I'm not certain I agree with this statement. The majors have destroyed = the market for medium sized airports. The carrier in question did not = advertise in the market for years. Then when the commuter took over = they would not allow them to advertise. They offered no discounted = fares and extremely limited the number of seats available on these = flights. They were not allowed to sell seats above whatever the magic = number was. YNG-CAK-ORD. CAK traffic blocked warranted blocking those = reservations. The reservation centers actively discouraged travellers = from using the local airport. They would always "suggest" Cleveland or = Pittsburgh as an alternative and point out the significant differences = in fares. As an example before USAir commuter pulled out of the market = it was cheaper to fly from Erie (ERI) Pa to Tampa (TPA) through = Pittsburgh (PIT) than to fly YNG-PIT-TPA. We're talking appx $115 = cheaper from Erie. No fare paying passenger is going to pay that. So = you drive to Pittsburgh. Then the carrier says we get no traffic from = your airport and pulls out. Al ----- Original Message -----=20 From: David Mueller=20 To: AIRLINE@LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU=20 Sent: Friday, May 03, 2002 6:26 AM Subject: Re: If I ran United... On Thursday, May 2, 2002, at 04:41 PM, Dennis W Zeuch wrote: > Would this be allowed? Aren't airlines like a public utility in many > ways? > They have to provice a reasonable service to all of America? > Have to offer some service , even with those RJ's to everyone No they don't. There are a handful of markets covered by the federal Essential Air Services Act, and thus subsidized by the federal government. However this program has been shrinking in recent years. Airlines are like any other private business in the US, they can = choose to serve or not serve any market they wish. If a particular market can't support profitably even a J31 flight to the closest mega-hub, = then the airline just won't get served, unless an EAS subsidy can be = obtained. -- David Mueller / HNL kawika42@mac.com http://www.quanterium.com *** Read the Airline List FAQ at http://airlinefaq.tripod.com ***