viewfromthewing.com Open in urlscan Pro
35.227.46.114  Public Scan

Form analysis
3 forms found in the DOM

POST https://viewfromthewing.com/wp-comments-post.php?wpe-comment-post=viewfrmthewing

<form action="https://viewfromthewing.com/wp-comments-post.php?wpe-comment-post=viewfrmthewing" method="post" id="commentform" class="comment-form" novalidate="">
  <p class="comment-notes"><span id="email-notes">Your email address will not be published.</span> <span class="required-field-message">Required fields are marked <span class="required">*</span></span></p>
  <p class="comment-form-comment"><label for="comment">Comment <span class="required">*</span></label> <textarea id="comment" name="comment" cols="45" rows="8" maxlength="65525" required=""></textarea></p>
  <p class="comment-form-author"><label for="author">Name <span class="required">*</span></label> <input id="author" name="author" type="text" value="" size="30" maxlength="245" autocomplete="name" required=""></p>
  <p class="comment-form-email"><label for="email">Email <span class="required">*</span></label> <input id="email" name="email" type="email" value="" size="30" maxlength="100" aria-describedby="email-notes" autocomplete="email" required=""></p>
  <p class="comment-form-url"><label for="url">Website</label> <input id="url" name="url" type="url" value="" size="30" maxlength="200" autocomplete="url"></p>
  <p class="comment-form-cookies-consent"><input id="wp-comment-cookies-consent" name="wp-comment-cookies-consent" type="checkbox" value="yes"> <label for="wp-comment-cookies-consent">Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time
      I comment.</label></p>
  <p class="comment-subscription-form" style="margin-bottom: 0px;"><input type="checkbox" name="subscribe_comments" id="subscribe_comments" value="subscribe" style="width: auto; -moz-appearance: checkbox; -webkit-appearance: checkbox;"> <label
      class="subscribe-label" id="subscribe-label" for="subscribe_comments">Notify me of follow-up comments by email.</label></p>
  <p class="comment-subscription-form" style="margin-bottom: 24px;"><input type="checkbox" name="subscribe_blog" id="subscribe_blog" value="subscribe" style="width: auto; -moz-appearance: checkbox; -webkit-appearance: checkbox;"> <label
      class="subscribe-label" id="subscribe-blog-label" for="subscribe_blog">Notify me of new posts by email.</label></p>
  <p class="form-submit"><input name="submit" type="submit" id="submit" class="submit" value="Post Comment"> <input type="hidden" name="comment_post_ID" value="189239" id="comment_post_ID">
    <input type="hidden" name="comment_parent" id="comment_parent" value="0">
  </p>
  <p style="display: none;"><input type="hidden" id="akismet_comment_nonce" name="akismet_comment_nonce" value="bb88627c4f"></p>
  <p style="display: none !important;"><label>Δ<textarea name="ak_hp_textarea" cols="45" rows="8" maxlength="100"></textarea></label><input type="hidden" id="ak_js_1" name="ak_js" value="1692840683988">
    <script>
      document.getElementById("ak_js_1").setAttribute("value", (new Date()).getTime());
    </script>
  </p>
</form>

GET https://viewfromthewing.com/

<form role="search" method="get" class="search-form" action="https://viewfromthewing.com/">
  <label>
    <span class="screen-reader-text">Search for:</span>
    <input type="search" class="search-field" placeholder="Search …" value="" name="s">
  </label>
  <input type="submit" class="search-submit" value="Search">
</form>

Name: FeedBlitz_38c1dd64e97a11e2a18900259077114b — POST https://www.feedblitz.com/f/f.fbz?AddNewUserDirect

<form name="FeedBlitz_38c1dd64e97a11e2a18900259077114b" style="display:block" method="POST" action="https://www.feedblitz.com/f/f.fbz?AddNewUserDirect"> Enter your Email: <input style="display: block;" name="EMAIL" maxlength="64" type="text"
    size="25" value="E-Mail Address" onfocus="if ( this.value == 'E-Mail Address') { this.value = ''; }" onblur="if ( this.value == '' ) { this.value = 'E-Mail Address'; }"> <input name="EMAIL_" maxlength="64" type="hidden" size="25" value=""> <input
    name="EMAIL_ADDRESS" maxlength="64" type="hidden" size="25" value=""> <input name="FEEDID" type="hidden" value="882921"> <input name="PUBLISHER" type="hidden" value="32363050"> <input type="button" value="Subscribe Now!"
    onclick="FeedBlitz_38c1dd64e97a11e2a18900259077114bs(this.form);">
  <br>
</form>

Text Content

Advertiser Disclosure
 * About
   * Thank You! How to Support this Blog
 * Advice
   * Advice: Frequent Flyer
   * Advice: General Travel
   * Advice: Airlines and Airfare
   * Advice: Hotels
   * Advice: Credit Cards
 * Recommended Credit Card Offers
 * Top 10 Deals
 * Trip Reports
   * Trip Reports – Air
   * Trip Reports – Hotels
   * Trip Reports – Lounges
   * Trip Reports – Food
   * Trip Reports – Other
 * Advertiser Disclosure


WHY PHILADELPHIA IS NO SUBSTITUTE FOR NEW YORK AS AN AMERICAN AIRLINES HUB

by Gary Leff on August 23, 2023

American Airlines didn’t rebuild its Philadelphia transatlantic hub coming out
of the pandemic. Europe opened later than travel returned to the U.S. market.
And American found that they did better flying planes to Mexico than across the
Pond. When demand for travel to Europe came roaring back, the airline didn’t
have as many flights scheduled, and they didn’t have planes either – having
retired their Boeing 757, Boeing 767, and Airbus A330 fleets early in the
pandemic and facing delivery delays from Boeing on new 787s.

