting IrishAyes (Reply 15):
Good for them, too, finally realizing that ULH flights are much costlier to operate than DXB-MAN/PVG/MUC/CDG etc.

Oh, I'm sure the planners at EK had an idea about what would happen when they added 2nd daily flights to the schedules and what the costs were for ULHs. It's not like they "finally realized" it after the fact, as if by accident like, "Whoops!"

Cool news for IAH. I don't see any hidden messages here in the "prestige" of IAH with regard to DFW. LH is sending its big bird to a big hub of one of the world's largest airlines and its Star partner-- almost a no-brainer, much like QF began service to DFW. QF wouldn't have started IAH just like LH wouldn't have sent the A388 to DFW.

But it is fun to have yet another one-up on DFW

PlaneInsomniac · Wed Dec 07, 2011 10:52 pm

Quoting AA737-823 (Reply 18):
Where on Earth will they send 748's

I may be totally wrong here, but didn't somebody say once that LH will base all its 748s in MUC in the long run, with FRA being all-A380? Or am I making things up here?

IrishAyes · Wed Dec 07, 2011 11:07 pm

Quoting CODCAIAH (Reply 19):
Oh, I'm sure the planners at EK had an idea about what would happen when they added 2nd daily flights to the schedules and what the costs were for ULHs. It's not like they "finally realized" it after the fact, as if by accident like, "Whoops!"

I don't understand...if they had an idea, then why would they do it in the first place? It was an illogical move that ate into their profits.

codc10 · Wed Dec 07, 2011 11:11 pm

Quoting AA737-823 (Reply 18):

Where on Earth will they send 748's, if the 380 is going to Houston, of all places?!?!

I think we can anticipate LH sending the 748i to EWR, since there are no plans that I am aware of to bring the airport to A380 standard.

drerx7 · Wed Dec 07, 2011 11:56 pm

Quoting IrishAyes (Reply 15):
Based on this, I think it's a bit premature to suspect that IAH is A380 ready for EK and that LH is simply fighting for the glory of being the #1 A380 carrier in Houston.

Well - not based upon what LH is doing would I base this presumption. However, EK has stated that if it not for the lack of range of the 380 they would be flying them to IAH. They have gone on record as saying that they are waiting for later deliveries of the bird. With that said - I agree with your core statement - as I don't think they factored in QR here at IAH when they made all those assumptions.

Quoting IrishAyes (Reply 15):
This route, and EK's number of A380 aircraft available on hand, have been around long enough that if the demand was really there, the switch would have probably happened by now.

Range/payload deficit with current 388s is why they hadn't done so.

Quoting hooverman (Reply 14):
So what is the connection between Germany and Houston to justify this upgrade?
There isn't (as far as I'm aware) a big oil company in Germany with connections in the states.
However there are a few German service company's in the oil industry.
Or is it the Star Alliance brotherhood with United?

Onward African/subcontinent connections as well as Star Alliance ties.

Semaex · Thu Dec 08, 2011 12:15 am

Quoting airevents (Reply 5):
@ Wilco
but not a destination most of our 747 crews (at least in the cabin) will be unhappy to give away methinks...

Mind me asking why that is so?

AR385 · Thu Dec 08, 2011 12:22 am

Quoting AA737-823 (Reply 18):
Where on Earth will they send 748's, if the 380 is going to Houston, of all places?!?!

Since I´m not sure MEX is A380 ready, they will probably deploy the 748 to MEX, due to the extra capacity needed there as well as the better performance due to its hot and high conditions. EZE has also been mentioned as a 748 route.

[Edited 2011-12-07 16:30:28]

gabep · Thu Dec 08, 2011 12:28 am

Quoting airevents (Reply 5):
@ Wilco
but not a destination most of our 747 crews (at least in the cabin) will be unhappy to give away methinks...

Quoting BC77008 (Reply 8):
I wonder how the people in Dallas are taking this news?

...yeah, but they got QANTAS...

ATL · Thu Dec 08, 2011 12:58 am

Well no 747-8 for IAH then :P

stylo777 · Thu Dec 08, 2011 2:20 am

I'm sure the A380 will boost the revenues and in the end also the margins due to lower operating costs. In my oppinion this hub-to-hub route makes perfectly sense (even more than flights to JFK for instance). Only looking at the customer profile today will underline that: from 40% up to 75% transfer pax on both ends (ex FRA mainly to India, continental EU and Africa/ex IAH mainly USA and Central Americas) and a huge amount of premium customers (HON, SEN, *G). The First Class will be sold for sure, Business Class will also be booked quite well, leaving the Economy as a contribution margin.

