Originally Posted by
33Lspotter
Does anyone know what the reasoning behind this route in particular was? My flights were somewhat full, but I had two window seats to myself both ways, and that was the case for more than 1 person on the flights, so the load factor couldn't have been more than 80 percent. That said, I was pretty stoked to have the opportunity — the 332 is a great aircraft and was extremely comfortable for a 1 1/2 hour flight.
I don't have the exact reason(s) why your flight featured an A332, but I have one WAG (that is probably pretty close):
Some European destinations are seasonal - flown in the summer only. If a summer seasonal flight is an A332, then where does that plane go in the off-season? Park it in ROW for a few months? Nope. Fly the plane on heavily traveled domestic routes (and routes to the Caribbean) during the winter. That way, the airline still generates revenue with the expensive asset (widebody plane) and doesn't have to furlough pilots. No airline wants to park planes for several months each year and pay the widebody pilots to sit at home (that's very expensive). Might as well make the employees work for their pay and get some revenue from the plane.
Other reasons can involve efficient routings to minimize ground sit time of the widebody planes.
IME, AA has always had some widebody domestic flights, with more of them in the winter than the summer (when they are flying those summer seasonal international flights).