In Airline Shift, More Nonstops Make Schedule

[whlinder]

Link to article, registration probably required
www.bugmenot.com for a login if you don't want to register.

Passengers, rejoice. The big airlines are starting to cave in to their low-fare competitors, adding direct flights, from Hartford to Los Angeles or to Columbus, Ohio.

This movement could turn out to be one of the biggest shifts in the industry since it first adopted the hub-and-spoke approach after deregulation in the late 1970's. Already, major airlines have added 134 nonstop routes in the last year, and flights promise to be cheaper than they have been in the past.

Even with the shift, direct flights make up only 10.7 percent of domestic routes, but that proportion is up from 9.3 percent in 2003, according to Back Aviation Solutions, an industry consulting group. Still, airline executives hope this trend will lure more people onto airplanes, and if this brings in more profitable business, then airlines are likely to put on even more direct flights.

Aren't all flights nonstop from one airport to wherever it lands? So 100% of flights are nonstop. Are they saying that 10.7% of all the possible domestic markets have nonstop service? 10.7% of flights are not to/from a hub? :huh: