Originally Posted by
elitetraveler
"Perhaps" was my statement, however, the elements I think AA had then:
- Strong LHR operation
- The pending BA antitrust relationship (LHR is the TATL pot of gold)
- Dominant player to Latin America and the Caribbean
- Better JFK position pre-B6
- Typical UA labor-management acrimony with CEO revolving door Greenwald to Goodwin to Creighton while Carty had led a fairly smooth transition from Crandall with pretty much the same management team that made AMR such a well respected company.
Reaching for straws with this response. Talk about cherrypicking. That pending BA antitrust was denied by the incoming Bush Administration. But if I am not mistaken, doesn't UA have slots at LHR too?
AA still is the dominant player in Latin America and Caribbean albeit the latter has been reduced with the closing of the SJU hub.
AA had labor strife in the early 2000s too. The carrier almost went into bk in 2003 as I recall.
Again, how you reach the conclusion that AA "perhaps" was the best positioned airline entering the last decade is just your opinion based on no substantive facts.