Without rebuilding transatlantic flying, they also didn’t rebuild Philadephia’s
domestic route network to pre-pandemic levels. Those flights used to connect
people onto international departures, but those international departures hadn’t
fully returned so the domestic flights didn’t make as much sense either.

Now they’re adding 3 new transatlantic routes from Philadelphia (Copenhagen,
Nice, and Naples) after announcing the transfer of their New York JFK – Doha
flight to Philadelphia.

And they’re adding back Philadelphia flying, such as a new route to San Antonio,
and adding back Philadelphia – New York LaGuardia. This latter,



 * squats slots in New York, because with the end of the Northeast Alliance with
   JetBlue American no longer has a New York strategy
   
   
   
   

 * hopes to serve some of the New York market through Philadelphia rather than
   non-stop.



American has eliminated its second New York – Rome flight as part of providing
aircraft for its announced new transatlantic service.

Cranky Flier, in writing about the announced new route, disses on American for
having previously focused on New York. But this gets it all wrong.

> It is, as a side note, good to see Philadelphia getting love again. These new
> routes are about adding network value by putting new destinations on the map
> and then routing people through Philly to get there. The distraction of the
> now-dead Northeast Alliance had American put more airplanes into places from
> New York that didn’t add that same kind of network value.





“Network value” is all about connecting traffic. They compete with Delta and
United for passengers who have an option to fly through Newark, Boston,
Washington Dulles, New York JFK, Chicago O’Hare and Atlanta.

In contrast, American’s business in New York, with its JetBlue partnership, was
largely about serving the New York market. JetBlue wasn’t so much providing
connecting passengers for American (people transferring from JetBlue flights to
New York JFK onto American’s international flights) as much as providing local
customers for American’s flights. Non-stop means competing with a different
product, that consumers will generally also pay a premium for.



 * New York is a much bigger local market than Philadelphia
   
   
   
   

 * Take its New York JFK – Doha flight. That was about 80% New York passengers
   heading to the Mideast and Indian Subcontinent, places like Lahore,
   Islamabad, Karachi and Dhaka. This was one-stop service for New Yorkers to
   where New Yorkers were going.
   
   
   
   

 * Instead Philadelphia is all about connections. People connect to
   Philadelphia, will take the flight to Doha, but almost none of those
   passengers are flying to Doha. They are, again, heading to Pakistan, or
   smaller cities in India.
   
   
   
   

 * So moving that Doha flight to Philadelphia has ‘network value’ but it is low
   value. It competes for double connections, which means lower yields. American
   still has its high costs, but they’ll earn lower fares.

And that doesn’t even begin to get into the hidden importance of competing in
the New York market. Once American began partnering with JetBlue, and not
walking away from New York any longer, they began signing up more customers for
the AAdvantage program. In fact New York was their biggest market for new
signups. And that converts people to co-brand credit card customers. And New
York is the most important spend market in the country.



Selling AAdvantage miles is a multi-billion dollar business with a 52% margin
while all of American including the sale of miles earns about a 10% margin.
Offering a product that’s relevant to the New York market matters for New York
card signups and wallet share, as American learned.

Cranky notes that American will have more year-round routes and fewer seasonal
routes from Philadelphia to Europe in 2024 than they did pre-pandemic.
Eventually this will become even more tilted towards year-round as American
takes (delayed) delivery of Airbus A321XLR aircraft that can make a route work
on fewer passengers than a Boeing 787. There’s some value in a connecting hub to
Europe, but a hub with greater local traffic and far greater card spend is more
valuable still.

Delta was able to grow in New York because US Airways sold them their New York
hub, more or less. And that ultimately made American Airlines far less
competitive. When US Airways took over at American they tried two strategies in
New York:



 * Serve people from other cities wanting to travel to New York, rather than New
   Yorkers
   
 * Offer a ’boutique’ operation serving primarily partner hubs in Europe and the
   West Coast



But neither one worked. Offering New York flights to people for whom they work
well as a one-off is a recipe for lower fares than competitors. American kept
cutting routes, entering a death spiral there. They decided not to compete there
prior to the pandemic.

While they described themselves as ‘too small to win, too big to give up’
American simply squatted on their resources in New York so others couldn’t take
them. They actually did have to forfeit 7 slots from underuse, though.

American saw themselves losing money or breaking even, but largely because they
did the accounting wrong, not looking at the most lucrative piece of their
business (co-brand card). They found a partner in JetBlue that gave them the
necessary scale to offer as much to New Yorkers as Delta and United from Newark.
But that was struck down by a district court judge, and JetBlue decided not to
appeal to focus instead of its (more anti-competitive) acquisition of Spirit
Airlines.

So New Yorkers are left with less competition, one less viable competitor and an
airline shifting its focus to “Filthadelphia.”

But New York wasn’t a distraction from Philadelphia, it was a better place to
focus limited resources that did not work out – in part because of a change in
administration, part because of whom they drew as a judge, and part because of
JetBlue’s deal to buy Spirit that came after. Philadelphia on its own may even
work to some degree, but ultimately Philadelphia is not New York. And whether
American will admit it or not, they realize this is true – now that they have
one executive in charge of all revenue from flying and from credit card issuers.

