tphuang wrote:RWA380 wrote:It's no secret that AS is handy with an axe & anything performing poorly must go or warrant a solid reason to its own existence. AAG never said they'd fly JFK-LAX/SFO, because VX was losing money doing it.
This part is simply not true. VX was doing quite well in all the JFK/EWR-LAX/SFO routes. They were definitely still making money on them all the way up until the quarter VX went away. The moment it switched over to AS, the fare numbers just crashed. I posted all the fare numbers on mint routes on a.net. You can see for it yourself.
This IS true. VX wasn't able to fill those gorgeous recliner seats up front, but to a select few. Anyone who travels enough, flies AA, UA or DL trans-con. I booked celebrity & fashion industry big wigs all over the world for years. They are extremely loyal & unless the person was SF based, there was little to no reason to fly them.
Look, I'm not bashing VX, I flew one of their A-320's right after AS took them over, in the big fancy white seat & it was like AA J/C seats Internationally in the 90's. Very comfy, but big heavy things, that took up far too much real estate to warrant the fares & loads they got.
VX did alright in the Y cabin, because they had decent rates & the cool vibe with messaging between seats & purple lights, while most airlines were flying 757's T-con which to most, is just another narrow-body & the A-320 almost made all their West bound flights, except in the winter & unscheduled stops cost VX a lot of money, just like it did B6 at first.
Plus, VX had SF crews, which VX was labor heavy, even though they paid lower at first. I lived in SF when VX launched & honestly, none of my industry fliers ever flew them F or Y. VX would never have survived long term going the direction they were going.
As they were new & tried to lease 100 A-319's & A-320's, they were given unfavorable terms on the aircraft leases, even though they were well backed financially, but with no hedged fuel, the market & suppliers didn't provide as much credit & for awhile, it had them paying more for their goods, period. This changed over time after they got more established.
Against those odds the made a name for themselves (or at least leased it) & VX had a small plucky fan base, cool vibe & flight attendants you never see, unless they were called to a seat, by the onboard ordering app. It was that style of flying that AAG had to beat out of them. Today an AS trained in cabin crew member, can easily tell if their F/A counterparts were from VX or not, by whom stays in the gallies & who walks the aisles.