Originally Posted by
eponymous_coward
Which, again, AS wouldn't be ripping out all the IFE on pmVX planes if they thought seatback IFE for ANY cabin on either pmVX or pmAS planes was a thing they needed. Yeah, it'a a great option. But they very, VERY obviously don't think this is something they need, because otherwise they wouldn't be standardizing on a no-seatback IFE model for the entire fleet.
It’s very obvious they think they don’t need it. Time will tell if they are correct. What I find weird is that AS is already creating a two tiered product for “premium transcon” and “non-premium transcon and midcon flights.” Yet, their idea of premium transcon just isnt very premium. I was just shopping for Bos-Sfo and B6 mint was $599 and AS was about $40 more. Why on earth would anyone book AS F when they could fly B6 Mint with more frequencies at a lower price? At the very least, AS could have retained a small sub fleet of pmVX aircraft in the pre-merger configuration (A321NEOs) to at least have something vaguely competitive to offer on routes like LAX/SFO-JFK. Sure, it would reduce aircraft scheduling flexibility, but looking st passenger review sites, I see lots of complaints already fro people getting stuck on an AS 739 to JFK when they are accustomed to the VX product. They may be overestimating customer loyalty in an extremely competitive market. Management keeps talking about needing to cut costs because fuel prices are up and revenue is down, yet they seem to be doing absolutely nothing to attract premium traffic.