Passenger Packs Diet Coke In Checked Bag On
Flight To Europe, Fails To Declare It [Roundup]
Read More


396 Shares
115
200

69




MORE FROM VIEW FROM THE WING

AMERICAN AIRLINES WILL ANNOUNCE 5 NEW INTERNATIONAL DESTINATIONS TOMORROW

American Airlines will announce 5 new international routes on Thursday. They
will cover departures from Dallas, Philadelphia, and Chicago, and there hints
about what these routes will be.

August 16, 2023

In "Airlines"

INTERNAL MEMO REVEALS AMERICAN AIRLINES DROPPING FOUR TRANSATLANTIC CITIES

An internal American Airlines memo from Jim Moses to Philadelphia staff reveals
routes that the airline is cutting from their primary transatlantic gateway.
American will eliminate operations to Iceland, Manchester U.K. and Prague and
won't fly to Venice in 2021 though they hope to return in 2022.

December 19, 2020

In "Airlines"

AMERICAN AIRLINES EXPLAINS ITS STRATEGY PICKING 5 NEW INTERNATIONAL ROUTES

While this is a buildup in seasonal Europe, it’s a way to give transpacific
winter jets a place to go as Senior Vice President of Network Brian Znotins
explains. Philadelphia gives more single connections to competitors than other
Copenhagen, Nice and Naples flights. Philadelphia – not New York – gets…

August 17, 2023

In "Airlines"

40 Comments


« Previous Article
Next Article »




ABOUT GARY LEFF

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and
frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of
frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named
one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present)
Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print
publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About
Gary »

More articles by Gary Leff »




COMMENTS

 1.  AndyS says:
     August 23, 2023 at 10:27 am
     
     The Irony is that the DOJ has caused LESS competition in the NYC market by
     fighting the NEA than letting it happen.
     
     And Philly is a Sh*thole both as a city and as an airport.

     
 2.  Mangar says:
     August 23, 2023 at 10:34 am
     
     One thing you aren’t taking into account, is how absolutely horrendous the
     drive to JFK airport is. Even for many people in New York. To put it in
     perspective, I just checked on Google maps so as of right now (Noon on a
     Wednesday) it’s 90 miles or so to PHL, with a drive time of 1 hr and 30
     minutes. It’s 60 miles to JFK, with a drive time of 1hr and 50 minutes.
     With it most likely taking longer, as it nearly always does. (I’ve seen it
     3 hours before)
     
     I’m in NJ, so largely stick with Newark, but sometimes I’m forced to use
     those two airports, and given a choice I always go with PHL, just to avoid
     what not only is a long, but a very irritating drive.

     
 3.  nate says:
     August 23, 2023 at 10:50 am
     
     “Philadelphia is not New York” – tell that to all the New Yorkers buying up
     900k houses in my neighborhood.
     
     There’s a saying here – “No one likes us we don’t care.”

     
 4.  DesertGhost says:
     August 23, 2023 at 10:50 am
     
     You’ve been the CEO of how many airlines?

     
 5.  CLT Flyer says:
     August 23, 2023 at 11:00 am
     
     So AA is switching (back) to making PHL a connection hub. Is it my favorite
     airport? No. But it is not the hell hole people make it out to be. The food
     options are plentiful and not all bad. The lounges are OK. The airspace is
     slightly less constricted than NY (or DC). So I can see this working out
     OK.
     
     The real challenge for AA is to replicate the success of CLT as a domestic
     transfer hub, and build PHL as a domestic -> international transfer hub.
     PHL has been “half pregnant” for the last couple of years. AA initially
     wanted to build their trans-Atlantic hub here, then went back to wanting
     that at JFK, and now is back to their PHL strategy. (Disclaimer: when I say
     “success of CLT” I am referring to the connecting passenger load that they
     manage to handle through the airport. It is leading to some serious
     passenger experience challenges but operationally it is pretty impressive).
     
     I agree that the direct passenger market in the NY area is far greater than
     at PHL. And that is why the PHL strategy should be focused on transfer pax.
     If they manage to run this successfully they might have a winner.

     
 6.  OCTinPHL says:
     August 23, 2023 at 11:03 am
     
     @Nate – the flip side to “No one likes us and we don’t care” is
     “Philadelphia isn’t as bad as Philadelphians say it is.” I have a tee that
     says that with a picture of Frank Rizzo. No on is tougher on Philly than
     Philadelphians themselves.
     
     I don’t mind PHL, but lately I’ve been trekking to JFK to catch JAL to get
     to Asia. I was going to book QR in April PHL-DOH-SGN for ~$3k, but now that
     QR has dropped PHL the cost of flying one-stop to Saigon has gone up to
     $7k. So I’ll trek to JFK for QR.

     
 7.  Larry says:
     August 23, 2023 at 11:07 am
     
     @AndyS: profound sentiment. Maybe you should run for office. As a
     “Filthadelphian” who has lived in NYC for a few years too I’d say that
     (very old) term no longer really fits. The city has great restaurants. one
     of the biggest city park system in the country, and all the big city perks
     without insane housing prices. Usually those pronouncing places as
     sh*tholes either have never spent much time there or ascribe that term to
     any place with significant urban and minority populations.
     
     As for the new flights, glad to see PHL-LGA come back but it’s fairly
     useless because it almost always is offered with connections to flights at
     JFK. Big hassle and misconnect risk and it’s easier to just take Amtrak and
     LIRR to JFK directly.
     
