zman

Now that Delta has announced they will ask for BOS-LHR and MIA-LHR (going right after AA)when will AA announce the cancellation of BOS-LHR on AA metal? Unlikely they will stop MIA as it is a hub.


Delta Air Lines Moves to Expand Competition at London's Heathrow Airport
New flights from Boston, Miami would increase customer choices in one of world's most tightly restricted markets

ATLANTA, Aug 26, 2010 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Delta Air Lines /quotes/comstock/13*!dal/quotes/nls/dal (DAL 10.04, +0.01, +0.10%) today filed applications with the European Commission and the U.S. Department of Transportation requesting permission to operate twice-daily year-round service between London's Heathrow Airport and Boston, and daily year-round service between Heathrow and Miami.

Delta's new service would benefit consumers by increasing competition among airlines and airline alliances between the U.S. and Heathrow, which is tightly restricted by airport slot restraints. The oneworld alliance, which includes American Airlines and British Airways, holds 47 percent of Heathrow's takeoff and landing slots, while the Star Alliance, which includes United Airlines, US Airways, BMI and Lufthansa, accounts for 25 percent of Heathrow's slots.

SkyTeam, whose members include Delta, Air France-KLM and Alitalia, holds only 5 percent of Heathrow's slots.

"Delta's new service would provide more choices and competition for customers traveling between these important U.S. cities and London, one of the most popular destinations in Europe for both business and leisure travelers," said Glen Hauenstein, Delta's executive vice president - Network Planning and Revenue Management. "Awarding these slots to Delta and SkyTeam would significantly enhance competition among the major alliances across the Atlantic."

The slots for the new service are available following the U.S. and E.U. governments' approval of an immunized trans-Atlantic alliance between American Airlines and British Airways. The government required the airlines to divest some Heathrow slots in order to enhance competition in the most tightly restricted markets.

If approved, Delta's Heathrow service from Boston and Miami would begin March 27, 2011, and would be offered in cooperation with its trans-Atlantic joint venture partners Air France-KLM and Alitalia.

Boston - Heathrow

Boston is one of the largest markets between the U.S. and Heathrow, with more than 270,000 passengers annually. The route is popular with business travelers in the financial services and technology industries.

Delta, the second-largest carrier in Boston with 75 peak-day departures to 17 cities, would operate two flights daily to Heathrow, using Boeing 767-300ER aircraft equipped with 36 seats in BusinessElite and 180 in Economy.

Delta's proposed Boston-Heathrow summer 2011 schedule:




Flight Departs Arrives Frequency
------ ------- ------- ---------
Heathrow at 6:45
270 Boston at 7 p.m. a.m. (next day) Daily
--- ---------------- ---------------- -----
Boston at 9:50 Heathrow at 9:35
144 p.m. a.m. (next day) Daily
--- --------------- ----------------- -----
Heathrow at 10:30 Boston at 1:25
271 a.m. p.m. Daily
--- ------------------ --------------- -----
Heathrow at 1:30 Boston at 4:25
145 p.m. p.m. Daily
--- ----------------- --------------- -----







New Delta service between Heathrow and Boston would complement existing trans-Atlantic service offered by the SkyTeam alliance from Boston, including year-round flights to Paris operated by Air France, Rome operated by Alitalia and Amsterdam operated by Delta.

Miami - Heathrow

As Florida's largest carrier offering international service, and the second-largest carrier in Miami, Delta and its SkyTeam partners are well-positioned to enhance competition between Miami and Heathrow. If approved, Delta would operate one daily flight on the route using Boeing 767-300 aircraft.

Delta's proposed Miami-Heathrow summer 2011 schedule:




Flight Departs Arrives Frequency
------ ------- ------- ---------
Heathrow at 7:30
260 Miami at 5:30 p.m. a.m. (next day) Daily
--- ------------------ ---------------- -----
Heathrow at 10:20
261 a.m. Miami at 3:25 p.m. Daily
--- ------------------ ------------------ -----







New Delta service between Heathrow and Miami would complement existing trans-Atlantic service offered by the SkyTeam alliance from Miami including year-round flights to Paris operated by Air France and Rome operated by Alitalia.

Delta Air Lines serves more than 160 million customers each year. With its unsurpassed global network, Delta and the Delta Connection carriers offer service to 367 destinations in 65 countries on six continents. Headquartered in Atlanta, Delta employs more than 75,000 employees worldwide and operates a mainline fleet of more than 700 aircraft. A founding member of the SkyTeam global alliance, Delta participates in the industry's leading trans-Atlantic joint venture with Air France-KLM and Alitalia. Including its worldwide alliance partners, Delta offers customers more than 13,000 daily flights, with hubs in Amsterdam, Atlanta, Cincinnati, Detroit, Memphis, Minneapolis-St. Paul, New York-JFK, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Salt Lake City and Tokyo-Narita. The airline's service includes the SkyMiles frequent flier program, the world's largest airline loyalty program; the award-winning BusinessElite service; and more than 45 Delta Sky Clubs in airports worldwide. Customers can check in for flights, print boarding passes, check bags and review flight status at delta.com.

