I notice that on several routes airlines with a lower overall ORS rating are achieving full bookings where I struggle to achieve 50% load factors on the same route. I can only assume therefore that the seats are being filled by connecting passengers on these often "mega" airlines. This leads me to wonder whether if offering enough connections will every route prove to be profitable as there will always be passengers looking to connect to numerous other destinations.
In my opinion allowing passengers only to connect within an airline or Interling partner is slightly flawed as this will almost always favour the larger networks. I’d like a system whereby passengers could connect based on price benefits perhaps choosing the cheapest possible flights. Perhaps a slight bias should be given to IL or self connections but obviously “price conscious” passengers might opt for multiple independent bookings. I think this would be a system that is a closer representation of RL