Brian Znotins

Frontera at ORD might be my favourite sandwich in the world. Always make a point of grabbing one whenever I'm there.

Yes, very runnable. One of the most enjoyable urban runs I've ever done.

Geez, if only I had some inside info about AA's planned route network for Summer 2026, I could have delayed this summer's PRG trip a year and flown nonstop from the PHL!

Get out early if you want to see the big sights crowd-free. Beautiful at sunrise (photo).

news.aa.com/news/news-de...

DFWZRH last flew in 2006! Before the iPhone even existed!

I think we can call DFWZRH 'new' at this point.

Nope, almost 80%. I imagine the (relatively) short stage leaves a lot of fuel-related weight off the plane.

Imagine how much faster DCA would have been!

We have an 0825 in Aug, and we'll see if we can get it a little earlier. Also in future schedules as well!

Ah nm, I see it's the other direction. 1000 too late. We'll take a look at that.

Agh, hate forcing you to IAD! Is the 0630 CMHDCA too early and the 1155 too late?

No doubt. I seek out dirt whenever I can!

American Airlines is ready for a “Suite Summer” as new premium Flagship Suite seats go on sale next week American unveils the routes for its newly designed Boeing 787-9 aircraft featuring the private Flagship Suite seats. The inaugural international flight offering the premium Flagship Suite experience w...

Thrilled to have our new Boeing 787-9 "P" aircraft on-property. Will sell them this weekend on ORD-LHR/LAX to start, then as more deliveries come in, PHL-LHR/ZRH. Finally, for the winter, we'll get DFW-BNE on the P which was intended from the start. 51J/32W/161Y -- loving that "P"remium config!

We'll have these airplanes in service sooner than the XLR, for sure! Stay tuned!

Would you rather fly nonstop to ATH or connect? If you cared about travel, where would you rather live? Which city is better-off? CLT or SAT?

CLT does not have a competition problem. CLT has the same competition as SAT, with a bonus hub built on top of it. With all the associated benefits. (22/22)

So, Mr. McGee, do you think CLT would rather have the air service of SAT? By your share metrics, things would certainly look better, but I would hazard a guess that the city leaders of SAT would be thrilled to have a CLT-sized hub in their city. (21/22)

Transform AA’s hub-level service to that of a spoke-level of service, and CLT has essentially the same number of flights as SAT. That baseline level of flying exists already. AA’s hub, at its core, is incremental. (20/22)

Take away AA’s hub in CLT and the level of competitive volume is essentially the same as SAT. AA’s hub doesn’t limit competition, it is additive to a baseline level of competition. (19/22)

And most importantly, when companies look to establish bases of operation and headquarters, air service is among the most important criteria in their decision. (18/22)

Further, they get the additional economic benefits of a huge airport and all the related employees, augmented by travelers connecting through CLT buying food (is brisket a thing in NC?) and other items. (17/22)

Not only do the citizens of Charlotte get dozens more nonstop destinations and frequencies because of AA’s hub, they also get the economic benefits of thousands of AA employees based in CLT. (16/22)

Due to AA's hub, the citizens of CLT benefit with nonstop service to ATH. But this flight is enabled by the 75% of seats filled with pax connecting from other cities. Yes, AA has 100% of the nonstop seats to ATH (panic! – 100% share!), but the alternative is no nonstop service at all. (15/22)

This summer, AA is launching new nonstop service from CLT to ATH. 75% of the seats on that flight will be comprised of connections. This CLT to ATH flight would simply not be viable on local demand alone (only 25% of the seats would be filled). (14/22)

By establishing a hub in CLT, AA has 88% of the seat share in the market. The top carrier in SAT has 36%. But much like the gas stations in Williamsville, if you take away AA’s hub (assume AA’s non-hub presence in CLT is the same as SAT), CLT has 118 daily flights (compared to SAT’s 126). (13/22)

Compare that to SAT, a city of roughly the same size. SAT doesn’t have an airline hub operating there. Thus, there are no (few) connecting passengers to fill up seats and build capacity not related to the SAT demand itself. As a result, SAT has only 127 daily departures to 49 destinations. (12/22)

But it’s not the demand in CLT driving this outsized level of air service. 75% of the travelers on (AA) flights in CLT are connecting. They could connect anywhere, but because AA (Piedmont) established and grew a hub in CLT, they connect in CLT. (11/22)

Now, back to the aviation industry. Charlotte is a city of 2.6MM people (per the 2020 census). San Antonio also has 2.6MM people. CLT has incredible air service because AA has built a hub there. 745 daily industry departures to 191 destinations. Amazing for a city of 2.6MM people. (10/22)

Never mind that the same three gas stations and 12 pumps which were there before Buc-ee’s came along are still there. And in fact, in order to attract travelers, those three gas stations have to compete more aggressively than before. (9/22)

Yet some competition hack comes along and says “whoa, Williamsville has a competition problem, 100 of the 112 gas pumps in the town are controlled by one company!”. Never mind that 100 gas pumps have nothing to do with the demand of Williamsville citizens. (8/22)

The citizens of Williamsville also now get a huge new gas station and store. They have brisket sandwiches, kolaches, and nugget options they never had before. And could never have had, because their town wasn’t big enough to support a gas station and store of that size. (7/22)

Those travelers could stop anywhere on the interstate, but they now stop in Williamsville because that’s where Buc-ee’s is. And the citizens of Williamsville benefit. Not just because they have more employment, more tax revenue, and more economic activity. (6/22)

Those 100 gas pumps are not there for the local citizens of Williamsville. They are there for the thousands of travelers now looking to stop, get gas, and buy brisket sandwiches (among other things). (5/22)