     BTW, looks like QR has already killed the PHL-DOH flight. Bloggers were
     saying that both AA and QR would continue to run from Philly- but I’ve
     already gotten my cancellation notice for a flight in December and QR
     flights have disappeared from the schedule. Looks like QR will sell the AA
     codeshare instead

     
 8.  SOBE ER DOC says:
     August 23, 2023 at 11:13 am
     
     @AndyS unless you are from Philly or live in Philly no one in Philly cares
     what you think about it.
     
     The intelligence of AA’s decision to pivot its focus back to PHL depends on
     how they are defining success. EVEN if AA’s ex-JKF TATL flights were will
     with 60% or 70% with O+D traffic out of NYC and ex-PHL’s flights are half
     that, it does not means AA’s ex-JFK flights are strategically better. If AA
     does not have enough feed into JFK to full the rest of the plane and their
     product does not enable it compete with other carrier for the high-revenue
     pax their ex-JFK flights are not going to perform as well as the ex-PHL
     flights.
     
     AA has made its bed as a largely domestic carrier. As a result, its
     international strategy has to support that broader strategy with deep route
     maps out of select domestic airports (DFW, MIA, PHL, +/- ORD). But, let’s
     be clear, AA is only going to succeed in markets where it maintains a
     fortress hub. Don’t believe me and think JFK is not enough proof, just look
     at their operations in ORD and LAX.

     
 9.  ramcm7 says:
     August 23, 2023 at 11:15 am
     
     Can any carrier effectively make JFK a hub now? It sounds like acquiring
     additional slots would be subject to regulation and I suspect Jet Blue will
     may have to give up some NYC slots as part of their merger with Spirit. As
     @Mangar noted about commute times, connections between airports is a hard
     sell to flyers.

     
 10. SOBE ER DOC says:
     August 23, 2023 at 11:18 am
     
     @Larry
     
     As another former Filthadelphian I would happily move back any day. It’s
     the best kept secret in the NE. Great location. Lower cost of living than
     DC, NYC and BOS. Amazing green spaces. Resilient economy. Incredible
     educational institutions. World-class cultural scene. Amazing dining scene.
     Phenomenal healthcare. There a reason why so many New Yorkers are
     relocating to Philly.
     
     The city has character and a sense of community. Far better than all the
     new boom cities that lack a soul.

     
 11. OCTinPHL says:
     August 23, 2023 at 11:20 am
     
     @Larry – agree with your sentiments. I could never afford to live within a
     block of Central Park, but I live across the street from Fairmount Park –
     which is massive. And Philly is no cleaner or filthier than most major U.S.
     cities. Anyone can anecdotally say “I was just there and it is dirty….”
     Man, the last time I stayed south of Times Square, the street (40th St.)
     was a friggin war zone. YMMV.
     
     As for QR selling the code-share – it hasn’t started yet. I was about to
     buy PHL-DOH-SGN on QR last week, and put it off. Now QR is not selling it
     all. Perhaps they will add the code share some point, but it hasn’t yet.

     
 12. OCTinPHL says:
     August 23, 2023 at 11:25 am
     
     @ramcm7 – are asking whether any new entrant can make JFK a hub? B/c I
     think Delta would say that it has a hub there. (Calling Tim Dunn….)
     
     @SOBE ER DOC – everything you pointed out is true… where else can you find
     the concentration of the Barnes, PMA, Rodin Museum and PAFA within one
     mile? (And the Calder museum is coming to the Parkway as well.)

     
 13. Tim Dunn says:
     August 23, 2023 at 11:26 am
     
     Just to be clear, Delta bought US’ slots at LGA but grew JFK almost
     entirely through organic growth esp. when JFK was not slot-controlled. The
     FAA pulled slot controls at LGA and JFK at times post 9/11 and I believe
     post Great Recession to increase competitiveness and DL grew that way.
     Even before the US merger, AA asked the FAA to eliminate LGA slots to
     reduce delays while DL looked to grow. The difference between AA and DL in
     NYC is simply one of a vision of what each wanted to be.
     
     And the value of NYC is the huge number of corporate travel accounts in
     addition to the market size. Given that the NYC market is highly
     competitive, AA could build a PHL presence which they dominate but won’t
     have access to the corporate accounts or have a network size large enough
     to attract lots of high value cardholders.
     
     All of the cardholders in NYC can’t overcome the inability to operate a
     profitable airline network – which is why AA is moving to reduce its NYC
     network post NEA.
     
     The unit costs (CASM) for the A321XLR will support point to point
     international flights but will not be viable for connecting traffic. It is
     far more economic to fly widebodies, esp. new generation widebodies like
     the A330NEO or B787 if a route depends on a significant amount of
     connections.

     
 14. JQ says:
     August 23, 2023 at 11:31 am
     
     I wonder how they are going to compete with Delta and United. Both United
     and Delta are some of the largest airlines in the world and the largest in
     the United States of America.

     
 15. Scott says:
     August 23, 2023 at 11:33 am
     
     I think this understates some of the upside of PHL over NYC for AA. Yes, a
     lot of people live in New York and AA doesn’t have a great product to offer
     them. That was true even with JetBlue — AA still paled to UA’s huge
     presence at EWR and DL’s hubs at LGA and JFK.
     
     But PHL is an airport AA can dominate. Philly itself is a decent sized city
     but having good connection there suddenly makes AA a much better option for
     all the people living in the NE in places like Boston, Baltimore, DC,
     Richmond, western PA, etc. As someone who lives in DC, AA never had good
     connectivity to JFK and who wants to go through very risky NYC airspace to
     connect anyway? Now if AA can actually fly a bunch of good connecting
     flights from DC to PHL, I suddenly view AA as a pretty viable option to
     Europe. I guess CLT could also play that role but it’s a lot more out of
     the way for people in the NE, not to mention a horribly crowded and
     unpleasant airport. Say what you will about PHL but I’d take that anyway
     over CLT.

