The "new" American Airlines hubs: Phoenix may have a better survival chance than logic suggests

Phoenix Sky Harbor's hub status in the combined network of American and US Airways raises as much speculation as the fate of Philadelphia, in part based on the premise that its proximity to American's hubs in Dallas and Los Angeles will render Phoenix obsolete in the network that emerges under the "new" American.

Given Phoenix's role in the US Airways network as its lowest revenue-generating hub as a result of its larger base of leisure traffic, it could face an uphill battle in emerging as a viable hub once the network optimisation at the merged carrier is complete.

But given LA's fragmentation and the differing passenger profile of Dallas, Phoenix's chances of continuing to play a major role in the combined network could prove to be better than expected.