[k1052]

Originally Posted by Kngkyle

That listing makes American's network look more impressive than it actually is. Of all their flights to Europe, only 1 is actually year around - London. All of the rest - Amsterdam, Paris, Dublin, Venice, Rome, Manchester, Barcelona - are all seasonal summer service. AA has really given up on ORD-Europe for business travelers and now caters primarily to seasonal tourism traffic. UA on the other hand flies bigger planes (albeit older) to many more year-round destinations. And their joint venture partner, Lufthansa, is considerably bigger at ORD than AA's joint venture partner, British Airways.

UA and Star Alliance have really pulled away from AA when it comes to international service at ORD. It's little wonder why the city sided with UA over AA in the gate dispute. (among other reasons)

Yes, it's a no brainer. UA has kept up and expanded international routes while AA cut routes totally or went seasonal. When looking at which airline is more important to the city at ORD it's no contest. As a lifelong AA flyer I've found myself defecting to UA more and more as my tolerance for connecting has declined.