     
 16. TLU says:
     August 23, 2023 at 11:35 am
     
     MR SOBER ER DOC nails it. Just praying South Philly doesn’t go the way of
     douchebag hipster Brooklyn…

     
 17. Larry says:
     August 23, 2023 at 11:41 am
     
     @OCTinPHL I saw the AA QR codeshare for sale on my dates in December.
     
     As for the sh*thole moniker for PHL, it’s outdated too. Recent and current
     renovations (once complete) will make for nice public spaces. It’s much
     calmer and the TSA experience is 10x easier in PHL than NYC airports.
     Prices at restaurants and shops are more down to earth too. 15 minute
     relatively inexpensive train ride to downtown or 30th Street Amtrak
     station. Pretty good lounge options too now that the Centurion lounge
     overcrowding has eased a bit. And the thing I like most about it is that
     every terminal is connected airside and you can easily walk between them.
     Compare that to the multiple airports experience of JFK.
     
     Overall, aside from being close to home it’s a much more relaxing
     experience and I’d take it over EWR (where I fly out of much more than I
     wish) any day — or even JFK (albeit better lounge options and carrier
     choices at JFK). Remember that it’s not just about serving the city. The NE
     is a populous region and there are plenty of pax in South/Central/NJersey,
     Philly, Delaware, Baltimore, etc. that would fly out of PHL. I hope
     American goes all in with more international flights from PHL

     
 18. CW says:
     August 23, 2023 at 11:45 am
     
     I am not sure that I am grasping the premise of this article, and thus of
     course not sure I fully agree with it. There seems to be some insinuation
     here that the market and customer to be served is a NYC-only one who cares
     about convenience and minimizing connections. AA, from what I have seen,
     seems to be of the belief that there is a large swath of largely leisure
     customers across the country who do not fall into that category. They are
     one-off, price-sensitive, likely carrier-agnostic, and willing to do
     various things (rational or otherwise) to get the lowest fare. Data I have
     seen this summer regarding the demand for European travel in particular
     appears to validate that position.
     
     It would seem to me that AA is simply using PHL as a lower-cost catchment
     area from which to collect and serve that customer population. This does
     not strike me as inherently illogical and is consistent with how US used
     the hub years ago. So I am not sure what I am missing, other than that
     apparently NYC customers are *very* important and the #1 strategic
     objective should be to serve them before all others.

     
 19. OCTinPHL says:
     August 23, 2023 at 11:50 am
     
     @Larry – thanks. (I still think I’ll trek up to JFK to fly QSuites, unless
     AA PHL-DOH is significantly cheaper.)
     
     Terminal A-West is very nice as far as international terminals go. SOOO
     much better than flying int’l out of CLT, which is a sh!thole. (RDU is much
     nicer than CLT.) Centurion is still too small, but even so the wait is
     rarely more than 10 minutes. Hopefully the Flagship Lounge will open and be
     on par with the FL in LAX, DFW, etc. Because the A-B Admiral’s Club is a
     disgrace. I only use the Terminal F AC in when flying out of there.
     Finally, I don’t own a car and rely on SEPTA, but I rarely take the train
     to PHL. Service every 30 minutes is not a true airport service. (And it is
     60 minutes on weekends.) I will take the train to PHL if I have time…. But
     I almost always Uber home as I always seem to just miss that train and
     don’t feel like waiting 25 minutes when I can be home in 20 via Uber.
     (Another overlooked benefit of PHL is how close it is to Center City – as
     good as BOS is, nearly as good as DCA and SAN.)

     
 20. Arthur says:
     August 23, 2023 at 12:06 pm
     
     As a former New Yorker now in DC, I’m happy to consider PHL and an extra
     connection – if they price their TATL J competitively. That remains to be
     seen.

     
 21. lavanderialarry says:
     August 23, 2023 at 12:08 pm
     
     Philadelphia’s airport is a terrible one. Further, New York originating
     itineraries (or terminating ones) aren’t going to fly through Philadelphia
     to get to/from Europe. That’s ridiculous. NY is the largest gateway to
     Europe for a reason and the hassle of connecting in PHL will not work for
     anyone but a few (very few) card loyalists.
     
     Also, some fallacies in this article.
     
     First, American only operated a second JFK-FCO flight this summer, and only
     from July to August. It has operated a nonstop for years (seasonally) and
     in 2019, began resuming the season much earlier and running the flight
     longer, to the end of October.
     
     Second, Delta didn’t get big in NYC by swapping slots with USAirways, which
     it did, in 2009, trading slots at DCA for slots at LGA. Delta was already
     big in NY. It finally capitalized on assets it inherited at JFK from the
     1991 purchase of Pan Am’s TATL and JFK operation, and figured out how to
     use them. It was already big at LGA. It got bigger with the slot swap and
     turned LGA into a 250+ a day operation.
     
     Philadelphia is limited in its ability to be a meaningful TATL gateway for
     American. What’s left of the much diminished corporate wallet share isn’t
     as big in PHL as it once was, though the airport does have a considerable
     catchment area. The banks of flights were reduced at PHL and not returned
     to pre-pandemic levels. AA likes PHL because it has almost no competition
     to Europe from there. In fact, since AA can’t even make FRA/MUC work out of
     PHL and dropped those flights before COVID, ceding it to LH, it has zero
     competition in PHL. That’s what it likes the airport. Sadly, the yields and
     the potential are not there. They are in NYC.
     
