Originally Posted by AGSF

The problem is, American can not effectively compete with JetBlue, and to a lesser extent, Virgin America. Both B6 and VX have, on average, much newer aircraft and better in-flight product (seats, AVOD, Wi-Fi).

I like American, and they are my top choice to cities where Jet Blue and Virgin America don't fly (which is still a large number of cities), but there are an increasing number of people in cities like San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Boston and Washington D.C. that have discovered the practical advantages of Jet Blue and Virgin America.

The comparison between a Jet Blue/ Virgin America Airbus and a 20-year-old AA 757 is night and day. Once American gets more 737-800s and eventualy 787s online, the situation will change. I also think it was a huge mistake by AA not to equip its new aircraft with AVOD, which will be an industry standard in the US in the next few years (Continental and Delta are both adding AVOD to their domestic fleets).

AA is stuck in the past, and that works fine for routes where it doesn't compete with the likes of Jet Blue and Virgin; but we will continue to see a pull-down in places like Boston, San Francisco, L.A. and D.C. until they can come up with a competitive product.

ALSO: Look at what's happening to their TATL routes from Boston, especially London. They are just not competitive with British Airways to London. There really needs to be some serious, serious invetment in their fleet and on-board product.