MIA was very unusual because the DoT swapped AA's MIA-LGW authority with PA's MIA-LHR authority at the time of the PA - UA London route sale. In 1989, AA agreed to acquire CO's MIA-LGW route along with EA's Latin American routes. AA began flying MIA-LGW when they added the ex-EA routes to Latin Ame...
Jump to postLooks like AA's second LGW flight was MIA-- it's not in the May 1990 timetable and is in the 15 June. Over the course of more than two decades beginning in May 1982, AA flew nonstop from LGW to DFW, RDU, BNA, JFK, ORD, BOS and MIA. Some of those were served for very brief periods, and others were f...
Jump to postCommavia, when AA and Carl Icahn agreed to the London transaction, it originally included routes from LHR to NYC (JFK+EWR), BOS, PHL, BWI, STL, and LAX. That is where the "6 routes" comment came from. The DoT, however, only allowed AA to assume the NYC, BOS, and LAX routes. PHL and BWI we...
Jump to postWow, close in transcon pullback... *AS JFK-LAX JUL 6>5 AUG 6>5 SEP 6>5 OCT 6>5 NOV 6>5 DEC 6>5 *AS JFK-SFO AUG 5>4 SEP 5>4 OCT 5>4 NOV 5>4 DEC 5>4 As already discussed a week ago ... The frequency in these markets, in absolute terms, aren't that bad, but the schedules are fairly rough for business ...
Jump to postWhen the DOT only allowef 3 of thr 6 routes, AA wanted to bring the price down. But TWA held firm...and AA wound up paying 445 million for 3 routes. DL got all of Pan Am's European network (munus LHR) for 260 million. Not sure what this is in reference to, because the $445M transaction between AA a...
Jump to postThis also looks like AA is betting against the 797. If the bet doesn't work out, and a decade down the road AA is trying to use 788s to compete with Delta 797s on TATL routes, that's going to hurt. As said - we'll see. There's nothing that would preclude AA from operating another the 797 down the r...
Jump to postPlease see Page 2 for the twelve months. I did not manufacture the standings and percent- got it from reported data. The problem is that while it's factual that the word "Alaska" does not appear on that listing of the top 20 carriers at JFK, the words "Virgin America" do, and si...
Jump to post2) strong move on JFK-SEA. The 3rd daily appears to be only for summer, but they have at least comparable schedule to B6 and better one than AA. My guess is AA is going to get pushed out in a year. Not sure how, objectively, we can say that Alaska's schedule between JFK and SEA is "better"...
Jump to postBut as I pointed out before, if "the market wants MIA," AA has a no-brainer response: There are widebody aircraft which sit on the ground most of the day at MIA and it would be simple enough to operate one or more turns to HAV with them. AA doesn't even use the A321 to HAV so it would app...
Jump to postThere will be 49 weekly MIA-HAV frequencies vs. 40 FLL-HAV frequencies Which is comically ridiculous given how dramatically clear the market's preference for MIA over FLL is. I'd say that, objectively, it's fairly hard to argue that point given the traffic and load factor data in AA's filings, comp...
Jump to postn7371f wrote:Same game plan as the LUS 321's - new seat covers and that's it.
Compare AA's and Delta's financial reports over the years Respectfully, I didn't ask for evidence of whether Delta has achieved a yield premium over AA at a system level. The yield premium isn't that large, but it is unquestionably there (at least for now). My question was, specifically, whether ev...
Jump to postI don’t think it will be a problem for aa in markets where aa has the best schedule and network advantage. But in a market like New York and la, we will get a true measurement if it matters or not. Well by that logic, I don't think we have to wait very long. There are lots of markets in both NYC an...
Jump to postthere is evidence not having IFE is costing them revenue in the long term. And that evidence is ... ? both are taking market share from USdbaAA. Source? And again, on what basis can we persuasively conclude that this alleged share shift is attributable to differing IFE offerings? I know several peo...
Jump to postI sure wish Isom reverses the decision to "sunset" seatback IFE. I suspect this was a decision based out of the US model. I suspect it was more a decision based on economic rationality. It seems as though AA has concluded that investment in the upfront and recurring costs of AVOD PTVs is ...
Jump to postAbsolutely not. TWA flew JFK to FRA (TW 740/741) and AA may have acquired the route authority when it bought TWA, but it never flew to FRA from JFK on its own metal. It did operate MIA-FRA for a brief time (and also flew ORD-FRA). I'm sorry, but respectfully, that is incorrect. AA absolutely did fl...
