AA seems to have started using A321Ts on JFK-MIA (today's AA320 is on N106NN). Don't recall AA ever sending the T down to MIA. Curious if they are planning on this long term in lieu of the 777 rotations, especially when the transcons get the XLR. Maybe it's a way to maintain its flagship product on...
Jump to postULCC management loves to claim their airline is so great because "unbundling" allows consumers to only pay for what they want/need. And while that's true to an extent the dirty truth is it's more dependent upon flyers being forced to pay for items/services they didn't know about. Like pay...
Jump to postOne issue is that for about 10 years (2003-2013) AA took very few deliveries of new a/c (maybe a handful of 772s). Then by the end of the 00's it was caught with a bunch of old, unreliable, maintenance prone A300s, MD80s, 762s, 763s and first generation 757s. So a huge order was needed. With the siz...
Jump to postGod if I hear one more person talk about how travel demand is so high I might just lose it. You do realize that dirt cheap fares, even on legacies are driving the craze. The legacies offset the losses from those dirt cheap fares from credit card income, International premium, domestic first and inc...
Jump to postGod if I hear one more person talk about how travel demand is so high I might just lose it. You do realize that dirt cheap fares, even on legacies are driving the craze. The legacies offset the losses from those dirt cheap fares from credit card income, International premium, domestic first and incr...
Jump to postThe bottom line is that the ULCC business model isn't profitable or even cash flow positive. Sure Spirit has cash in the bank and will getting more from Airbus but they have to address the fundamental issue. None of us have insider information but from an outside observer consumers are either reject...
Jump to postBased upon their true cash burn (used to do stuff like this for a living) Spirit probably has a good year to turn things around. Also I think the airline is getting a payment for engine issues not reflected in 2023 financial statements which would bolster their cash position. A bad summer won't prob...
Jump to postI'm flying one later this month AUS/MIA. Now I know why cash upgrades are going for $712.
Jump to postFrontier adding 8 routes in June at the following weekly frequencies: https://news.flyfrontier.com/frontier-airlines-announces-new-routes-expanding-operations-across-12-airports/ BUF-PHL 3x DEN-SAV 3x DFW-SMF 4x DFW-STL 3x DFW-SEA 4x ONT-SMF daily (starts in July) ORD-SLC 3x ORF-PHL- 3x They weren'...
Jump to postThe new normal. Airlines will aggressively sell upgrades and even higher level elites that don't want to spend the money will sit in the back.
Jump to postBack then there were numerous flights that were less than half full. So reaccommodating a cancellation was much easier. Also, airlines were far more willing to put you on another airline. Today even in the case of a maintenance delay you will be told to go pound sand if you ask to be put on another ...
Jump to postI ran through Spirit's 2023 finances. Backing out identified non cash items the airline lost $141 million for the year. There could have been additional non cash items within SG&A expenses. So Spirit is not going bankrupt anytime soon as some of the ignorant press believes. But the airline can't...
Jump to postWhat I found confusing is the diversion to PIT. Was that because landing conditions at LGA were so bad? Or were the pilots trying to get out of a post flight interaction at LGA? Why PIT and not a closer airport, which of course the flight ended up at BWI where Southwest had more resources for impact...
Jump to postAnyone else get to experience this. On an AA A320 ILM/CLT plane starts rolling down the runway and suddenly the brakes are slammed on and pull off the runway. Captain says a warning light went on. Went back to the gate, maintenance comes on, runs a test and says everything is fine. So eventually we ...
Jump to postFrontier is expanding into already well served markets. They can only get market share by offering cheap, cheap fares. Which means losses because the model is not sustainable. They're throwing darts. That's a silly statement. Does that mean every airline should never expand anywhere? Does that mean...
Jump to postFrontier is expanding into already well served markets. They can only get market share by offering cheap, cheap fares. Which means losses because the model is not sustainable. They're throwing darts.
Jump to postI know one thing before the LAA and LUS FAs were combined you almost always got a PDB from LUS FAs. Not so LAA. Once the crews were combined that stopped. Now it's a crapshoot of whether you will be offered a PDB. I've seen the FA stare off into space during the boarding process.
Jump to postPrior to the merger, the US fans on this website strongly supported it. The AA fans here, however, generally felt that AA would be better off merging with JetBlue instead of US because of B6's stronger presence in New York and Boston, and because B6 was perceived as a higher quality airline than US...
Jump to postThe "bad" FAs seem to be mostly those that do the minimum. No PDBs in F and no checking on paxs for drink refills. A few are downright hostile like we the passengers (including those in the premium cabins) are the enemy. Two thoughts of mind. First, yes they deal with things 50 years ago w...
Jump to postAAtakeMeAway wrote:Isn’t the MAX fleet primarily relegated to MIA?
Yes, the 3 MD-80 bases were DFW, ORD and STL. DFW and ORD always were, since the late 80s when MD-80s began arriving en masse, and STL was because TWA had the second largest MD-80 fleet behind American. For all the time that the STL hub lasted, in the 2000s, most of the MD-80s that were based there...
Jump to postSo who is the "premium" flyer anymore? The road warrior that was used to constant upgrades, buys (or gets cc) a lounge membership but now finds himself/herself in coach more and more unless they spring for paid upgrades out of pocket? Or the leisure traveler with excess income that can spr...
Jump to postThe Airbuses pretty much go everywhere. There seems to be some segregation between the LAA and LUS319s. I don't I've ever seen a LAA 319 doing the LGA/DCA/BOS runs and CLT, PHL, and PHX tend to be more LUS 319s.
Jump to postLet's see: 1. AVOID/IFE Some prefer, some don't, some don't care. As someone that flys AA 2-4 times a week this would be a nice addition, but most of the movies today well I'd rather read a book, although I do like the interactive map 2. Expanded BOB Probably on longer flights that cover meal times ...
