CPRich

Parker hasn't tried to solve the problem - smartly telling the unions that it's a union issue and they need to sort it out according to their rules. It has actually benefited him and the airline. His "inability" has been a very smart move, IMHO.

The name is US Airways Group, Inc. If you're going to be pedantic, do it correctly.

It's also not American, AA, US, TW, USA, etc., etc. Whatever.

sharka

For AA FF members it will get worse, case in point: those who uses Intl transpacific flights, it will definitely get a whole lot worse and not likely to improve. AA oneworld is already limited to mainly CX and Japan with a few AA routes to Asia. Now with US Airways having to drop from Alliance and join oneworld, that just means more US FF members having to fight for already limited seats on oneworld.

sts603

Or OneWorld carriers continue to expand capacity in Asia (particularly through the AA-JL JBA)????? Why are you assuming that the current Asian route network is stagnant. The fact that AA is growing and gaining more passengers would more logically lead to a reason to more aggressively expand capacity.

eponymous_coward

Since when does WN fly TATL? And with the same model of C seat that CX uses, to boot?

(Also, bagging on WN is sort of a tradition here on FT, but really, they're quite different from a legacy- AA and US have more in common than WN and any legacy.)

FWAAA

I agree there's healthy demand, and it's apparent that between DL, UA/NH and JAL, that demand is probably being met from Tokyo. Perhaps there's room for an AA flight as well, and if joint venture partner JAL didn't already fly three times a day from Tokyo to BKK (one from HND and two from NRT), then AA might have to consider it. Plus the four daily flights that CX flies from HKG.

There's really no rational business case for AA metal to duplicate the JAL network from Tokyo, as those seven daily flights (from Tokyo and HKG) provide plenty of top-shelf premium seats for the business traveler spending OPM. (The desire to upgrade cheap fares with SWUs or miles isn't a very compelling business case). Sure, I'd love it if my SWUs would get me into a big seat on my N or Q fare for those last 2,500 to 3,000 miles to BKK or SIN or KUL or MNL etc.

LarkSFO

Yes, but are they going to focus on 'strengthening their strengths' and consolidating their ASM's on their current fortress/cornerstones (Plus Latin America / Europe)?

Or do they focus on a weakness (Asia) and dump a lot of money in to trying to improve their position TPAC?

Short term, I think they will have too much on their plate to try and put a lot of energy and money in to Asia. Short term, is there anything they can do with OneWorld/Alliances that would strengthen their network to Asia? (or is this already maxed out with AA's legacy relationships with Asian carriers?)

Longer term, USAA has to see this as a glaring weakness that (I think) they would want to address with more of their own metal.

JBEagle1000G

I just keep wondering why......why Doug Parker as the defacto CEO of the potentially merged company.
Cuz he "wanted it more?"
Why wouldn't Horton just stay? Or the board pick a new leader?

RealFan

Because Doug played the political game better than Tom. Doug got out in front of the process, communicated what he thought would be best for both airlines, and sold the unions on it. Tom had the better long-term plan, but it didn't play well with the bondholders or the unions.

At the end of the day, AA's management took a risk in taking the airline through BK and assuming it would be able to lead it out of BK, and lost. There is no such thing as a risk-free gamble, and Tom is learning that the hard way this week.

LarkSFO

Can you add more detail or link me to more info on this?

Did he really have a better plan, or was it just a straw man to put AA in a better bargaining position?

BrewerSEA

Disney/Pixar.

JoeWoodstock

AT&T with T-Mobile...

...oh, wait.

Never mind!
--woodstock

MetricFlyer

With all due respect, I couldn't disagree more.

diver858

Sirius/XM - allowed 2 floundering competitors to merge, creating a financially viable entity.

MetricFlyer

if only someone can come up with a way to merge all three remaining
airlines(UA, DL and the new AA-US)...

NiceLanding

On paper, the 1K benefits stayed the same or even improved a bit (like the absurdity of now being able to get E+ seats for eight traveling companions). In practice, though, the new PeopleExpress mentality of everyone being equal has so diluted many of the benefits that travel for a 1K is no longer efficient or stress-free.

Check-in desks, priority security lines, boarding groups and priority lanes, and previously-dedicated phone agents have all been expanded to include nearly every elite and credit card holder, bringing much of the 1K travel experience down to a level that's worse than the old Premier Executive. Also, the aggressive selling of premium seats for whatever UA can get means that upgrade rates have plunged dramatically for many 1Ks.

These changes don't seem to have helped UA's profitability at all, while they have degraded service for many of the customers they were supposed to help. One can only hope that Parker picks up on this and doesn't go down the same path.

Edit: I should add that 1Ks did lose our two confirmed regional upgrades per quarter in conjunction to moving to a CO-style unlimited upgrade program (which in fact does exactly the opposite of what you might expect from the name!).