I don’t understand to well why COA has a hub at KCLE? KEWR isn’t really that far and i don’t believe they fly any International routes out of KCLE. I could be wrong but i can only think maybe PHNL is as far as they go.
Anybody have any input on this one? It could be the only thing cleveland has to be pround of because the city doesn’t really have much. No offense to any Clevlandites out there. I was there this weekend and i see about 25% of the billboards and posters on the streets that are COA’s.
HEY i flew from BTV to CLE on an erj-145 and i loved flying in to Hopkins so i don’t know what your talking about so where would you rather go??? and i also had a sister you lived in Cleveland and i had a fabulous time there rock&roll hall of fame airshows historic place next time your there look around.
CO itself flies to most of the US major markets from CLE, and there is also a very big BTA presence as well, and I believe there is also seasonal service to London. It is simply a market being served by CO, and I don’t really see what you are trying to get at with your question.
It could be the only thing cleveland has to be pround of because the city doesn’t really have much.
It must have something or else CO wouldn’t fly there so much.
Sorry for boiling your water! I was just wondering about it because i was there this past weekend and it just popped into my head. It also seems like the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is the big seller for CLE. Hell i think COA sponsers it!
Anyone who has ever flown into/out of Newark would never fault CO for having another (albeit smaller) hub in close proximity to the Northeast Corridor. The simple fact remains that Newark is just about tapped out when it comes to capacity. CO needs CLE to handle the “overflow,” especially when it comes to BTA’s regionals. Those little ERJs “hold up” enough widebodies at EWR as it is; any more would cause even more delays in a PACKED environment. CLE needs CO, and CO needs CLE in some form. More mainline flights (especially international ones) would be appreciated by the NE Ohio community, but, alas, I don’t know if we could make such routes profitable without more “spoke” flights from around the country. 
CO dosent fly to HNL from CLE and they fly to YYZ,YUL, and seasonaly to LGW! 
There is a point to the question I have noticed myself. KCLE is not a true hub in my opinion because there are a few domestic markets that require a flight from CLE to IAH in order to connect. I have brought up to COA the fact that if CLE is a hub why do I have to fly to IAH to catch a flight to SEA? They have not had a satisfactory response.
It is true that COA operations are what is keeping KCLE alive. If COA was to close the domicile here it would be yet another big blow to the city.
One of the reasons that Cleveland exists as a hub for Continental is its proximity to a large population base. Draw two circles representing the distance traveled by a regional aircraft and a regular jet in 90 minutes, roughly 350 and 800 miles and you will see that a lot of populated real-estate is covered. Admittedly the Ohio basin hub needs are far less because of the expanded use of regional jets but there is only so much sky with the current air traffic control infrastructure.
East Coast hubs are too far east and the airspace is too congested especially if there is weather. (An interesting exercise is to observe the evening aircraft line-in going into Newark. The line starts at Cleveland and in bad weather extends west past Toledo.)
Interestingly, Cleveland has always been a secondary hub. Prior to Continental, United was there in a big way with up to 170 jet flights per day including nonstop service to Honolulu. United had so many 737s there, it looked like a nursery. These aircraft fed large DC-10s and even an occasional 747 destined for international locations after a stop at Chicago or a costal gateway.
"Tangojul"wrote: One of the reasons that Cleveland exists as a hub for Continental is its proximity to a large population base. Draw two circles representing the distance traveled by a regional aircraft and a regular jet in 90 minutes, roughly 350 and 800 miles and you will see that a lot of populated real-estate is covered. Admittedly the Ohio basin hub needs are far less because of the expanded use of regional jets but there is only so much sky with the current air traffic control infrastructure.
Isn’t it kinda ironic that CLE is used as more of a “hub” for RJs than for mainline CO flights, yet, by your logic, the use of RJs is what brought CLE down to its present-day level? I’m not disagreeing with you; I just find it very interesting and ironic indeed. 
Don’t disagree with you at all. CO, unless they are willing to go to larger aircraft sizes (at the expense of requency) at the major hubs, still needs smaller hubs such as CLE as capacity both on thground and in the air is getting very limited.
Ten years ago all the airlines had smaller midwestern hubs but unlike now, they were populated with slow turboprops. Now the regional jets often fly 800+ segments thereby mitigating the need for the smaller hubs.
It’s kinda like being shot by a cop, who then has to perform CPR to keep you alive…