SOURCE Delta Air Lines

wildaboutmovies

AA is not going to stop flying BOS-LHR. <redacted TOS #87 violation> It's not ever going to happen. The flights are always sold out.

filelover

Full flights do not mean profitable flights.

zman

BOS-SFO are also mostly sold out.
Sold out does not mean profitable.
The flights ARE NOT almost always sold out 3x7 BOS-LHR.
AA has been eliminating or reducing BOS when any new competition shows up. Management belives they can make more $ moving BOS assigned aircraft to service other routes.

demkr

BOS-SFO are also always full.

As far as I know, ATI forces AA/BA to give up atleast some BOS-LHR frequencies. I'd predict that yes, its eventually going to be pulled.

zman

Not correct on the slots, to be given up.

AA/BA are required to make slots available by selling or leasing that can only be used for NS service to certain city pairs such as BOS-LHR or DFW-LHR.
It does not mean AA/BA must reduce flying any TATL flights to/from LHR to the U.S.
BA could give up a slot they use for LHR-CDG or LHR-MAN as an example. They may even have an unused slot they are willing to lease.
But, they do not have to give up any flights to/from BOS-LHR.
In fact they could choose to add capacity as well as use larger aircraft.

Hyperacusis

I wouldn't be surprised if AA pulls its BOS flights and starts putting AA codes on the BA flights.

gemac

Hi, filelover. Welcome to Flyertalk.

5 years is a long time to be a member before making your first post. Don't let another 5 years go by before your next post.

MAH4546

Our <redacted> is at again with pointless threads.

American Airlines is not going to cancel Boston-Heathrow. Such an idea is absolutely idiotic and shows no understanding of what AA/BA/IB is. Starting October 27th, the three airlines are merged. What AA does is what BA does is what IB does. They will have full metal neutrality.

Will AA metal continue on BOS-LHR? Maybe, maybe not. But it doesn't matter, because the airlines are metal neutral and profit sharing. AA/BA/IB will decide how to allocate aircraft over various routes, just like DL/KL/AF do. For example, Delta does not fly JFK-CDG, but it still shares the profits with Air France and KLM. Sometimes, KLM will operate one DTW-AMS frequency, sometimes KLM will operate zero. But it doesn't matter to the airline. One airline across the Atlantic.

I would not be surprised if what we see is AA operate a 75L on the daylight service and then British Airways operate four daily traditional redeye services.

Furthermore, I also expect that AA will takeover BOS-MAD for Iberia. The A340 is too much plane, and an AA 75L will allow the route to operate daily, year-round. Or, possibly, AA will operate the route in the winter months and IB in the summer months. This is what metal neutrality does - it allows the airlines to rotate their long-haul fleet between routes as if it was one fleet, for all flights between the U.S./Canada/Mexico and the EU/Norway/Switzerland.

Xero

I do wonder how this affects upgrades. We still do not know that, unfortunately. Or do we?

jcelio

Right on point...

bernardd

But the point is it does matter to the customer, and therefore AA/BA/IB in a number of areas, for example in the event AA flies the daylight flight BOS-LHR, then with the current configuration, that means there's no Premium Economy available on the daylight service. I would certainly impact me because it'is one of the options I strongly prefer because I can work in one of those seats - a next-to-impossible feat in cramped coach.

Similarly, what happens to DFW-LHR - are we going to see the demise of Premium Economy on that route?

We've clearly disagreed on this before, but IMO for metal neutrality from the customer perspective, we need much more common product than exists at present. Maybe AA/BA/IB figure that's the best option for them, but if I have to start making more connections or connections in places I prefer not to visit, then why not choose Star or SkyTeam carriers? Given the depressing lack of Business Class award availability on both AA & BA at present, am I going to be losing much?

fixedwingflyer

Yes, the 757s they fly between BOS and LHR are soldout, but the 763s and 777s they used to fly on that route are not. That's why they're flying the 757s.

elitetraveler

Yes, but what does metal neutrality mean besides now earning and burning for AAdvantage and BAEC on TATL flights?

- Will AAdvantage members be able to use AA miles to upgrade on BA or IB metal?

- Will AAdvantage members be able to use eVIPs to upgrade on BA and IB metal?

- If so, will the upgrades be available on the same generous array of fare categories as AA on BA or IB metal?

- Same questions for BAEC members using Gold Upgrade for 2s?

So far I haven't seen or heard any answers to these questions. And what would be the time frame implementing any of the above.

Keep in mind the upgrade components of the AA and BA programs are very different and the top tier upgrades earned are also structured very differently. Not sure about IB, AY or RJ. Until the specifics get rolled out 'metal neutrality' isn't going to mean much in terms of how ATI will actually work for frequent fliers.

msv777

+1

Can you say SJC-NRT or BOS-SFO.

Cheers.