Quote:
Originally Posted by Texan101
I know quite few people who drive up to Austin for the same reason. Which is a major problem for our city. You're upping traffic numbers at AUS and not SAT. Why do you think prices are cheaper and more nonstop flights exists? Prices have dropped a bit at SAT as of late due to the entry of Allegiant and Frontier. But like I said the folks who drive up to Austin do nothing to help improve our own Airport and decrease our chances for added service. A nonstop between London and Austin exists, but I flat out refuse to take it. I've never flown out of Austin nor will I ever. More focused on doing my part for SA. Wish more people would do the same.
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This logic only works if a person is aiming to be strategic about both their time costs and the city's benefits if the counterfactual is that if enough people in San Antonio simultaneously switched their decision to fly out of Austin to flying out of San Antonio would change a route-with-a-stop to a non-stop route due to the shift in demand (such as your London example).
When the number of people switching their airport preference is not sufficient to change the route from stop to non-stop, then it is perfectly logical to drive to Austin to catch a non-stop flight provided that the total layover time they'd otherwise experience would be longer than the drive time to Austin (note that in this scenario, a person is maximizing their
time, not money); even if you simultaneously would like to see your own city's airport develop its out route, the counterfactual here shows that it wouldn't be possible at all.
When the number of people switching their airport preference is sufficient to change the route from stop to non-stop, then the desire to aid your city's airport would mandate that each of them who has that desire switch their preference.
The problem is this: do we find ourselves in a situation (for any particular city to city flight path) where not enough people who travel to Austin for non-stop flights have that desire to aid San Antonio while simultaneously being large enough to, if they all flew out of San Antonio, guarantee a non-stop flight?
Of course, most people aren't strategic, so much of the above doesn't matter.