     Long term, the only solution for AA to fix its NY problem is to find a way
     to acquire B6, which itself, runs an awful and unreliable operation with
     delays being the norm, and isn’t an airline business travelers want to fly,
     but it has the assets and the slots and given the lunacy of trying to by NK
     at a huge premium, combined with its operational challenges, B6 is putting
     itself in play. It’s not profitable enough to be meaningful. It will
     eventually have to shed assets and you better believe AA will go shopping
     for them. It may take a few years, but Jet Blue DBA as American Airlines
     will happen, eventually.

     
 22. SOBE ER DOC says:
     August 23, 2023 at 12:17 pm
     
     Not gonna lie, PHL as an airport has been on the struggle bus for some
     time, but progress has been made:
     
     1. AA up-gauging aircraft in the market has reduced airfield and air
     traffic congestion. Delays are not as horrific as they used to be.
     
     2. A-West is a very functional and is, honestly, a decent terminal for
     international arrival and departure…especially if you are connecting. Would
     take it over the other NE airports.
     
     3. Amenities have improved over the past decade. That said, there is
     NOTHING that can be done to improve B-C-D-E concourses without replacing
     them. They are crowded and far behind the investments made in the NYC
     airports.
     
     Everyone hates on PHL as an airport but, honestly, I would take that over
     the sh@tshow that CLT has become and EWR will always be owing to the
     congestion in NYC.

     
 23. OCTinPHL says:
     August 23, 2023 at 12:25 pm
     
     “Everyone hates on PHL as an airport but, honestly, I would take that over
     the sh@tshow that CLT has become and EWR will always be owing to the
     congestion in NYC.”
     
     I don’t fly through EWR enough to have an opinion, but CLT *is* the
     sh!tshow that all the Philly-haters say PHL is… and I’ve never bought into
     the “but the southern charm BS…” – CLT AA employees are much ruder than
     PHL’s, on average. Maybe I just know how to talk to PHL employees….

     
 24. MaxPower says:
     August 23, 2023 at 12:32 pm
     
     Twice now DOJ has helped delta strengthen or maintain their NYC position.
     Delta has plenty of “organic” growth on their own in NYCand should be
     applauded for it. Though one could seriously argue if their US LGA slot
     purchase years ago would be allowed today by DOJ since there was nothing
     organic about it and plenty of LCCs would’ve loved those LGA slots.
     
     However, DOJ first forced LGa slot divesting by aa-us at merger even though
     the combined portfolio was still significantly smaller than delta. That was
     the first major gift to delta to entrench their position.
     
     Now this… where DOJ effectively removed a true dual hub competitor in nyc
     to delta.
     The double standard is impressive by DOJ.
     
     But sure… delta wasn’t lobbying hard against the NEA… if you believe that,
     you’re naive, or just plain Dunn.

     
 25. Anthony says:
     August 23, 2023 at 12:48 pm
     
     As a Philadelphia resident born and raise, I must say Philly will never be
     on New York level but we don’t need to be on there level. It’s sound like
     you had a bad experience or two in Philly to call the city Filthadelphia.
     The city has come a long away and every time I drive downtown I constantly
     see cranes in the sky with continues construction of new buildings.
     
     You mention about less competition in the New York area for flights. All
     PHL has is basically AA so we don’t have any competition to begin with
     internationally outside of LCC for domestic and Mexico routes. I do agree
     AA New York strategy is a mess though

     
 26. Andrew says:
     August 23, 2023 at 12:50 pm
     
     Hopefully this will at least spur the restart of construction on the
     still-missing flagship lounge. The fact that the former admirals club in
     A-West has been closed since 2018-2019 (?) is beyond laughable at this
     point. Not to mention it was the largest, nicest space for a lounge
     anywhere in PHL. Any intel on that?

     
 27. Jason says:
     August 23, 2023 at 12:55 pm
     
     Besides complaining, what exactly is it that you think AA should do now,
     given their options, to serve the NYC market?

     
 28. artful dodger says:
     August 23, 2023 at 1:48 pm
     
     What AA should be doing, which would help its position enormously, is
     advocating to rollback the post-9/11 rules requiring suitcases to be picked
     up at port-of-entry and go back to allowing airside I:D transfers. This
     would make PHL (and every other hub) far more palatable. But having to do
     the current CBP/baggage/customs/dropoff/checking/security process makes
     transiting too much of a PITA, especially if you’re doing a long-haul to
     PHL to then get on a short-hop to NYC

     
 29. Anthony says:
     August 23, 2023 at 1:59 pm
     
     I agree with Jason – a lot of this Monday morning quarterbacking is besides
     the point. You say AA doesn’t have a viable strategy in New York. Well –
     why don’t you construct one?

     
 30. JKT says:
     August 23, 2023 at 2:02 pm
     
     Philadelphia is the fourth largest metro area in the country (yes, really;
     PHX and IAH are lying by “absorbing” burbs that PHL didn’t.)
     
     So it’s not wise to write as if PHL is tiny like Austin or Reno. There are
     a *lot* of travelers here. Making Philly fliers drive all the way to JFK to
     get an int’l flight is ignorant. Travel agents and airlines have been
     making them do it for decades, and a whole bunch of us Philly residents
     have had enough and we won’t do it anymore. It takes longer just to get
     across Staten Island as it does for us to get from the Philly burbs to PHL.
     
