The way I understand it, an airline leases a gate, it's for a fee, per year, or per years. So PHL does not get more cash for the flights of that gate. Just the neg. fee for the gate. Now the airport does get cash from the take offs and landings. Based on the G/T weight of that a/c. So a SW a/c 737 pays much less than a US Int. flight [75,76, A300] would. Maybe three to one. At best it's a wash, or mabe a little towards US favior.
And why not to US. We were there in the early 80's, with 3 or 4 gates when Eastern went under. We took over the Eastern gates. When the Midway hub went down, we took over those gates. You might say we bailed PHL out on those deals. Nobody wanted those gates. US had a large voice in PHL finishing A East, just a steel frame when I first flew in there. We got a gate or two there for over flow. And we took over the lease for the old TWA hanger as well.
The A West terminal, yep, it was US. It's hard to believe, but there is a old hanger on the other side of the field, with one jetway. Thats were the Int. flights pulled into.
PHL on the whole has in spite of 2BK of US has come out on the good side.
PHL's problem is that the airport is run by crooks, looking to pad their pockets. Anybody see that they are digging up the ramp again. Take a guess who's relation has a hand in that.