Jump to postCointrin330 wrote:FRA (announced, but never started)
An example of this is RDU, where AA and DL now have a fairly similar market share at 26% and 30% respectively. However, Delta offers 27 non-stop destinations compared to AA's 12. At some point the frequent flyers out of RDU will start to question why they fly with American, when Delta is much more ...
Jump to postI agree with the methodology, however, I disagree that net margins of between 4.5% and 8.7% are low or that they represent the profitability for or return to shareholders. From a shareholder perspective, big airlines are asset management businesses given the very high asset investments airlines mus...
Jump to postFirst of all, let's be clear: the "competition" that was "eliminated" via mergers, by and large, wasn't what you would call the "good" competition. PanAm and Eastern were "eliminated" not by mergers but poor management. TWA would have been liquidated if it we...
Jump to postMeanwhile, the major US airlines have undergone huge amounts of consolidation and are making record huge profits. "Record huge profits," in absolute terms, are meaningless. What is far more meaningful is margin , and AA, Delta and United in 2017 all produced net margins in the mid-to-high...
Jump to postI've bought Dunkin' Donuts coffee in the grocery store for years now. I recently noticed the bag didn't seem to last as long. I looked at the bag side-by-side with an old one and the old one said 12 ounces, the new one said 11 ounces. The bags were sold for the same price. Should I be offended? Or ...
Jump to postAre you saying that companies should not sell what people are willing to pay for? That does, indeed, seem to be the general consensus among many here on A.net. I continue to be left with no other conclusion but that many people are genuinely offended by the prospect of airlines responding to consum...
Jump to postThe issue is that people aren't getting Spirit prices on American. Well of course not, because many customers - including those flying on basic economy fares - still derive value from things on AA that are either unavailable or cost extra money on Spirit. Furthermore, American appears to be plannin...
Jump to postIn 2017, on an income statement/accrual accounting basis, AA generated a net margin of 4.5%, United generated a net margin of 5.6%, and Delta generated a net margin of 8.7%. I'm still waiting for a single cogent argument - just one! - as to why any one of those numbers is in any way excessive or unr...
Jump to postAA and DL are not competing for identical markets. There is some overlap in the paid J section, AA has the upper hand offering F and the corporate contracts that come with it and DL has the upper hand in terms of total passengers. AA does not market fares via JFK for connections. their LAX/SFO-JFO ...
Jump to postI’m scared to imagine how an similarly configured A321 would look like. Probably a lot like the dozens of A321s (with dozens more to come) already flying around today at Delta with two more seats than what AA's A321s will have after they're reconfigured, and that isn't counting the 100 new A321neos...
Jump to postIt was actually arguably three. At approximately the same time as AA announced the acquisition of Eastern's Latin America routes - in December 1989 - it also announced a separate, $195M transaction with TWA to acquire CHI-LON route authority, along with gates, hangars and other assets at ORD. Then,...
Jump to postAA had two TW acquisitions. First was LHR route authorities and second was TW assets in BK. 9-11 happened shortly before the completed acquisition of assets and AA was hemorrhaging money. They were concerned with survival while absorbing TW at the same time, capitalization was clearly way down on t...
Jump to postTexas is the second largest state in the Union (population wise), there is plenty of traffic to go around. I disagree. I don't think there is enough traffic in Texas to support a third network carrier hub on top of DFW (the second largest hub in the country) and IAH (the fifth largest), and on top ...
Jump to postafcjets wrote:The 738 but not the 737. AA first flew the 737 when they purchased AirCal in 1987 and most of them were obviously flown within California.
Why can't it be a hub? DL needs a presence in Texas, it is the biggest hole in their network. Texas is home to 3 of the top 5 fastest growing city economies according to a recent Forbes magazine article, so DL is missing out. https://www.forbes.com/sites/karstenstrauss/2018/01/03/the-10-big-u-s-cit...
Jump to postBUF is also going to see the 738. First time an AA 738 will be scheduled. Incorrect. AA flew the 737 to BUF as early as February of 2000. In fact, BUF was among the first markets to see the AA 737. At that time, given the relative paucity of low-fare competition in the market, AA was actually flyin...
Jump to postI cannot disagree, but I wonder - since it is a JV - what advantages you see KE having over DL. I would think KE's 787 would be the primary reason, but with only 5 in house, I am not sure if any could be pulled from their current destinations. Operational reasons, I think. ICN is KE's hub and BOS w...
Jump to postGood question. I think it can. BOS-NRT for example should be comparable to SEA-HKG which is actually a longer flight timewise than DTW-NGO. Okay, but Delta operating BOS-NRT seems highly implausible at this point. Delta no longer even flies NYC-NRT and that's not only a dramatically larger local ma...
