American still doesn't get it -- it is a big enough airline to offer more point-to-point service. You have the same work force at origin & destination ends, but you would need much less at the hubs. Yes, there will always be a need for hubs, and many passengers will still need to transfer at some airport (not necessarily a hub) but more point-to-point service spreads out traffic and lessens congestion at the hubs. Piedmont (of very happy memory) started hubs as a way of competing with much larger airlines like American. john -- John F. Kurtzke, C.S.C. Department of Mathematics 278 Buckley Center University of Portland Portland, OR 97203 503-943-7377 kurtzke@up.edu