Regardless of the size of America West's operations at Port Columbus, it is still a hub. Flights operate in banks with passengers connecting from cities in the America West system through CMH to their final destination just like in other hubs. During the 4 o'clock bank, our largest, much of the America West Express traffic is connecting traffic.
Regarding the hub's growth potential, I think the last post put it best. America West's main focus continues to be the primary hub in Phoenix, which is easily understandable given the amount of potential new cities that could be served profitably from PHX. There are many cities, especially in the Southeastern United States, that could support America West service into Phoenix. As long as this potential remains, Columbus, and Las Vegas as well, will take a back seat to Phoenix.
Of course, I would like to see increased service by America West from Columbus. As previously stated, Mayor Coleman and the Columbus Chamber of Commerce has been looking for airlines to serve cities from Columbus with high O&D numbers that are not currently served nonstop. Seattle, San Francisco, Kansas City, and Miami are all high on the list. I seriously believe that the demand does exist to warrant nonstop flights to these cities by America West, especially SFO and SEA. Our sole Los Angeles flight is constantly overbooked, and a large amount of our connecting traffic that is filtered through PHX goes to Seattle. The only problem, however, is yield. Even though CMH-LAX is high in demand, if it's full of low-fare passengers, it's not going to produce the yield that America West needs to sustain the route, which I believe is the reason we do not have nonstops to cities such as Seattle and additional service to Los Angeles. With more connecting traffic, however, maybe that could change. But that's a different story.
As for the hub's long-term viability, I believe Columbus will continue to remain an integral part of the America West system. Mr. Parker stated when he came to Columbus to celebrate the hub's 10th anniversary, that CMH does make money for the airline, and that it's future is solid. Do I think the hub will ever grow to the likes of Delta's hub in Cincinnati or USAirways' hub in Pittsbugh? Definitely not. Do I think the potential for significant growth exists in the future? Yes. Currently, passenger numbers at Port Columbus are down 6% for the year compared to the national average of 11%. Hopefully once passenger numbers return to pre-Sept. 11 levels, America West will resume the expansion plans that were to take place before the attacks. I guess time will tell.