best

It seems they have 4 or 5 lounges, but no Flagship at DFW ???

bdemaria

You are correct. 4 ACs, but no FL, at DFW.

wwta

Wirelessly posted (SAMSUNG-SGH-I607/UCHA1 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows CE; IEMobile 6.12) UP.Link/6.3.0.0.0)

They did have one in the A23 Admiral's Club. !t has since been converted to general ADM space a la BOS. It was closed four or five years ago in a round of price cuts; there was not enough premium traffic or need for distinction (competition) in the DFW market to justify a F lounge. When DFW Termnial D was finished in 2005, AA didn't build a FL space. For DFW, it seems the Admiral's Club is adequate for AA's focus in the fortress hub.

FlyerBeek

There are simply not enough three-class int'l flights or int'l F competition to warrant a Flagship lounge in DFW.

-FlyerBeek

FWAAA

I can see MIA getting its FL back once the D concourse construction is finished. What's the estimate on that? 2016 or so?

BOS? Might happen again someday if DL tries to make BOS an international gateway and if fuel stays cheap/gets cheaper and the industry recovers from the current slump. And if AA keeps its F cabins and/or expands them (like installs them on the 787s).

DFW? Same as BOS with respect to fuel and industry health and fleet. AA may never have much premium long-haul competition at DFW, but far into the future, AA will be competing fiercely with an even-stronger Delta and its hub at ATL. As DL continues to expand its ultra-longhaul routes and adds first-class-style flat beds/suites to its business class cabins, a case might be made for a Flagship Lounge at DFW. May depend on how lavish a lounge DL provides at ATL.

stratofortress

IMHO, there's no business reason for such a lounge at DFW. Only flights with F service are FRA, LHR & NRT. The only route they have a F-class competitor on is BA (LH uses a 2-class bird to DFW). I'd venture to guess folks who fly F to LHR on AA instead of BA are doing it because of company policy or are using miles. In other words, they're not choosing AA because they might have a superior lounge product.

In the end, I think it boils down to this: AA doesn't have a Flagship Lounge at DFW because they don't have to. There's simply no competition that would require it.

ESpen36

AND, there's nobody to help pay for it.

The only reason why there's a FL at LAX is that QF paid for it and continues to pay for a significant portion of the operating expenses.

DCAstudent

Don't forget EZE and GRU.
No F competition there, but both have F service.

Non-NonRev

Another alternative for AA (if ex-DFW flights with F seating increase) would be to provide day rooms at one of the Hyatts for paid F pax.

justforfun

Let's compare it to JFK.

1. JFK doesn't appear to have more 777 international routes. There's NRT, LHR, GRU/GIG, (what else am I missing?)
2. I don't believe anybody(like QF) helped pay for the FL at JFK.
3. There is lots of competition at JFK.
4. DFW has more EXPs travelling through it(I'm surmising), which would mean a lot more use of an FL by elites rather than F paying pax.

In the end I think it comes down to lack of competition at DFW and the large number of EXPs.

FWAAA

You may be right (I have no idea) but since there used to be a FL at DFW, that makes me think that there once was a business reason to have a FL there.

Then the question becomes whether the lounge was closed because the business justifications for it evaporated or whether it was closed simply because of the near-bankruptcy experience in 2003? Was it closed to conserve cash despite the potential competitive harm?

2003 saw the removal of F cabins from nearly 50 763s, greatly reducing the number of potential F customers to many destinations. Maybe that helps explain it.

i_fly_AA

You're forgetting the AFS to LAX and SFO...particularly the 9 or 10 daily 762 flights to LAX. AC is not good enough for all those celebrities!

justforfun

Very true. I wonder if that's not THE reason for an FS at JFK. But did the transcons always get lounge access, or was that a recent change(like after the FS was built)?

stratofortress

It's been that way since I can remember. 5 years or so?

Also, it's worth pointing out that JFK-LHR is (or perhaps was) a very important business route for AA. I'm not sure how many flights/day operate there, but I know it's more than DFW-LHR.

I, can't imagine the cost of staffing the separate Flagship Lounge at the DFW A23 club would have been that much. For whatever reason they didn't build one in Terminal D, which means they were likely dead set against it.

Only way I see a FL opening in DFW is if the BA/AA/IB deal goes through and the BA Terraces lounge becomes a joint-operated First Class lounge that BA picks up a portion of the tab for - similar to the LAX FL. That would be most lovely, IMHO.

chanp

I was just about to say the same thing. IIRC theres only one QF flight leaving from T4, all other are from TB, QF can just pay CX or open their own. OTOH, I wish there were more direct flights to intl locations from lax.