greenair727 wrote:^The Akron MSA includes suburbs of Cleveland--not Akron. And even if they were Akron suburbs, it doesn't mean people won't drive 35 minutes to Hopkins Airport vs having to connect somewhere because they're flying out of CAK. Airlines--at least smart ones--do not look at MSA populations, but air catchment areas which more closely align with CMSA over MSA. In this case, PIT did a far better job convincing BA to operate there than did the useless air development chief at Hopkins that, once again, failed at his job. This time, significantly. Yes, PIT offered cash, but CLE could say why CLE is a better deal overall, but he's incompetent, so he can't. Ultimately, Robert Kennedy is responsible because he kept this guy who apparently was hired by Ricky Smith. I hope that Kennedy reads this thread so he can see that the PIT announcement today is truly unacceptable for the entire Cleveland market. If Jackson understood what the airport meant for the city, he would take actions and heads would roll, but he doesn't understand air travel or the airport, so likely, nothing will happen and Cleveland will decline further as Pittsburgh grows and prospers.
How many years behind PIT was CLE on the Iceland front? 1-2 years I think and then they landed two carriers. If Kennedy is true to his word "just waiting on them to have the right plane to connect CLE to a TATL market that has never been served from Ohio (IIRC)", then let's hold of judging until the end of the announcement season until Oct. I'd guess, the $37MM FIS improvement is a must after this year === no way to add another carrier to the mix in the same time frame with a 200 pax plane.
Regarding the comments about what measurements each airline looks at when determining market, there are many that they view internally and, I'm sure, hire McKinsey, or other large management consulting firm, to assist them with especially if they are foreign carriers and less familiar with the US.
Where PIT cleans CLE's clock is the 10 year (not exactly sure???) CDG service they have enjoyed vs. CLE. But that's with Mok and Smith. Let's see what Kennedy can do....he's got 60 days to deliver on his prediction.