4 ms·

Can you clarify why it serves the hub and spoke model?

• wlesieutre 9y ago
  The only routes with enough people to fill an A380 are from one hub to another. If you flew Buffalo to Chicago to Denver to Colorado Springs, the Chicago to Denver leg could be on an A380 combined with people on tons of other itineraries that use the same hub-to-hub connection. But airlines are moving toward more small flights that just get you from one place to another without routing through the same central points. Maybe you'd fly direct, or maybe you'd fly to Chicago and then straight to Colorado Springs without going through Denver. Without the hub/spoke model there's no individual flight with so many people on it.
  • jsjohnst 9y ago
    Chicago - Denver is too short a flight to justify an A380 even if it’s full. Nothing short of NYC to SF or NYC to LAX would likely be justified.
  • bluGill 9y ago
    Even when a hub->hub flight is that full it might make sense to run two smaller planes. People who arrive a little earlier get the earlier flight and get there sooner. If there is mechanical problems at least half the customers get there (probably more than half as you can fill empty seats) and are happy. If not enough people buy tickets one day you park a plane and fly a full plane instead of a half full one.