Point-to-Point Service Gives Passengers More Nonstop Choices

Point-to-point service is defined in terms of passenger experience. Any flight that takes a passenger nonstop from point of origin to destination is a point-to-point flight. Point-to-point service does not eliminate hubs; it reduces the need to change planes at an intermediate airport.

To appreciate how the rise of point-to-point travel will affect the future requirement for airplanes—and our experience as passengers—it is necessary to reach a common definition for the term point-to-point.

The Boeing definition of point-to-point begins with the passengers' experience. Whenever passengers can fly nonstop from an airport near their city of origin, to an airport near their destination, that's point-to-point service.

For passengers who wish to fly from LAX in Los Angeles to ORD in Chicago, a nonstop flight between these two airports would be a point-to-point flight-even though airlines operate hubs at both airports.

When an airline adds nonstop frequencies between an existing city pair, that is an increase in point-to-point service—whether the airports at those cities are both hubs, one or the other airports are hubs, or neither airport is a hub.

Clearly, the growth of point-to-point service does not mean that hubs will disappear. Growth in point-to-point service simply means that passengers will have more convenient schedule choices and more opportunities to fly nonstop. For airlines, point-to-point service provides new opportunities to bypass hubs, reduce congestion, and to operate hubs more efficiently.

The strategy of a hub is to offer as many flights to as many cities as possible. A hub gains a competitive advantage over other hubs by offering passengers a greater choice of convenient departure times and destinations. Nonstop flights that bypass hubs enable airlines to manage traffic through hubs, while continuing to offer passengers the widest possible selection of departure times and nonstop destinations. Using the right mix of small and medium-size airplanes flying nonstop point-to-point, airlines can meet demand growth without aggravating congestion and without consolidation, which would reduce frequencies and destination choices.

The market for large airplanes, serving the world's dense trunk routes at the busiest travel times, will remain. However, the major driver of market growth will be the small and medium-size airplanes that can fly nonstop point-to-point to provide airlines and passengers with more choices, flexibility, and convenience, with an efficient airline network.

Point-to-Point Service Eliminates Unnecessary Stops