AA 88/89 ORD-BRU-ORD Going Away
Sep 16, 2011, 9:57 pm
#31
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: PDK/ATL/TNG (ex-MIA)
Programs: DL Platinum, AA Platinum, Marriott Platinum, Hilton Gold
Posts: 664
You hit the nail on the hand. They refuse to compete, but it's because they simply can't compete. They don't even have individual IFE in Y on the 763s. What kettle in their right mind, unless there was a sizable difference in fare, would choose AA over UA or that other carrier on this longhaul route?
Sep 16, 2011, 9:59 pm
#32
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: BOS
Programs: AA EXP
Posts: 7,710
The seats on AA were fine, the "food" seemed marginally better and the IFE I encountered on competitor flights wasn't worth using.
What set AA apart was customer service when things went wrong combined with relatively generous policies. I would still fly UA, DL, US, B6 and AC when their fares were noticeably lower or they had a much better schedule, but I picked AA every time the fares were about the same.
Sep 16, 2011, 10:06 pm
#33
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: ORD & MKE
Programs: Airlines: UA-CO, NH, AA, and DL Hotels: SPG, Accor, PC, and Marriott
Posts: 1,827
Yeah I donor see BUD staying for long, DLhashada hard time with it. Also I donor buy the argument that BRU is a star city that AA can not compete. DLhas a good presence in Germany, good London coverage. UA has decent London coverage several flights to HKG. Do people only want AA to fly to locked in OW cities, I would hope not.
Sep 16, 2011, 10:16 pm
#34
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: CMH
Programs: AA EXP, EBS GLD, A|Club PLT, CC Silver, HH GLD
Posts: 782
You hit the nail on the hand. They refuse to compete, but it's because they simply can't compete. They don't even have individual IFE in Y on the 763s. What kettle in their right mind, unless there was a sizable difference in fare, would choose AA over UA or that other carrier on this longhaul route?
AA refuses to advance to the 21st century, and that's one of the reasons they are losing biz on routes they should do very well on.
AA refuses to advance to the 21st century, and that's one of the reasons they are losing biz on routes they should do very well on.
The question is how much is the hurt going to pay off?
In 5-7 years, if Aprey's bet pays off. You have one of the youngest fuel effecicent fleets in the works. Then with this brand new fleet you are announcing huge expansions to all these cool cities around the world. Lots of buzz for the airline.
While I have no data to support this I would guess that this is an opportunity cost decision Rev Mgt probably sees a higher yielding flight plan for the bird. I betcha that ORD-BRU isn't a difficult route to secure again if they wanted it back in a few years with shiny new planes.
Sep 16, 2011, 10:20 pm
#35
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: LAX
Programs: AA Ex Platinum, AA million miler, Marriott Bonvoy Titanium, UA Silver
Posts: 296
It looks like AA will exit the ORD-BRU-ORD market. AA 88/89 are zeroed out. Last flight that is bookable departing Chicago is Sunday 6 November. It does not appear the flight will return next summer either.
A tip of the hat to brp for asking a question that prompted me to look.
A tip of the hat to brp for asking a question that prompted me to look.
Sep 16, 2011, 10:22 pm
#36
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: LAX
Programs: AA Ex Platinum, AA million miler, Marriott Bonvoy Titanium, UA Silver
Posts: 296
It looks like AA will exit the ORD-BRU-ORD market. AA 88/89 are zeroed out. Last flight that is bookable departing Chicago is Sunday 6 November. It does not appear the flight will return next summer either.
A tip of the hat to brp for asking a question that prompted me to look.
A tip of the hat to brp for asking a question that prompted me to look.
I am currently booked on flight 89 from BRU - ORD on January 6, 2012. No notification from AA that the flight was cancelled.
Sep 16, 2011, 10:28 pm
#37
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: IND/MEX
Programs: AA PPro BA Bronze SPG Gold HH GLD Hyatt Exp
Posts: 1,134
Sep 16, 2011, 10:30 pm
#38
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: SJC
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Posts: 33,535
Cheers.
Sep 16, 2011, 10:35 pm
#39
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: LAX
Programs: AA Ex Platinum, AA million miler, Marriott Bonvoy Titanium, UA Silver
Posts: 296
Does it matter that I am in T class on an award? I would rather not take the BRU - JFK - LAX routing.
Sep 16, 2011, 11:34 pm
#42
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: DCA
Programs: AA, AS, Hyatt
Posts: 978
Sep 17, 2011, 12:28 am
#43
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: BRU (Belgium)
Programs: UA
Posts: 318
Not exactly... They went from daily to 6x/week on the ORDBRU route. On EWRBRU they added a few seats (but most important a lot of premiumseats) with the introduction of the PMUA plane instead of the PMCO plane...
Sep 17, 2011, 3:25 am
#44
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: eastern Europe & NC
Posts: 4,527
Actually going from an ORD connection to a JFK connection is a huge downgrade. Any connecition in that hellhole JFK is unacceptable in my book.
Sep 17, 2011, 6:29 am
#45
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Netherlands
Posts: 4,287
AA is really dumping Europe
This is a really a big 
! These days there are hardly any good direct flights from the US to continental Europe. Again, AA seems to be really dumping us continental Europe travellers and forcing us to fly via MAD or LHR which means arriving into most major cities late in the morning or after midday.
For us AAdvantage members especially EXP's, we are getting the impact of this with hardly any possibility to use them on codeshare partner flights and only on AA metal. Are they indirectly trying to eliminate the program here on continental Europe?
A bad move..
What happens now to their connections with Jet Airways? I know quite a lot of them do connect in Brussels to/from India and beyond?
Cheers!
! These days there are hardly any good direct flights from the US to continental Europe. Again, AA seems to be really dumping us continental Europe travellers and forcing us to fly via MAD or LHR which means arriving into most major cities late in the morning or after midday.For us AAdvantage members especially EXP's, we are getting the impact of this with hardly any possibility to use them on codeshare partner flights and only on AA metal. Are they indirectly trying to eliminate the program here on continental Europe?
A bad move..
What happens now to their connections with Jet Airways? I know quite a lot of them do connect in Brussels to/from India and beyond?
Cheers!