More airlines committed to IAH! (Houston, Dallas: credit, living, vs.)

[JimBaker488]

Originally Posted by Dopo

Again, who cares if we lose the "hub" I just want cheap flights.

Maybe not to you, but the business traveler (who's tickets are paid for by his/her corporate employer) is the bread-and-butter of airline revenues and they expect and often insist upon nonstop service which come primarily from a hub-carrier.

[gabetx]

Originally Posted by Truth713

no all my ex- still love me, and half are still on my facebook page

Winning!

[Cowboys fan in Houston]

Originally Posted by JimBaker488

United's network is not just the envy of the American aviation industry, it's the envy of the whole global aviation industry and in that network IAH, at best, is the 4th most important Hub. The United-Continental combination was the match made in heaven when it comes to creating an aviation network that maximizes the synergies of far-flung geographic locations.
Yes Houston will probably always be a hub in that network because it's difficult to see another available option in the South for domestic service that's as attractive as Houston, but many assets used internationally can be shifted to other hubs/locations resulting in a gradual decrease of IAHs prominence in the international component of the network as evidenced recently by the addition of Paris service at SFO after discontinuing the same service at IAH.

Man, there are so many things wrong with that.

First off, IAH is no way UA's 4th most important hub. There is no way to really rank their hubs in order of importance since they all serve different purposes:

-Chicago O'Hare is UA's "Jack of all trades" hub (similar to DFW for AA and ATL for DL). They have service to Latin America, Europe, Asia, North America, and an extensive domestic network.
-San Francisco is United's Asian gateway with some service to Europe. The domestic network is limited to major cities in the Eastern and Central parts of the US as well as smaller and major cities on the West Coast.
-Newark is the parimary gateway to Europe with some service to Asia and Latin America. Its domestic network is somewhat limited, but more extensive than San Francisco.
-Washington DC is the gateway to Africa and secondary gateway to Europe. The opperation is more O&D driven and less focused on connections.
-Denver is a solely domestic hub, but has the most domestic destinations of any airport in the US.
-Los Angeles is a focus city that serves O&D to Europe, Asia, and Mexico with limited connections

Now then, that brings us to Houston. Houston is United's number one Latin American gateway with extensive domestic service and some European service and flights to Tokyo and Lagos. Without Houston, United has nothing worth while in Latin America. Houston serves a function that no other United hub could take over: Latin America gateway. Houston has the geography and is the 4th largest local market to Latin America in the US (Miami, Los Angeles, New York, Houston, Dallas, and Chicago make up the top 6 in order and there is a huge drop off after Chicago). Newark would never be able to serve that purpose because its too far north and DC is too far north and does not have the local market.

Now then, there is no ranking of hubs. None. You may be able to argue that Chicago is the most important, but after that, they cannot be ranked.

[CDeb]

If IAH wasn't important to United, they wouldn't have been throwing a fit about competition at HOU.

[JimBaker488]

Originally Posted by CDeb

If IAH wasn't important to United, they wouldn't have been throwing a fit about competition at HOU.

I imagine they were upset given the size of investment they've made in IAH over the years, and then also being really frustrated knowing the kind of bozos in Houston's city-hall and city-council they are stuck doing business with.

[MikeyAusmus]

Originally Posted by JimBaker488

They picked DFW because there's a hub there today and there's no doubt there will be in the future. On the other hand there's more uncertainty about a hub at IAH ? And being a satellite airport to DFW should not be viewed as an achievement for Houston.

No duh DFW is one of Spirit's hubs! They picked to fly to DFW first because of its close proximity to IAH (which I clearly stated in my last post). I am sure Spirit will connect IAH to more of it's hubs in the future, particularly FLL.

The only thing wrong with IAH is United Airlines!!! United Airlines is the #1 cause of this entire IAH traffic issue!

[MikeyAusmus]

Originally Posted by JimBaker488

I imagine they were upset given the size of investment they've made in IAH over the years, and then also being really frustrated knowing the kind of bozos in Houston's city-hall and city-council they are stuck doing business with.

Refresh my drink again, but how long has "United" hubbed at IAH??? Not years thats for d*** sure!! Continental was there for decades. Continental made the investments at IAH. United completely destroyed anything good that was going on for Continental. United is NOT Continental. Continental was an amazing, customer service driven, top class airline. United represents the EXACT OPPOSITE of what Continental stood for. So don't tell me that United has invested in Houston all these years because all they have done to this city is SUBTRACT!!!!

Houston City Council is not stupid, they are not bozos either and they fully understand United totally gave the city of Houston the shaft!! Continental knew how to please Houston. I am PROUD that my city made this decision and it's just unfortunate that United Airlines cannot accept the fact that competition in Houston is real and GOING TO HAPPEN! See in business, particually when dealing with a local government, you can't have it your way all the time. It takes some "give and take" but United doesn't know the definition of "give".

[JimBaker488]

Originally Posted by MikeyAusmus

Refresh my drink again, but how long has "United" hubbed at IAH??? Not years thats for d*** sure!! Continental was there for decades. Continental made the investments at IAH. United completely destroyed anything good that was going on for Continental. United is NOT Continental. Continental was an amazing, customer service driven, top class airline. United represents the EXACT OPPOSITE of what Continental stood for. So don't tell me that United has invested in Houston all these years because all they have done to this city is SUBTRACT!!!!

Houston City Council is not stupid, they are not bozos either and they fully understand United totally gave the city of Houston the shaft!! Continental knew how to please Houston. I am PROUD that my city made this decision and it's just unfortunate that United Airlines cannot accept the fact that competition in Houston is real and GOING TO HAPPEN! See in business, particually when dealing with a local government, you can't have it your way all the time. It takes some "give and take" but United doesn't know the definition of "give".

Earth to MikeyAusmus, earth to MikeyAusmus, Continental does not exist anymore ! Do you understand, you've got to quit living in the past, you need to deal with the reality of todays world.

[skdsm]

I feel that flying to/from Houston is a very expensive compared to the other major cities. I rarely see airlines offering good deals or cheap tickets. I read somewhere long back that Houston airports charge higher taxes and hence costlier tickets.

[BCEagles01]

As a United employee ( started with Continental ) I can say Houston IS our most important hub. Houston ( Bush ) is one of the highest yielding hubs of ANY of the airlines in the country. Certainly top 2-3. All due to Oil and energy.

In terms of yield$ it is a moneymaker. IAH has some of the highest fares in the country.

It's the most important hub because of one thing. Again....OIL.

All the contracts Air France carries through Paris on to Africa and the middle east in the oil business. The multiple flights a day on British Airways. And Houston-Amsterdam. I can say KLM and ourselves do well on that route.

Houston-Lagos while it picks up of a good portion
of the nigerian population in Houston and Dallas is aimed at energy and oil people. No more 4,5,6 hour connecting times in Paris,Amsterdam,Frankfurt,etc

BEFORE the merger Houston had more flights per day than O'Hare. Like 675 to 660. Not much,but we had more.

Even with the recent cut in Paris service, Houston STILL has more flights per day than any other hub in our system. That includes,Chicago,Newark ( New York ), Washington DC ( Dulles ), Denver, San Fran, etc. Major business centers in this country.

Houston isn't going anywhere. We'll surely add flights in the future.

But yes....maybe some here don't think so,but yes Houston is the crown jewel in the network. It makes the company alot of $$$. All due to Oil and Energy.

To think the company is going to let other airlines make major headway into Houston is silly.


They'll spite the mayor a bit,but they're not dumb.