However, it will be interesting to see how the UA/CO 764 departing only three hours later will perform.

AAIL86 · Thu Dec 08, 2011 2:59 am

Quoting AA737-823 (Reply 18):
Where on Earth will they send 748's, if the 380 is going to Houston, of all places?!?!

All that very premium heavy oil and marine traffic from/to Houston, a very good(and profitable) reason.

Quoting IrishAyes (Reply 15):

After EK added its second daily IAH and LAX flights, they saw yields plummet on both routes, and adjusted capacity accordingly by redeploying the aircraft to DFW and SEA.

Well, in the case of EK coming to Dallas, I think they realized a a fairly sizable portion of their traffic on IAH-DXB was coming from the DFW area. With SEA, I've heard speculation that not only can they turn a profit on passengers but they will also have the ability to ship a nice amount of aircraft parts directly from Boeing.

Quoting CODCAIAH (Reply 19):
But it is fun to have yet another one-up on DFW

Hey, this guy from Dallas thinks its great to have the 380 in the state. But if you really want to push things, let's talk HOU-DFW sports, as in the Mavericks' NBA title last summer and the Rangers' back to back AL championships

[Edited 2011-12-07 19:00:22]

YYZAMS · Thu Dec 08, 2011 3:26 am

A hotel in a mall is the attraction? Also, Houston has been named the fattest place in NA. That is a lot of seat belt extensions!

Humid Houston, wouldn't be a great place to fly to if I were an FA there, not to mention the fact that you have to drive everywhere to get there. MIA, SEA, SFO, ORD, NYC, BOS don't really compare to IAH.

Tdan · Thu Dec 08, 2011 3:48 am

Quoting AAIL86 (Reply 29):
Hey, this guy from Dallas thinks its great to have the 380 in the state. But if you really want to push things, let's talk HOU-DFW sports, as in the Mavericks' NBA title last summer and the Rangers' back to back AL championships

C'mon now, we all know people from Dallas don't care about basketball or baseball. How bout them self-kicker-icing Cowboys???

Quoting stylo777 (Reply 28):
However, it will be interesting to see how the UA/CO 764 departing only three hours later will perform.

I'm sure, since it's part of the JV, it's doing just fine. Much better connecting to the MENA on that flight from IAH and from essentially all European day flights on the UA flight from FRA.

Quoting stylo777 (Reply 28):
I'm sure the A380 will boost the revenues and in the end also the margins due to lower operating costs. In my oppinion this hub-to-hub route makes perfectly sense (even more than flights to JFK for instance). Only looking at the customer profile today will underline that: from 40% up to 75% transfer pax on both ends (ex FRA mainly to India, continental EU and Africa/ex IAH mainly USA and Central Americas) and a huge amount of premium customers (HON, SEN, *G). The First Class will be sold for sure, Business Class will also be booked quite well, leaving the Economy as a contribution margin.

Since you seem to have a good grasp of Star and the IAH traffic, given your country flag, when is TK coming to IAH?!? I need to get to IST a few times in the next year or so and my fellow oil&gas comrades need better one-stop connections to Central Asia and the Middle East!

thomasphoto60 · Thu Dec 08, 2011 5:03 am

A

Quoting drerx7 (Reply 32):
Worthless comments

Agreed,

And, btw, my misguided Canadian friend, Houston has not been the "fattest" city in NA for years. I believe 2005, was the year that Houston held that unfortunate title by Fitness Magazine if I recall correctly.

aznmadsci · Thu Dec 08, 2011 5:12 am

Quoting homer71 (Reply 3):
Which gate will they use - D11/D12?

My guess is D4/D4A/D5. LH has been using D4/D4A

Quoting YYZAMS (Reply 30):
A hotel in a mall is the attraction? Also, Houston has been named the fattest place in NA.

Is that all you contribute to the conversation? Yeah we love our food, but we haven't been the fattest city in the US in years, especially by Mens Health.

aznmadsci · Thu Dec 08, 2011 5:40 am

Houston Airport System has already posted a video on YouTube regarding the A380 heading to IAH. At the end of the video the communications guy mentions something about more things to come to IAH, including new services to a new continent. So will this possibly mean UA will finally start IAH-AKL once the 788s enter service?

Airbus A380 Coming to Houston

[Edited 2011-12-07 21:41:12]

zkeoj · Thu Dec 08, 2011 6:01 am

oh, and now we are waiting for the UA IAH-AKL service, and we can go AKL-IAH-FRA on all new metal (and/or plastic?

