Originally Posted by
Dobbo_Dobbo
AA have obviously struggled but it's surprised me that ORD seems to have survived. This on the B788 and PHL on the A332 should provide them with the platform to succeed on those routes. Whether success here would lead to anything in the future I have no idea.
Obviously, as more routes become viable direct from MAN, BA's shuttle will become increasingly less competitive and one day they may become vulnerable.
ORD and PHL makes sense for AA as they don't have non-stop competition and they are both AA fortress hubs. Both are long established and probably have reasonable O&D as well. Why get involved in the bloodbath at NYC? As you say the modern 330/787s have a good hard product & fuel costs- although the 787 seems to struggle to keep to time.
I don't think the Shuttle is going anywhere - lots of O&D, lots of connections, not just on BA. There is a fair amount of, slightly, irrational & pathological hatred towards the BA shuttle (I get the history) but really the business model is no different to EK, EY, QR, CX, SQ, DL or AA, its just the hub location is more exotic!