MAH,
this thread is about MIA and DL is not anywhere close to trying to challenge AA's hub at MIA although it is likely that they will add more domestic and some select int'l routes from there - but for now, DL's focus is on the west coast.
I presume you are referring to LAX.
I have no problem with acknowledging that AA can be a niche carrier at LGA and JFK but I once again make the point that there is no example of a US carrier being a niche carrier in someone else's hub - in this case two other carriers' hubs in NYC.
And again you can talk about the traffic share all you want... but the real focus of a company is revenue. If Dl can use its assets to generate higher revenues and focus its more limited resources on local passengers that generate the highest amount of revenue, then DL can indeed be a viable competitor in the local LAX market from a revenue standpoint. And it is also possible that UA is taking the same strategy, esp. in light of the fact that they have two hubs on the west coast right now, both of which are highly dependent on regional carriers which will be harder and harder to maintain.
As for MIA - which is the topic of this thread - I have long believed that AA would not try to split the Latin operation between CLT or other US hubs. Killing the CLT-GIG flight without any attempt to move it to another hub is an indication that AA isn't interested in adding a bunch of capacity from multiple hubs which will make defending MIA harder to do.
The same principle applies for the Atlantic. AA is faced with JFK and PHL and to a lesser extent MIA which all have fairly large amounts of local traffic. CLT has very little local traffic but connects a whole lot of the US to Europe - but has done it at reduced yields because of US' low labor costs.
AA's strategy on the west coast is completely opposite of on the east coast. AA has ONE hub which has viable int'l potential and even UA's exec asserted that LAX is too fragmented and too limited for any carrier to dominate it as carriers do in other hubs.
http://www.thestreet.com/story/12734440/1/defiant-united-ceo-assures-earnings-gains-chides-delta.html?puc=yahoo&cm_ven=YAHOO
He also threw pmUA maintenance, DL, and a whole lot of other parties under the bus with his comments but there is probably some truth to all he says.
And as much as he wants to believe otherwise, DL is succeeding on the west coast, and it is not just restricted to SEA.
The fact that UA has 3 gateways to Asia from the western US, the same as DL, while AA has 1 can't be missed.
In contrast, AA has 4 east coast hubs alone, each with Europe service.
rationalizing the network is the first step to answering the fleet questions.
