American 767 wrote:ADrum23 wrote:alasizon wrote:PHL but I suspect that it will be a 2019 add as by then it will be a bit more defined what is happening with the 333s and there are a few other higher priority adds that only consume a single aircraft.
What about DFW-TLV?
That might work, because there is a large Jewish population in the Dallas area. And no one has ever flown DFW-TLV nonstop. But it won't be the first route to TLV American will launch. First would be PHL, as pointed above since no airline has yet ever flown PHL-TLV nonstop, or maybe JFK and MIA even though El Al and Delta already have nonstop JFK-TLV flights and El Al added MIA-TLV not too long ago. That's only if the issue with former TWA employees in TLV is resolved, which is why American still doesn't fly there. If DFW-TLV is launched, the right aircraft would be the 787-9.
LAX-TLV, that might be too long of a stretch even for a 787, unless they restrict the payload (number of seats sold and/or cargo).
* Dallas has a relatively small Jewish population, less than 1% of the total population and ranks #15 in Jewish population when compared to other metropolitan areas. The top cities in terms of pure population numbers are commonly recognized as follows:
# Jewish Population - as a % of Total Population - Metro Area
2M - 11% - NYC / New Jersey
650K - 4.8% - Los Angeles area
555K - 10% - South Florida (Ft. Lauderdale / Miami)
* Flying from Dallas would eliminate connection opportunities for at a minimum, 8 (or arguably 10 if you include ORD & DTW) of the top 15 metro areas in terms of Jewish population, so I agree that DFW would most likely not be the #1 priority. PHL ranks #6 and would allow logical connections for essentially 100% of the U.S. population where as South Florida ranks # 2 in population. So I would presume the top 2 priorities to be those 2 cities, PHL based primarily on connections and MIA on O&D. However, Jewish population is only a percentage of travelers to Israel, business and tourism have to be considered as well so that's another analysis but I wouldn't expect very different results.
* US flew PHL-TLV starting in 2009
* Discussion regarding the pension liability issue with the former TWA employees needs to go away, the "NW DC-9 comments" are at risk of being upstaged. If an inherited liability which posed a risk of a seizure of assets were the case for AA, they would have stopped flying to TLV effective the day of the merger. I personally have yet to see a comment from AA regarding this supposed liability, so in my mind it remains pure speculation. If it exists, someone please show us.