     You folks in NY have plenty of other flights to choose from out of JFK and
     EWR. Don’t have a hissy fit when AA decides to give a few more flights to
     PHL. And will it work? Yes, as a matter of fact, my travel friends and I
     are already considering going to CPH or NCE next year. Seriously. We go
     where we can get direct flights. No, we will not consider travel from JFK
     or IAD; we shouldn’t have to fight our way to Long Island or around the
     Beltway.

     
 31. Beachfan says:
     August 23, 2023 at 2:40 pm
     
     They have completely abandoned the west coast premium traveler. Who is
     going to sit in an Airbus 319 for 6 hours after a TATL in J.
     They have the premium A321T going LAX – NYC but crap to Philadelphia.

     
 32. OCTinPHL says:
     August 23, 2023 at 3:12 pm
     
     @Beachfan – c’mon, AA flies A321s to SAN, LAX, SFO, SEA, PHX, LAS, and DFW;
     737s to ORD. The A319 is relegated to places like IAH. Find one 6-hr flight
     from PHL that is on a A319. I don’t disagree that AA has given up on west
     coast premium travelers, or that the A321s out of PHL are crap. But 6 hours
     in A319 is hyperbolic.

     
 33. ted poco says:
     August 23, 2023 at 3:15 pm
     
     I would much rather connect through Phila then Charlotte.

     
 34. Tim Dunn says:
     August 23, 2023 at 3:27 pm
     
     There are a number of factually inaccurate statements about AA, DL and US
     in the comments and article here – and consequently people are coming to
     the wrong conclusions.
     
     DL had about 1/4 of the of the slots at LGA and US had nearly half before
     the DL/US slot swap – which was also before the AA/US merger – with AA a
     slightly lower percentage. US, led at that time by Doug Parker w/ Scott
     Kirby over network – said they could not use 1/4 of the slots – and were
     running turboprops on high frequencies within the NE. The LGA side of the
     slot swap was for 1/4 of the slots from US going to LGA – which put DL just
     under 1/2 of the slots – because DL intentionally did not want to go over
     50%.
     
     US had about 45% of the slots at LGA and DL had about 20% at the time of
     the slot deal; DL was willing to trade about 10% which put US at about 55%
     – close to what AA/US has now.
     
     The DOJ required divestitures of both sides at DCA and LGA but they were
     fairly routine and small and helped B6, WN and other LCCs.
     
     When AA merged w/ US, the DOJ said that AA/US could get no larger than US
     was after the slot deal so the equivalent of AA’s entire slot portfolio was
     divested – again to LCCs.
     
     AA and DL now post mergers (US and NW) have about 35 and 45% of LGA slots.
     AA is not incapable of matching DL’s size at LGA in key markets.
     
     AA was slightly larger than DL at JFK at the time DL closed its DFW hub and
     started to build JFK using widebodies that were flying domestic flights
     (the 764s were originally delivered as domesitc aircraft) and narrowbodies
     from DFW. DL’s growth at JFK was largely organic except for the DL-UA
     JFK-EWR slot deal which came after UA decided to leave JFK and EWR was
     still slot controlled. The DOJ blocked UA gaining any more slots at EWR but
     DL retained the JFK slots.
     
     DL wasn’t gifted anything in NYC and the DOJ didn’t hand them anything. US
     didn’t see value at LGA and both US and UA tried to gain slots at DCA and
     EWR respectively which were essentially blocked by the DOJ because of the
     size of those two carriers before those slot swaps. The net impact is that
     DL got larger in the NE and NYC. Slot controls at EWR ended because UA was
     not using its slots adequately – the exact same charge the FAA leveled
     against AA at JFK and LGA – which led to the NEA – which was overturned
     because antitrust immunized joint ventures are not allowed between two US
     carriers (other than the VERY SHORT LIVED intra-Hawaii JV which Gary
     managed to find)
     
     UA’s realization that EWR has been overhubbed and incapable of supporting
     the amount of flights they have scheduled recently has only further
     strengthened DL’s position in NYC as UA has been forced to shrink EWR but
     has been unable to get back into JFK.
     
     DL saw the value in NYC when neither AA or US did, built a two airport hub
     operation at LGA and JFK of the size each airport could support, acquired
     slots where it could, and has complied w/ FAA usage requirements, which has
     allowed JFK and LGA to remain slot controlled while EWR no longer is.
     
     AA’s current predicament in NYC is because they truly don’t have the size
     at JFK to build a hub the size that DL has at JFK or UA has at EWR. AA is
     without excuse for not being able to compete at LGA except for the domestic
     and international and transcon markets are all part of one large market and
     AA has been unable to compete in multiple parts of the market which DL and
     UA serve.
     AA tried to bulk up in NYC via the NEA even though it knew that type of
     arrangement was legally not possible – and they lost that gamble.
     
     We will find out what whether AA can truly be a global carrier w/o a strong
     global presence in NYC. 25 years ago, NYC was not a major hub but it now is
     for two airlines plus B6 and AA as a secondary player.

     
 35. NSL14 says:
     August 23, 2023 at 4:34 pm
     
     Tired old trite statements about Philadelphia. Seriously
     Gary…Filthadelphia? What’s next, you’re going to bring up the snowball
     pelting of the drunk as a skunk Santa 55 years ago as a way to characterize
     a city that has come a long way in the last decade. By the way, that Santa
     was so disreputable and drunk he almost deserved what he got, which by the
     way was started by a future mayor of Philadelphia. I was at JFK not that
     long ago and it’s just not a great airport. PHL has a lot of work to do,
     but it and the City have cleaned up a lot and PHL is greatly improved since
     you wrote that one-sided trashy article 5 years ago. PHL would be a lot
     better if AA would cooperate more with PHL management and be willing to
     step up, much like Delta has been doing at JFK. PHL would be a much better
     airport if AA didn’t control so many of its gates.