) - quite an attractive new alternative for AKL-FRA (and on to other LH destinations). Just that Wilco won't be on the flight deck

Cheers
micha

flyingalex · Thu Dec 08, 2011 10:03 am

I'm glad to see LH doing so well on the Houston run, and I'm sure the oil industry and other traffic will be able to fill that massive Business Class cabin.

Quoting thomasphoto60 (Reply 33):
And, btw, my misguided Canadian friend, Houston has not been the "fattest" city in NA for years. I believe 2005, was the year that Houston held that unfortunate title by Fitness Magazine if I recall correctly.

Here's the current list:

http://www.menshealth.com/fattestcities2010/

Not *the* fattest, but by no means a stellar performance. But it seems to be a Texan trend: 6 of the 13 fattest cities are in Texas.

something · Thu Dec 08, 2011 10:49 am

Quoting YYZAMS (Reply 30):
A hotel in a mall is the attraction? Also, Houston has been named the fattest place in NA. That is a lot of seat belt extensions!

To be fair, the type of Texan who'd need a seatbelt extension is probably the type of Amurrican that doesn't leave the USA in the first place, so I'd expect LH to remain free of these issues.

Quoting YYZAMS (Reply 30):
MIA, SEA, SFO, ORD, NYC, BOS don't really compare to IAH.

For LH that is probably true. Among the EK crew however, IAH is surprisingly popular. It raises your monthly salary as it's an ULH with a 48hrs. layover attached to it and everything is much cheaper in Houston than it is in SFO or LAX for example. It's also considerably harder to bid for one of those. Also, many of the other ULH include tag-ons like SYD-AKL or GRU-EZE and stretch your stay there up to 8 days (for the DXB-BKK-SYD-AKL r/t).

So IAH - and later DFW - does have some sort of incentive to some sort of board crew.

Quoting stylo777 (Reply 28):
However, it will be interesting to see how the UA/CO 764 departing only three hours later will perform.

Two? or so years ago, I was booked on LHR-EWR-FLL and had my itinerary changed to LHR-FRA-IAH-FLL without being asked about it. To make matters worse, the last IAH-FLL leaves IAH 40 minutes after the FRA-IAH has landed so there's virtually no chance of making the connection. On the customer service hotline, I was informed that CO would not pay for a hotel in that case and that I'd have to accomodate myself. The ECO section on that particular flight had 9 passengers, 4 of which I talked to, 4 of which were onboard for the exact same reason as I. Admittedly, that was only a few days after the route started and things will probably look different now. However, that experience right there made me pledge to NEVER fly CO again and I've been quite vociferous about this too. Secretly, I think that's the true reason behind the merger/name change..

Burkhard · Thu Dec 08, 2011 11:18 am

Quoting hooverman (Reply 14):
Or is it the Star Alliance brotherhood with United?

A long shot - with TAM and the connections to LATAM gone, the traffic into Southern America needs to be reshuffled, and IAH can do so better than any other airport...

flyingalex · Thu Dec 08, 2011 12:06 pm

Quoting Burkhard (Reply 39):
A long shot - with TAM and the connections to LATAM gone, the traffic into Southern America needs to be reshuffled, and IAH can do so better than any other airport...

But IAH has the massive downside that it requires US immigration clearance for transit passengers (which means passengers from South America will need US visas to go to Europe, where many of them do not need a visa to enter the Schengen area).

Burkhard · Thu Dec 08, 2011 12:32 pm

I know this, but in the end the price makes the decision, and having the longest part on the most efficient plane is not wrong. It does not solve anything, but can be a part of the picture - Peruvians as example get visas to the US much easier than to Germany.

notaxonrotax · Thu Dec 08, 2011 1:05 pm

Quoting AA737-823 (Reply 18):

Where on Earth will they send 748's, if the 380 is going to Houston, of all places?!?!

Why is it SO surprising?? Why should the B748-i do Houston…….of all places??

No Tax On Rotax

simfanatic · Thu Dec 08, 2011 1:13 pm

Quoting notaxonrotax (Reply 42):

Some people believe, that IAH is the ONLY logical destination for a 748i to operate profitable to. It's not that there are other important destinations such as BOM, DEL, BKK, PVG, LAX and maybe GRU or something. These are obviously very unattractive markets for LH. IAH is LH's top destination and we are all shocked to our guts, that LH only now had the idea of sending one of their new flagship aircraft on that route. (Please taste the irony)

stylo777 · Thu Dec 08, 2011 1:21 pm

Quoting Tdan (Reply 31):

due to the lack of longhaul equipment paired with an inability of further expansion at its homebase in IST I don't think we'll see TK anytime soon; nevertheless, it is on their wish list and once realized it will certainly have an impact on both LH (TK has lower cost base thus offering better prices) as well as EK (stopover in IST will shorten the transittime to pretty much everywhere around Middle East, GUS states, EU and Africa).

