FOREVER A PAWN...

..in Washington's political games. Last week many outlets reported that AA would cut flights to as many as 30 smaller U.S. cities as the CARES Act requirement to serve them expires on September 30. Politicizing small community air service yet again.

When it is beneficial to make a commercial case in Washington like getting a merger approved, the small community pawn will benefit from a larger network. Whether a merger, slot transaction, geopolitical event or an economic downturn, the small community air service pawn is moved. Once again, the pawn is being played to win political support for a CARES 2 package. But where can it move?

Of the network carriers, AA is best positioned to make a move because its regional flying is performed by wholly owned carriers.

But, if the network carriers are going to be smaller, then some pre-COVID hubs are going to be smaller. Smaller hubs mean less connectivity. Less connectivity means that fewer regional flights will be necessary to fill fewer mainline airplanes. Somewhere I read that people really have not been focused on service cuts. Really?

Pawns in chess move forward. Each network carrier began with 8 pawns. With 1 pawn left, and no obvious move, a pawn promotion is unlikely.

#swelbar