Point-to-point transit
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Point-to-point transit refers to a transportation system where a plane, bus or train travels directly to a destination rather than going through a central hub as opposed to the spoke-hub distribution paradigm in which the transportation goes to a central location where the passenger changes to another train, bus or plane to reach their destination.
In the airline industry, Southwest Airlines in the United States is a primary example of an airline that still uses the point-to-point transit model. Currently, however, Southwest Airlines actually uses a hybrid system, flying point-to-point routes, but also connecting passengers through several smaller hubs at Phoenix Sky Harbor, Las Vegas McCarran, Dallas Love, Houston Hobby, Chicago Midway, Baltimore/Washington, and a few others. It is doubtful there is any true point-to-point airline, as most have at least a "homebase" airport where most flights originate or depart, which becomes a de facto hub, whether that is the intention or not. The airline industry was point to point until deregulation in the late 1960s/early 1970s when they switched to the hub concept.
[edit] Advantages
The advantage of a point-to-point system is that it may minimize connections and travel time, but only if the airline serves the destination via the origination point.
[edit] Disadvantages
One of the disadvantages was pointed out above; if the city pair isn't served, you're simply out of luck as there is no way to get to a destination using that airline's route network. Secondly, the frequency of flights may be reduced because a point-to-point system requires a large number of combinatorics, as the number of city pairs is increased by many magnitudes.
[edit] Point-to-point routes by major hub carriers
Some heavily hub-oriented carriers operate a limited number of point-to-point routes that do not connect with either a hub or focus city. This is notable because they are exceptions to the route structure and network.
- American Airlines operates San Francisco/Honolulu, Austin/San Jose, Austin/Orange County, Austin/Seattle
- Continental Airlines operates Los Angeles/Honolulu, Seattle-Tacoma/Anchorage
- United Airlines operates Hong Kong/Ho Chi Minh City, Hong Kong/Singapore, San Diego/Honolulu, Seattle-Tacoma/Honolulu
- Northwest Airlines operates Seattle/Kahului, Seattle/Seoul-Incheon
