Is the new American Chicago-New York "shuttle" really a shuttle?

American Airlines’ announcement that it was beginning shuttle service from its Chicago O’Hare (ORD) hub April 4 to close-in New York LaGuardia (LGA) begs the question: just what constitutes a ‘shuttle.’ “This is just reserved service with a shuttle branding on it,” says Robert W. Mann, a former American Airlines executive and now president of R.W. Mann and Company, a noted aviation consultancy. “There’s none of the Eastern Airlines shuttle characteristics about it.” Eastern was the once iconic airline went out of business in 1991. Thirty years before Eastern’s demise it shook up the commercial aviation world by pioneering dyed-in-the-wool shuttle flights along the U.S. East Coast, along the BOSWASH (Boston – New York LaGuardia - Washington, D.C. National Airport) corridor. Among the innovations: walk-up, no reservation access, dedicated aircraft (initially Lockheed Constellations and Electras), and—initially anyway—a guaranteed seat. If the flight was oversold, Eastern would simply roll a waiting aircraft to the gate to accommodate the overflow. American’s ORD – LGA shuttle will offer dedicated check-in kiosks and ticket counters, free wine and beer in the main cabin, 15 flights each weekday on the half hour, consistent gating, boarding gates close to security and extended check-in and checked bag times. American says the system is both “flexible and convenient.” “When you fly frequently for work, anything that can make the regular commute more comfortable is important,” says Alison Taylor, American’s senior vice president of global sales and distribution. American already operates an East Coast shuttle linking New York LaGuardia and Boston Logan International (BOS), LGA and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and Boston. In recent years the advent of Amtrak’s Acela fast train service has cut into the East Coast air shuttle market, leaching it of some of its luster. To put things in perspective, consider the price back in 1961 of a one-way ticket on the Eastern Shuttle: LGA – BOS was US$12; LGA – DCA went for US$14. Memories are made of that.