Jump to postI wouldn't be so sure. DL has stated that they want to get bigger at BOS. As of right now DL serves 4 European destinations from BOS. Clearly DL is not afraid to have intl flying from BOS. They will had routes if their corporate clients want it. LHR has been operating at 60% LF for years. The probl...
Jump to postAvianca is building a pretty impressive network of connecting hubs - between BOG and LIM - for access between North and South America. Coupled with a United JV, that's going to offer a pretty comprehensive level of access for Star Alliance customers in the Americas, and provide a significant competi...
Jump to postThey have 36 gates in t8. Concourse c is really large. I never got the sense flying out of t8 that they couldn't fit in more flights. I'm not saying that AA couldn't fit any more flights into T8, but T8 cannot fit another nine departures between 1830 and 2300 (not even counting Iberia, QANTAS and s...
Jump to postIf AA really is downgrading its presence maybe there will be room for BA at T8 at some point. I wouldn't hold my breath. I don't see AA downgrading its JFK presence much - especially in terms of departures. Said differently - I don't see AA giving up any slot pairs, and more to the point, I don't s...
Jump to postI would suggest that AA has a significant O&D presence at LGA. AA's preferred connecting hub in the northeast is Philly, not LGA. AA's presence at LGA is aimed at corporate contracts and O&D travelers. Indeed. Contrary to popular mythology, AA actually still commands a fairly strong presenc...
Jump to postDL currently has 36x high-J frames so only a subset is getting converted to low-J. I think the near term rationale is that both the 359s and upcoming 339s are being delivered in "higher-J" configuration. Thus leaving the need for low-J aircraft to cover routes that warrant it (ie. Japan-H...
Jump to post6) Beginning of 763ER high J -> 763ER low J retrofit; 14x frames are expected to get the retrofit 4) Migration of 763ER-high J routes to 763ER-low J begins: ATL-BRU/DUS/SCL, CVG-CDG, MCO-GRU, PDX-NRT & SLC-CDG Apologies - must have missed this. How man "high J" 763ERs does Delta prese...
Jump to postAA is a real hub and spoke... like United.. there really isn’t anywhere else to go except PHX and honestly, PHX adds nothing. PIT will probably go away and replaced by DL (if so, may be a way to get the 757W to POT) or WN... there is nothing else for AA to do.. I generally agree. I wouldn't say PHX...
Jump to postAnd I truly wonder how many new hubs or focus cities delta is willing to start where they are battling incumbents with 25% lower cost and they can't get revenue premium on all the routes to non delta hubs. At least in the case of Seattle and Boston, they are facing off against smaller incumbents. I...
Jump to postRegarding AUS-AMS, DL has already applied a permanent destination feed (red line on DL Global Destination Map) between the two cities, with CDG highlighted in red as the next theoretical TATL add, maybe 9-12 months after AMS. Beside BAs 3 yr long successful service of full 789s (ie 744 up-gauge sta...
Jump to postI thought a few years back AA offered a 10pm departure from LHR to JFK. Whether the case or not, it doesn't exist now. To my knowledge, AA has never had a scheduled departure from LHR at 2200. The latest westbound LHR-JFK flight I can ever remember on AA was AA141 that ran for years with a ~2000-20...
Jump to postJust looking at the top markets out of AUS, Dallas, Houston, LA, Atlanta, NYC, Chicago, Phoenix, SF and Las Vegas, Delta only has hub on 3 of the places. I can't see Delta entering any of the markets where it doesn't have a hub. In terms of size, DL is less than 1/3 that of WN out of AUS and about ...
Jump to postThere’s nothing magical about a southeast gateway; CLT has the least local traffic of any medium/large hub, whereas ATL is on the opposite end of that spectrum. The primary reason CLT has reigned as AA’s “most profitable” hub is the low costs negotiated by US. Of course, those costs will grow next ...
Jump to postMust be a slot thing. You need to use an early morning slot and it’s simply too early to turn a plane Or The landing slot is too late to effectively turn airplane for an effective flight to US And/or, there is (and long has been) demand, in select markets - historically JFK/EWR, BOS, IAD, ORD and Y...
Jump to postAA doesn’t have Alaska or Hawaii from ORD. Alaska is possible with 737s; Hawaii requires a widebody. I’d hardly say either is “needed” per se, but it would be nice to see AA return to ORD-ANC, even just with a weekend 737 in peak summer. As for ORD-HNL, there, too, it would be great to see a return...
Jump to post