Originally Posted by
lhl12
If PHL-NRT launches, might it make more sense for JAL to be the carrier rather than AA? JAL has recently launched BOS-NRT service on 787's, which has been wildly successful so far. Maybe they want to take on PHL as well? Not sure who gets first dibs - JAL or AA - or how they decide.
Don't know how AA and JAL allocate who flies which route, but the AA pilots are going to want to see their "fair share" of new long-haul routes. Recently, JAL has begun SAN, BOS and JFK (second daily, replacing AA metal).
The JAL 787s, while featuring a civilized 2-4-2 econ configuration (compared to everyone else's nine across), also feature slanted ski slope business class seats, and we know that
those are unacceptable these days.
AA has the lower yields (average fares) to Asia than UA or DL, and if NGBC is partially to blame, then AA needs to get fully flat seats on its flights to Japan and China.