AA737-823 · Thu Dec 08, 2011 1:37 pm

Quoting notaxonrotax (Reply 42):
Why is it SO surprising?? Why should the B748-i do Houston…….of all places??

Because it's a logical step up from the 744 they currently send, whereas the A380 is a quantum leap.
My emphasis was that I was hoping to ride on a 748 on LH out of IAH, not that their fleet-route waltz is in any way lacking.
But I am surprised that they'd skip a gauge on the way up their chain.
I suppose linking United's largest hub with LH's largest justifies the largest airliner on earth, but I'm still a little surprised.

Quoting AAIL86 (Reply 29):
All that very premium heavy oil and marine traffic from/to Houston, a very good(and profitable) reason.

My question (which, oddly, you quoted) was "Where will they send 748's" which you have done NOTHING to answer.

airbazar · Thu Dec 08, 2011 1:56 pm

Quoting AA737-823 (Reply 18):
Where on Earth will they send 748's, if the 380 is going to Houston, of all places?!?!

Every other airport currently served by the 744/A346 which is not A380 ready: ORD, BOS, EWR, GRU, etc, etc...
And also A380 destinations during the low season?

Quoting ATL (Reply 27):
Well no 747-8 for IAH then :P

You might see it in the Winter schedule when TATL demand weakens.

Another thing to consider: IAH makes a lot of sense as a hub to C.America and even parts of S.America, especially considering the imminent departure of TAM from *A. Other than deep S.America (EZE, SCL), IAH is as [in]convenient as GRU is for connections from FRA.

LAXdude1023 · Thu Dec 08, 2011 1:57 pm

Quoting YYZAMS (Reply 30):
Also, Houston has been named the fattest place in NA.

More ignorance. Allow me to set you straight.

Below is a link to the obesity rate by county in the US. Youll find the urban areas in Texas are all at the lowest level of obesity.

http://www.americanobesity.org/obesityInAmerica.htm

Quoting Tdan (Reply 31):
C'mon now, we all know people from Dallas don't care about basketball or baseball. How bout them self-kicker-icing Cowboys???

Haha, you should have been here when the Mavs won the NBA championship. Ive never seen Dallas this happy!

staralliance85 · Thu Dec 08, 2011 2:09 pm

I think this will definitely work for LH since it is their *A partner's UA largest hub. UA from IAH can offer LHR passengers great connections to Mexico, Latin America and the Western US. With the LH A380, I maybe see UA cutting their 2X daily to 1x. I really hope Swiss starts service to IAH as well.

Tdan · Thu Dec 08, 2011 2:31 pm

Quoting LAXdude1023 (Reply 47):
Haha, you should have been here when the Mavs won the NBA championship. Ive never seen Dallas this happy!

I bet it was fun...I remember clutch city well. Houston was nuts when the Rockets were winning and I had always previously thought that it was purely a football town!

Quoting staralliance85 (Reply 48):
With the LH A380, I maybe see UA cutting their 2X daily to 1x.

UA is only 1x daily to FRA. Won't have an impact on LHR

Quoting staralliance85 (Reply 48):
I really hope Swiss starts service to IAH as well.

You and me too. I think the A380 increase will take care of any Europe-IAH capacity increases for a while, but MUC on LH/UA is probably the next most logical addition. Would really like to see a BRU nonstop though as it would really help me out!

PanHAM · Thu Dec 08, 2011 3:15 pm

Quoting hooverman (Reply 14):
So what is the connection between Germany and Houston to justify this upgrade?

Oil traffic connecting from ABZ and SVG in the north to various African destinations, the Middle east and in the Caucasus, Asia etc. LH is set up to this high yield traffic much better than the US carriers are.

Quoting Burkhard (Reply 39):
A long shot - with TAM and the connections to LATAM gone, the traffic into Southern America needs to be reshuffled, and IAH can do so better than any other airport...

The USA excludes itself from this business as there are no transit facilities whatsoever. Who wants to go through US immigration AND customs and then immediately afterwards checks in the bag again? Who wants his laptop inspected just because he is making a connection and not even entering the country? A true international terminal at a US airport would have a sterile area which allows passengers to enter from an international flight and leave on an international flight.

Such would make airports like IAH , MIA, ATL even more attractive for flights to/from Europe or Asia. With such opportunities for US carriers could operate bigger equipment and make money.

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