Point-to-point transit
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
. This differs from the spoke-hub distribution paradigm
in which the transportation goes to a central location where passengers change 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 uses the point-to-point transit model. Currently, 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, Kansas City, and a few others. It is doubtful if 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 United States airline industry was point-to-point until deregulation
in the late 1960s/early 1970s when they switched to the hub concept.
, as the number of city pairs is increased by many magnitudes.
. This is notable because they are exceptions to the route structure and network.
Transportation hub
A transport hub is a place where passengers and cargo are exchanged between vehicles or between transport modes. Public transport hubs include train stations, rapid transit stations, bus stops, tram stop, airports and ferry slips. Freight hubs include classification yards, seaports and truck...
. This differs from the spoke-hub distribution paradigm
Spoke-hub distribution paradigm
The hub-and-spoke distribution paradigm is a system of connections arranged like a chariot wheel, in which all traffic moves along spokes connected to the hub at the center...
in which the transportation goes to a central location where passengers change to another train, bus or plane to reach their destination.
In the airline industry, Southwest Airlines
Southwest Airlines
Southwest Airlines Co. is an American low-cost airline based in Dallas, Texas. Southwest is the largest airline in the United States, based upon domestic passengers carried,...
in the United States is a primary example of an airline that uses the point-to-point transit model. Currently, 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, Kansas City, and a few others. It is doubtful if 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 United States airline industry was point-to-point until deregulation
Airline Deregulation Act
The Airline Deregulation Act is a United States federal law signed into law on October 24, 1978. The main purpose of the act was to remove government control over fares, routes and market entry from commercial aviation...
in the late 1960s/early 1970s when they switched to the hub concept.
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.
- With no need to satisfy connections, flights in a point-to-point system generally have no interdependency on other flights, apart from the operational constraints of the airline e.g the number of aircraft and crew that are rostered to be in precise locations to satisfy the timetable. Overall, this therefore minimises the risk of a "domino effect" whereby one delay can multiply into other delays elsewhere in the network, therefore a point-to-point system is less prone to delays.
- Baggage does not need to be transferred by the airline from one aircraft to another, instead passing this responsibility to the passenger who has to check-in a second time if he or she wishes to connect with another flight. Thus there is less risk of baggage going missing, sustaining damage, or being loaded onto the wrong aircraft.
Disadvantages
If a city pair is not served, passengers are 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 combinatoricsCombinatorics
Combinatorics is a branch of mathematics concerning the study of finite or countable discrete structures. Aspects of combinatorics include counting the structures of a given kind and size , deciding when certain criteria can be met, and constructing and analyzing objects meeting the criteria ,...
, as the number of city pairs is increased by many magnitudes.
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 cityFocus city
In the airline industry, a focus city is a location that is not a hub, but from which the airline has non-stop flights to several destinations other than its hubs...
. This is notable because they are exceptions to the route structure and network.
United States
- Alaska AirlinesAlaska AirlinesAlaska Airlines is an airline based in the Seattle suburb of SeaTac, Washington in the United States. The airline originated in 1932 as McGee Airways. After many mergers with and acquisitions of other airlines, including Star Air Service, it became known as Alaska Airlines in 1944...
operates San Jose/Kahului, San Jose/Kona, Oakland/Kahului, Oakland/Kona, Sacramento/Kahului - American AirlinesAmerican AirlinesAmerican Airlines, Inc. is the world's fourth-largest airline in passenger miles transported and operating revenues. American Airlines is a subsidiary of the AMR Corporation and is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas adjacent to its largest hub at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport...
operates Raleigh-Durham/London, Boston/London, San Juan/Caracas, San Juan/Hartford, Boston/Paris, Boston/St. Thomas - Continental AirlinesContinental AirlinesContinental Airlines was a major American airline now merged with United Airlines. On May 3, 2010, Continental Airlines, Inc. and UAL, Inc. announced a merger via a stock swap, and on October 1, 2010, the merger closed and UAL changed its name to United Continental Holdings, Inc...
operates Los Angeles/Honolulu, Seattle-Tacoma/Anchorage, New York-LaGuardia/Aruba, Orange County/Honolulu, Los Angeles/Leon, Orange County/Kahului, Chicago (O'Hare)/Fort Lauderdale, Chicago (O'Hare)/Denver, Denver/Seattle-Tacoma. Denver/Phoenix, Chicago (O'Hare)/Anchorage, San Francisco/Anchorage, San Francisco/Denver, San Francisco/Chicago (O'Hare), Guadalajara/Los Angeles, Guadalajara/San Francisco, Las Vegas/Denver, San Francisco/Las Vegas, San Francisco/Boston, Chicago (O'Hare)/Pittsburgh, Anchorage/Seattle-Tacoma, Chicago (O'Hare)/West Palm Beach, Denver/Fort Lauderdale, Denver/Anchorage, Cancun/Austin, Cancun/Raleigh-Durham, Cancun/San Antonio, Washington-Dulles/Paris, Washington-Dulles/Amsterdam, San Francisco/Hilo, Hong Kong/Ho Chi Ming City, Hong Kong/Tokyo-Narita, Hong Kong/Singapore, Chicago (O'Hare)/Orlando, Chicago (O'Hare)/Orange County - Delta Air LinesDelta Air LinesDelta Air Lines, Inc. is a major airline based in the United States and headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The airline operates an extensive domestic and international network serving all continents except Antarctica. Delta and its subsidiaries operate over 4,000 flights every day...
operates Los Angeles/Honolulu, San Francisco/Honolulu, Orlando/Cancun, Orlando/Hartford, Orlando/Boston, Honolulu/Osaka, Honolulu/Seattle, Nagoya/Saipan, Miami/London, New York-LaGuardia/Fort Myers, New York-LaGuardia/Bermuda, New York-LaGuardia/New Orleans, New York-LaGuardia/Tampa, Los Angeles/Sydney, Seattle/Osaka, Seattle/Beijing, Cancun/Hartford, Washington (Reagan)/Miami, Washington (Reagan)/Orlando, Nagoya/Manila, Philadelphia/Los Angeles, Miami/Los Angeles, Cancun/Washington-Dulles, Cancun/Nashville, Cancun/Columbus, Cancun/Indianapolis, Cancun/Los Angeles, Cancun/Raleigh-Durham, Cancun/Milwaukee, Cancun/San Antonio, Cancun/Tampa, Osaka/Guam, Nagoya/Guam - JetBlue AirwaysJetBlue AirwaysJetBlue Airways Corporation is an American low-cost airline. The company is headquartered in the Forest Hills neighborhood of the New York City borough of Queens. Its main base is John F. Kennedy International Airport, also in Queens....
Burbank/Las Vegas - United AirlinesUnited AirlinesUnited Air Lines, Inc., is the world's largest airline with 86,852 employees United Air Lines, Inc., is the world's largest airline with 86,852 employees United Air Lines, Inc., is the world's largest airline with 86,852 employees (which includes the entire holding company United Continental...
operates Bahrain/Kuwait, Newark/Brussels, Newark/Zurich, Houston-Intercontinental/Lima, Newark/St. Maarten, Guam/Honolulu - US AirwaysUS AirwaysUS Airways, Inc. is a major airline based in the U.S. city of Tempe, Arizona. The airline is an operating unit of US Airways Group and is the sixth largest airline by traffic and eighth largest by market value in the country....
operates Las Vegas/Dallas, Las Vegas/Los Angeles, Las Vegas/San Francisco, Las Vegas/Fresno