Why does Dallas have so few Caribbean flights vs competing cities?
Posted by Street_Celery2745@reddit | Dallas | View on Reddit | 50 comments
I get we are an American Air and Southwest city but didn’t realize American was more domestic than United (Houston) or Delta (Atlanta). Is that right? Anyone in airline industry know if this is a demand problem? Or American/ Southwest boxing out Delta, JetBlue etc from offering these direct? Drive through Highland Park or Preston Hollow and it feels low demand is pretty unlikely.
Dallas (5): Bahamas, Cayman, PR, DR, Jamaica,
Houston (8): Aruba, Bahamas, Cayman, Cuba, PR, DR, Jamaica, Trinidad
Charlotte (11): Aruba, Antigua, Bahamas, Barbados, Cayman, Curacao, PR, DR, Jamaica, St Thomas, Turks
Atlanta (10): Aruba, Barbados, Bahamas, Cayman, Grenada, Curaçao, PR, DR, Jamaica, Turks
TX_PI@reddit
American also flies direct from DFW to St Thomas, Turks and Caicos, Roatan Honduras, Nassau and Aruba…
Street_Celery2745@reddit (OP)
Please show me proof of this. I see Aruba not Turks or Aruba
Widowmaker69@reddit
AA2382 DFW-PLS, did you even try researching before this post?
TX_PI@reddit
Nah I’m good
all2neat@reddit
I know for sure Roatan has non stop from DFW. I think it’s only a few times a week and not daily. It may also be seasonal but I was in Roatan in March 2025.
us287@reddit
American’s Caribbean hub is Miami
Street_Celery2745@reddit (OP)
Why is it accepted that there is one hub? Why not multiple hubs?
edisonlbm@reddit
It's geography. The airline wants to sell tickets to as many people in the US without having them backtrack, because that adds flight time and people will book with a different airline.
Here, AA is capturing both/south traffic originating from the northeast using CLT, and everything else using MIA.
MIA is a weirdly good location for a Caribbean hub though, most airlines don't have a location that perfect. So United is going to make do with Newark (captures a lot of east coast, also captures NYC metro travelers with a direct), and Houston (it's not too bad for the western US, and sort of okay for the Midwest even if there's some east/west backtracking).
Imagine living in sat, Alabama, with these options though. Would you backtrack to Atlanta on Delta? To Houston or Newark on United? Lol no, unless they are dirt cheap. For that matter, would you consider DFW? Also no.
Putting all the Caribbean flights out of MIA (and sort of CLT) allows AA to be the best flight option for the maximum number of people, which lets them sell more tickets at a higher price.
Street_Celery2745@reddit (OP)
Okay this makes sense for half of the country. But what about the west. DFW is a middle ground flight for Californians or for Vegas folks. Why fly all the way to Miami vs doing half and half?
GreenHorror4252@reddit
If there were enough demand to support service to the Caribbean from 2 hubs, then you would have a point. But it seems like there isn't. It's no big deal to fly to Miami from California or Vegas.
Hembalaya@reddit
There’s less demand for flights from the west coast to the Caribbean. In general, West Coast folks go to Baja California and western Mexico for their beach vacations, rather than crossing the continent.
cluelessinlove753@reddit
And Hawaii. SoCal to Hawaii is so easy.
Big_Committee_9115@reddit
There are definitely flights from the west coast to Miami as well. It just depends where the connections go.
edisonlbm@reddit
You've gotta fill up an airplane. Since DFW will catch less of the country, you run a higher risk of not selling all the seats vs Miami.
GreenHorror4252@reddit
The Caribbean isn't that big. It would make more sense to route the traffic there through one hub rather than splitting it. And Miami is a much better choice.
theshallowdrowned@reddit
“Accepted” by whom? Do you know how the airline business works?
ThatsHowMuchFuckFish@reddit
You know what? You’re right. Why DO we just accept this? Tonight we flight! Fight for our rights! Fight for our FLIGHTS! Let’s burn this city down!
Lobito6@reddit
Let me get Robert Isom on the phone and question his business strategy because a Redditor knows best
rgg40@reddit
A tersely worded letter might do the trick.
BlazinAzn38@reddit
My first thought lol. They’ve modeled the ever loving hell out of this kind of stuff. This is what they do because it’s best for them
Firststopanywhere@reddit
The average redditor would probably do no worse than he’s doing.
cluelessinlove753@reddit
Dallas is a hub for AA and WN. IAH is a hub for United. That’s due to historic position and competitive dynamics.
Each airline having a hub that serves as their primary gateway to the Caribbean is just a matter of optimization. EWR is only on the way to the Caribbean for Eastern Canada and New York. IAH is on the way for everyone west of the Mississippi.
swinglinepilot@reddit
...because that's how AA's structured its ops?
MIA has far more demand to and from Central America, South America, and the Caribbean than DFW does. It's also geographically well-situated to serve as a connecting gateway for such ops.
One of IAH's roles in UA's network is to serve as its connecting gateway to Central America and beyond. EWR serves the NYC area, which has enough demand on its own to sustain services. UA doesn't have any other hubs in the southeastern part of the country except for IAD, and demand from there is less than the NYC catchment area.
If AA felt there was money to be made from DFW services to the Caribbean, you can bet your ass there'd be service.