     
 36. Johnny D. says:
     August 23, 2023 at 4:35 pm
     
     A lot here I agree with. NYC is a huge, rich metropolis which offers great
     opportunities that aren’t matched elsewhere. But … Both DL and (esp) UA
     have large operations, and it is the requisite minimal destination for any
     serious overseas carrier. Both diminish the TATL options for AA, with a
     smaller footprint. Why not shift resources to PHL, which is the 7th largest
     MSA in the US, and in which AA could operate without serious competition.
     Plus there’s real opportunity to filling narrowbody Airbus jets to European
     destinations. (Full disclosure: former NYC resident / current metro Phila
     resident)

     
 37. T says:
     August 23, 2023 at 5:17 pm
     
     I have been to some pretty terrible airports in the last year including st
     martin, Belize,, bahamas, and ponta delgado. Granted these airports are not
     in the United States. But the real issue is the airline. Would you rather
     spend 2 hours checking in at a new check in in Buenos Aires at aerolineas
     argentina or 5 minutes at United? If the first plane is delayed you often
     spend little time in the connecting airport. Besides a east is fine and the
     centurion lounge has great food. The real issue is american underutilizes
     it gates at PHL too and hence squats on them. So who owns the qr gste? If
     the airport was well managed it would be working to get turkish or
     Emirates. Lufthansa can fly eurowings discovery as it knows the product
     American offers.

     
 38. Miami Mike says:
     August 23, 2023 at 5:19 pm
     
     As a 10 year EXP, I will never fly out of out Philadelphia. I simply do not
     like the travel connections, the lounges, and more. Even the AA crew do not
     like it. I have been told its all due to the USAirways past.

     
 39. Dave Flaat says:
     August 23, 2023 at 5:48 pm
     
     As an AA Flyer & Citicard member, I WOULD MUCH PREFER to connect thru
     Philly than any NYC airport, and Charlotte.
     
     I live in the middle of the USA and try and avoid both of them them going
     to Europe.
     
     My experience is all 3 NYC Airports & ORD are like flying from a 3rd world
     airport. Charlotte is much better, but, it’s got it’s share of problems
     too.
     
     Let’s hear it for the City of Brotherly & Sisterly Love!

     
 40. jns says:
     August 23, 2023 at 6:07 pm
     
     It sounds like a continuation of death by 1,000 cuts by AA. I have flown
     through Philadelphia only once and I was not impressed by the airport nor
     the Philly cheesesteak I had there.

     




LEAVE A REPLY

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Comment *

Name *

Email *

Website

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Notify me of follow-up comments by email.

Notify me of new posts by email.





Δ

 * Facebook
 * Instagram
 * RSS
 * Twitter



CURRENT HOT DEALS!

Here's a link to our Advertiser Disclosure

CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® Mastercard®
Earn 65,000 miles AAdvantage miles are the currency I've redeemed most. Bilt
World Elite Mastercard®
Earn Points Paying Rent (up to 100,000 each year) plus earn 3x at restaurants;
2x on travel; as long as you make at least 5 purchases per month. No annual fee.
Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card
Earn 75,000 bonus miles when you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months
(See rates and fees)

SEARCH

Search for:

FREE EMAIL NEWSLETTER!

Enter your Email:



RECENT POSTS

 * Passenger Packs Diet Coke In Checked Bag On Flight To Europe, Fails To
   Declare It [Roundup]
 * Why Philadelphia Is No Substitute For New York As An American Airlines Hub
 * Delta Confirms Changes Coming To Delta Sky Club Access Via American Express
   Card
 * American Airlines Will Start Giving Customer Upgrade Seats To Pilots Instead
 * Flight Attendant Sits On Galley Floor Watching Videos While Denying Passenger
   Drink [Roundup]

RECENT COMMENTS

 * TravelWarr on Delta Confirms Changes Coming To Delta Sky Club Access Via
   American Express Card
 * harry hv on Delta Confirms Changes Coming To Delta Sky Club Access Via
   American Express Card
 * Carol Lewis on Passenger Packs Diet Coke In Checked Bag On Flight To Europe,
   Fails To Declare It [Roundup]
 * Rup on Delta Confirms Changes Coming To Delta Sky Club Access Via American
   Express Card
 * Allen on Delta Confirms Changes Coming To Delta Sky Club Access Via American
   Express Card



TOP POSTS & PAGES

 * Flight Attendant Lets Passenger Take Nude Photos In The Galley
 * American Airlines Will Start Giving Customer Upgrade Seats To Pilots Instead
 * Delta Confirms Changes Coming To Delta Sky Club Access Via American Express
   Card
 * 4 Ways To Get A Free Empty Seat Next To You On Southwest Airlines
 * Airline To Passenger, “I Guess We Just Don’t Have Room For You" Try Again In
   Two Days [Roundup]

ABOUT GARY LEFF

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and
frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.

Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie
Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast
Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled
in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of
consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

© 2023 Miles and Points Consulting LLC - All Rights Reserved.

Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written
permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts
and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Miles and
Points Consulting LLC with appropriate and specific directions to the original
content.



Archives  |  Privacy Policy  |  RSS