seacarl

I think AS has been tactical at SJC rather than making it into a hub. In fact, there is little connecting traffic, maybe an occasional through flight from PDX to AUS. AS wants to beef up Hawaii so they are seeing where they can find demand, and with AA abandoning the SJC-AUS direct flight, AS saw an opportunity and with lower costs maybe they can make it work.

The jury is out on what AS's long-term plans are. Often AS doesn't have a plan and tests a market. If it generates enough demand and revenue, they stay. If not, good-bye.

AS will need to build some Bay Area frequent flyer loyalty, and try to capture some AA flyers (there aren't many DL). Is LAX, AUS, SEA and PDX enough, plus one vacation to Hawaii?

AS once had service to Mexico from SJC but I think that's long gone. If you see some of those flights shift from SFO to SJC, that could make a difference. But SFO is more centrally located for more of the market.

sj-flyer

I am disappointed, but not surprised. Watching the gradual reduction of flights out of SJC from International destinations (CDG, TPA), Domestic destinations (JFK, ORD, and others), I suppose this was inevitable.

The local AC staff were great, and I will be sad to not see them on all of my trips.

Hopefully AA doesn't just give up on SJC like they did Oakland. I like my 15 minute drive to the local airport.

dabears1020

With the new LAX-SJC flight QX is starting, I would expect decent increase in connecting traffic, particularly on to AUS and Hawaii.

Of course, as it is right now SJC would not support a BR for PDX, but a year or so down the road it could be a whole different story.

jeffreyt

Amercan made the announcement to their Admiral's Club staff systemwide last week. It's nice to see that no one talked about it directly here on FT until now. I will miss the SJC AAngels.

All American Flyer

That isn't completely true. I mentioned the issue of the quality staff at SJC and what awaits them post-AC. A number of other folks did so as well

jeffreyt

Carefully re-read my post. It was completely true. You can beat around the bush like I did too, but what I just said in this thread is completely true. No one came out directly and mentioned this would happen. Indeed, you actually said that the new Hawaiian lounge sharing agreement bode well for the survival of the SJC club. Unfortunately, you were wrong and this had already been announced internally at AA and was a done deal, hence my veiled response to you then. This was the worst kept secret at AA, but not here on the board.

brenc3

I noticed that the AAngels were exceptionally gracious when I wanted to renew my membership at SAN last week. We have ~14 mainline flts daily - another 13 Eagle flts too, but from the commuter terminal so doesn't really count. UA and DL both can sustain one also, though.

Now that ESpen36's wonderful survey has gotten me thinking, what is AA's business plan for the ACs? Are there any expansion plans, and where and why? Is this closure largely a difficult decision made after rents were raised too high, or is there a larger strategy? DL and CO seem to do a better job of starting discussion of this on their boards.

I would still love to know what it is about the business model of DL/CO/US/AS that allow them to give free booze in clubs while UA/AA cannot or do not.

Jacobin777

Its a good thing I didn't renew my Aadmiral's Club Membership last month.....I was seriously considering renewing my membership. Obviously not anymore..

^

I've been to SJC Airport meetings as well...Half of them are completely clueless and the other 49% could care less as long as they get their salaries and pensions......



No not really. That being said, AA will probably keep SJC-DFW/ORD going as there is really no competition on the route (WN flying to MDW does cater to some other pax).

MQ to LAX will be interesting to see as well...wouldn't be surprised if they cut a lot of that as well...

Runway length issue has been solved. The Bay Area is huge as well...large enough for 3 airports. Dot.com bust was almost a decade ago. The situation in 2001-2003 was quite bad but things have stabilized a bit the past 5-6 years.

IIRC, last time I rode the #10 from the VTA stop, the driver was saying they might end that route....

I just did....^

edit: Even with all of the AA cuts the past 10 years, I'm still going to stick with AA however.....

All American Flyer

I stand corrected. I didn't realize that you were discussing the fact that the closure of the SJC club was announced internally last week though FTers are only (for the most part) learning of it this week. I thought you were discussing the fact that no one had mentioned the AAngels. Your language was a bit unclear but I definitely should have read it more closely. My bad. Also, I thought that you were just speculating when you said "nothing is forever" (a fair assumption on FT) but it's clear that you knew something most of us didn't. I end up looking like John McCain when he said "the fundamentals of the economy are strong" on the eve of the 2008 stock market crash by making the very optimistic statement about the club's survival not a week before its closure is announced!

DBCme

(emphasis mine)

FYI - free wireless is coming to SFO eff 01 September.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/san-f...-1-2010-a.html

Majuki

I liked lounging around at the SJC AC before a flight, and I would typically get there an hour or two before boarding so I could get some work done. The club was always a more private space than the main terminal. Remember it was like this photo only two years ago. I guess my new retreat will be down by gates 1 - 4. Is anyone even using those gates besides the single morning HA flight?

The SJC AC staff was always proactive about seeing if upgrades cleared at the gate. They were also good about making announcements when flights were boarding. It was a touch of personal service that you don't see at the larger clubs.

Let's wait and see how AS is going to proceed. I agree with the assessment above that SJC isn't really set up as a hub per se with the AS routes, but at some point I would think they would have enough frequent flyer traffic to justify keeping a Board Room open. I would say they could probably do it on the AUS, SEA, and PDX traffic alone owing to the number of business travelers on these routes.

seacarl

AS flies nonstop LAX-PDX and LAX-SEA with high frequency, so no reason for SJC connections. SJC is far out of the way for flights to AUS or Hawaii, at best a few marginal connecting passengers. SJC is an endpoint for AS/QX, not a hub. I'd love to see a BR. AS group needs to make a major expansion before this is a hub. Maybe they have an opportunity like they own SEA. Maybe not. Probably not.

dabears1020

It doesn't make a ton of geographical sense, but I have noticed a few LAX-SJC-AUS sales already. Sure the average joe would probably just take a direct flight, but for example someone like me might make use of this were I to go to Hawaii. I'd probably rather connect through SJC and earn AS EQMs rather than taking AA or DL direct and just getting partner EQMs, assuming the price is right.

seacarl

AS does this weird thing, which I notice when I connect through PDX, that although there is a minimum of 500 RDM, if the route is say 200 actual miles, you get 200 EQM and 800 bonus miles - so you get shorted on elite qualifying miles for the per-flight minimum if you take a short connection. Other airlines give you 500 EQM for the short connection.

Xero

A lot of people blame everything on the dot-com bubble. That was a long time ago, and Silicon Valley has improved a lot. The Bay Area is home to 8 million people, making it the 4th largest urban area in the country (for some reason government statistics count San Francisco and San Jose as two separate urban areas, when they are really one). It is not the market's fault that AA is not doing well, it's AA's fault of not being able to profit.

I know a lot of us here don't like to count WN as a "real airline," but they somehow took over and are doing very well at SJC. As a Californian, and like many Californians, I love my intra-Califonria flights. WN allows me to get from any Bay Area airport to any Southern California airport, plus Vegas. Easy! And with their FF program, a lot of people get their free flights fast. That's why WN became popular in California.