ALaccountant@reddit
Meh, DFW is a huge finance hub (some say 2nd biggest behind NY now with Goldman, Merrill and Bank of America moving a huge portion of their ops here), a huge tech hub, has a LOT of conventions, etc. Much more of a business city than Miami. So DFW traffic definitely leans business oriented, but it does have people coming and going for vacation of course. You are right, however, that Miami leans much more Latin than DFW.
ALaccountant@reddit
DFW is an oceanic hub for American and its partners for instance with 3 direct flights to Australia, 1 to NZ, and 1 to Fiji (if you consider that part of Oceania). It’s just geography
bengtc@reddit
Sounds like you have it all figured out, why are you not running an airline
lobohog@reddit
AA has decided Miami is a much better hub for Caribbean flights. They decided that DFW is a much better hub for Mexico and Central America flights.
YaGetSkeeted0n@reddit
I imagine it’s just demand, and flights to Miami aren’t too bad so someone who’s flying somewhere not served by dfw will just put up with it. South Florida probably has way more people from the Caribbean living there as well, so that’s where AA is gonna focus breadth of destinations.
Clearly the answer is more Caribbean immigrants in DFW. Bonus: more dope restaurants if that happens
twenty2handicap@reddit
They do have 2 Caribbean hubs, Charlotte is also an AA stronghold.
SuperHobbit@reddit
Money
GreenHorror4252@reddit
Your data doesn't support your claim. Dallas has 7 destinations to the Caribbean, which is comparable to the other cities you listed.
ubersooner@reddit
Unpopular opinion but if you are not going to Latin America (which DFW does indeed have great access to) or the largest of international hubs, DFW is not the greatest for international flights. We live in THEE hub for AA and they basically squeeze out anyone else. We have very few of the bigtime Euro airlines. No KLM, no Aer Lingus, no SAS, only seasonal access on British Airways (they weren't even an option when I flew to London in April). For Caribbean, AA routes people to Charlotte or Miami.
I'm a Delta dude, after a horrific experience with AA I absolutely refuse to take them. Which means for any sort of International flight I almost certainly have to layover in ATL, MSP, or JFK. Or if I'm going on the Euro airlines, layover in ORD. Fine w/ me tho.
Street_Celery2745@reddit (OP)
Thank you! Agreed! All of these comments just old me to F off and accept I need to connect to Miami or NyC. I didn’t even mention how limited the options are to Europe.
whoiswillo@reddit
Dallas Love Field cannot offer international flights, which leaves only SJU and STT as possible destinations.
whoiswillo@reddit
(Downvote me all you want, they are legally not permitted to allow international nonstop travel from DAL)
saxmanB737@reddit
DFW is a quite a bit further away than most of the other cities you listed. But Miami is American’s Caribbean hub. I’m not why AA can’t serve New Zealand? They aren’t related at all.
all2neat@reddit
AA has a non stop to Auckland.
NecessaryViolenz@reddit
r/Dallas downvoted even innocuous comments like this. Why would anyone disagree with a dude just stating AA has a non-stop to Auckland?
saxmanB737@reddit
Yes, I know.
robox528@reddit
Missing Guyana which is the Caribbean from Houston
Upstairs_Balance_464@reddit
The way that you left Miami off this list makes me think you already know the answer and you’re trying to be obstinate with some kind of point… though I’m not getting what it is…
guroxique@reddit
I think because it’s American Airlines, not Caribbean airlines. Not sure though this is just my personal analysis
southpalito@reddit
Because algorithms crunching decades of passenger data and crew and fleet availability indicate there is more money to be made flying out of Miami for those destinations.
cluelessinlove753@reddit
I’m not sure your data supports your conclusion. It looks like Dallas is on par with other hubs for the three legacy carriers that are NOT the closest hub to the Caribbean.
And that each of the three legacy carriers closest to the Caribbean for the most Caribbean routes
AA - CLT UA - IAH DL - ATL
mweyenberg89@reddit
Bro, they have 5, that is more than enough. You can't get everything direct. Airlines strategically select where to have direct connections based on demand.
Yes, plenty of people are flying to NZ, DFW is most strategic for AA to depart from.
elchanan9@reddit
Primary and secondary markets
Houston was continental (united)‘s hub
Dallas is AA’a domestic hub, but a lot of their international goes out of New York (Europe) and Miami (south/Latin America)
San Antonio and Austin are secondary cities that only connect to hubs, from which you can fly anywhere
bright1111@reddit
Dallas is the most inland city of the cohort… and furthest west. How many flights per day do YOU need to be on?
OftenCavalier@reddit
Commercial airlines love their hub and spokes ensuring full flights. There are options if you can pay extra via private or semi private airlines, pulling the highland park, … traffic. Flight to Miami on semi-private $700. Buy seat next to you for your pet, 10 minutes for check-in, …
Emotional-Loss-9852@reddit
The Caribbean is not in the Gulf of Mexico, it is in the Caribbean Sea, east of Florida. It makes sense that airports down the eastern seaboard have the most flights to the Caribbean. This would be like someone from Philly asking why the Southwest has so many flights to Cabo.
Icy_Huckleberry_8049@reddit
MIA was the connecting hub for AA to the Caribbean. AA has added a lot of direct flights from DFW to many of the islands in the Caribbean over the last few years.
IAH was the MAIN hub and HDQ for Continental Airlines for many years before they merged with UA so that's why IAH has more flights out of there to the Caribbean.
AA actually has more flight to the Caribbean than any other airline, but most are through MIA.