Jump to postNo shortage of stupid rich people easily conned out of their money.
Jump to postGood article from the Airline Observer about the investor event, and how AA has taken a contrarian path with its fleet and network compared to DL and UA. American Isn't a Premium Airline — By Design https://www.theairlineobserver.com/p/american-isnt-a-premium-airline-by Essentially AA sees itself a...
Jump to postAA's Narrow-Body fleet plan is basically set for the next 10 years. As someone upthread said, this deal was likely made now and likely split to ensure Delivery Slots. NB aircraft production is pretty full for the next 5 years. In a few years (or less), they will announce their WB plan. With no reti...
Jump to postI have no issue with D0 and think it's important. I never book any connection under 90 minutes (even when those shorter connections are cheaper-I pay for my own tickets) because I realize what can go wrong to eat that one hour up in a flash. The truth is holding a plane for a couple of passengers, o...
Jump to postSeems like there's going to be lots of upgauging. What are these a/c replacing? 320s/first batch of 737/319s?
Jump to postScoreboard wrote:A new order to another 85 A321neo
https://www.airbus.com/en/newsroom/pres ... o-aircraft
Seems like some of the low load factors for Spirit and Frontier are routes in which the legacies fly. Are people nixing the ULCCs when there's a direct flight on a legacy? I would think for ULCCs high load factors are even more critical. There's little to no partner income and they are monetizing a ...
Jump to postIf DL thought they had too many widebodies surely they would retire older 763 and A330s.
Jump to postDumb question. Since Breeze's aircraft and crew return to the base at night, I expect that it is rare for the crew to stay at a hotel. Is this considered good from a quality of life standpoint, and does it save any significant amount of money on expenses for crew housing/meals and charges for parki...
Jump to postSo in the AA it will be a boring order of more 7M8s and 321neos. Some routes will get upgauged and some routes might get downgraded to Eagle-assuming there's availability by regionals. So no exotic A350s and A220s to get the airplane junkies excited.
Jump to post787 is not future proof? United with close to 200 (orders and on property) AA turned away from the A350 the first time for a reason UA A350 order on the books for nearly two decades before delivery Are the Rolls Trent issues future proof ? Please let’s stop the flame throwing A thread about a poten...
Jump to postAA is betting that other PP/EXP benefits (particularly when the US3 are all monetizing the premium cabin) will keep FF loyalty. MCE for free, discount on AC membership, some free upgrades here and there, higher priority on standby lists, etc. are not nothing. And of course hub captivity.
Jump to postMost CKs (and there are some that are gifted CK) get awarded CK because they are spending some serious coin. In most cases, but certainly not all, these are individuals traveling on OPM and high up enough in the corporate food chain to get paid premium in their employment contract. They aren't check...
Jump to postIf AA ever started charging for carry-on bags, business travelers like me would revolt and take my business elsewhere. I rarely check bags because I refuse to spend 20-30 minutes of absolutely wasted time standing around in baggage claim waiting for my bag to arrive and crossing my fingers that it ...
Jump to postFF aren't the bread and butter they once were. AA originally tried to prohibit BE fares from carry ons and it was such a "pain point" for GAs AA backed off. AA could try it but it's going to put stress on GAs. I can see MIA where customers will bring a rollerboard to the gate and claim the...
Jump to postPresumably these paid upgrades that have taken over the US3 still do not cover the cost of a first class ticket but certainly are aiding in reducing first as a lost leader to obtain FFs. The FF paradigm that has been around since FF programs began in the 1980s is radically shifting. The US3 no longe...
Jump to postscbriml wrote:PepeTheFrog wrote:scbriml wrote:Get with the program, people. Stop living in the past.
No.
Bring back the 757 line!
And wearing your Sunday best when flying!
From a technical standpoint the merger went very well. No crashing of systems. AA has continued it's bi-focal business model. Concentration on the widebody premium cabins while making narrowbody cabins (other than new 321XRs coming on property) akin to Spirit airlines. Clearly management won't do an...
Jump to postNews (seemingly local to Dallas) from November 2023 indicated Southwest is considering DFW, Terminal F. Has there been additional developments since then?
Jump to postUnless UA decides to go all in on FL and connections to Central and South America, Mexico and the Caribbean (Central America and Mexico easily served by IAH) why would UA spend millions to build up a MCO or FLL hub? The latter causing a retaliation from AA given the proximity of FLL to MIA. The othe...
Jump to postI don't understand this obsession over AA flying to Asia. Surely if it was more profitable than Europe or SA that's where AA would be flying. It's not like you can't get there on other airlines.
Jump to postWhat would be the purpose of MCO? International to Central and South America, the Caribbean and Mexico? Otherwise it wouldn't be an optimal domestic hub save for low yield connecting traffic-in other words if the price is right I'll connect out of my way.
Jump to postA significant part of the ULCC business model are low costs. But when you start adding "better customer service" then those costs go up. Taking care of your customers cost money and that's hard to do when you the price of your product comes nowhere near the cost of delivering that product....
Jump to postGiven the A380 is only profitable on a small number of routes where does this fake, make believe plan to fly it? Not to mention the limited number of airports that can even handle the A380.
Jump to postNo way I see AA adding screens to their new domestic narrow bodies. Domestically AA envisions themselves a dressed up Spirit with a few more frills like free non alcoholic beverages, one free larger carry on and an extra inch of room. Now if there's a change in senior management all bets are off.
Jump to postPart of the issue is that sheer percentage volume that goes through JFK and BOS where delays are constant. Like any airline turns are down to the minute only working with everything being perfect. Enter weather and no wonder OTP is around 65%. And JetBlue just can't extend block and turn times (fin...
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