nall

Does anyone have that "We'll combine the worst of both airlines" image from the UA/CO merger?

colmc

I doubt it. Having a variety of aircraft that cover different options is something that works reasonably well for the new US mega-carriers. Granted, there will be some trimming, but I suspect just like DL and UA have done, there will be some switching around eventually and you'll see US A330's where there weren't before, and likewise AA 767's etc.

Obviously the MD-80's etc will continue to vanish and there may be some trimming of excess..but I think a lot of the big birds will remain where they are.


Umm..they're not going to use HP. It will remain AA. Unless I missed something major

Himeno

When HP and US were merged to the one AOC, they kept the US IATA code (US) and the HP ICAO code (AWE) and callsign (Cactus).

AA/US, AAL/AWE, American/Cactus. Who knows at this stage which one of each they'll use. They are keeping the American name/brand, so they will likely use the AA IATA code. As for the ICAO code and callsign...

belfordrocks

I'm hoping they will go back to the 3-digit code USA and USAIR as callsign

MDWCommuter

As an ex-AAer this deal makes me sad. It's hard to see how this end in anything but tears down the road once Parker makes good on all his promises to the unions.

From a management perspective it will be interesting to see how many US people make the move from PHX to DFW.

Rfharris

Well the point is not about being a fair comparison but can you blame me if having gone through those experiences I don't want to chance repeating them? I flew BA beginning in the late 70s whenever I wanted to go to or connect through London and they were OK then but nothing special. As an aside I was actually in the air at the same time as the Lockerbie disaster going from Glasgow to Heathrow. If passengers are telling me that BA has improved (a lot I hope) I would try them again because the more options the better. But between LH and BA I would still choose LH because of past experiences and being voted recently best airline in Europe. I also like the Frankfurt airport better than Heathrow or CDG. Schiphol is another airport I like in Europe.

NiceLanding

10 years ago I booked a flight on aa.com in BA Business Class for an important meeting. Thought I was getting to Heathrow with plenty of time to spare and was going to hang out in BA's lounge for awhile, but T1 was a total disaster area (extreme lines of people everywhere and pretty run-down to boot) and my electronic ticket from aa.com somehow failed to register in BA's computer. I could not get any help from BA, no one was answering phone calls, and I ended up having to run over to T3, where AA finally fixed the problem. By then I had missed my flight (would still have made it, actually, but was past BA's cutoff time for lobby check-in) and had decided to never again trust either AA or BA.

As you can imagine, after scrupulously avoiding either airline for years, it took a lot of abuse from UA to get me to match to AA. Much to my delight, it's a whole new world now, with new systems, new facilities, and new attitudes at BA that have made me very happy to be connecting through Heathrow these days.

By the way, when I do have a long connection, I find a lot more to do for an afternoon in London than I do in Frankfurt, but of course YMMV. (I like Schiphol as well, although they're lacking any great lounges.)

Rfharris

It is encouraging to hear that some passengers that also had bad experiences years ago and are now saying that it is much better. I will be in Heathrow early this October and will have to overnight there will see if the airport is anymore appealing. I will be connecting to SFO on UA next day. None of the US carriers seem to me to be that good, I used to like CO but haven't flown them in several years. London is more fun than Frankfurt, but I can get along in Frankfurt, I speak the language and my wife has relatives there who enjoy a good time but in general London is preferred. I have never had occasion to use lounges in Schiphol, I either go into Amsterdam or last time go to the cruise terminal.

matrixwalker2012

So how fitting is this? AA and US announce their shotgun engagement on Valentine's day. This merger just reeks of desperation. Only thing I guess AA has to gain here are some slots at DCA and a southeast hub at CLT. Don't see much strategic value in PHX and PHL is much too close to JFK.

AA already has one of the most toxic pilot relationships and adding US' pilots to the fold won't help at all. The negotiations would need to take place in a convention hall to hold all those egos!

84fiero

I'm holding out hope that they will change course and go with Allegheny Airlines

NiceLanding

I'd almost forgotten Agony Airlines! And would still be AA.

eponymous_coward

Having hubs where there are 4-6 million potential customers for your airline (as well as the people who need to fly to them) has lots of strategic value, and go ask some of the 6 million people in Philly's metropolitan area if they consider an airport 90 miles away across several major metro areas that are jammed with traffic a reasonable choice for an airport. Just be prepared to be laughed at.

Hubs don't just exist in networks because they connect people; the most successful hubs can also sustain O/D, and the hub traffic is a bonus. 4-6 million people is a lot of O/D.

USAJerry

I guess we can retire the name "US Scare" or "US Scareways".

But in all seriousness, since when has a merger actually been good for the American consumer? Fewer choices, higher ticket prices.

I give the merger a thumbs down.

As for rewards, I'm sure it's anybody's guess and I'm taking a stab just like everyone else on here. I'm sure they'll really crunch the numbers to come up with a way to slightly devalue our points even further while selling us on some type of benefits which they will implement to offset the devaluation.

And for reward booking? Let's just hope they don't go the route of US Airways' "needle in a haystack" method where it's much tougher to book a reward as compared to other domestic airlines.

MiamiAirport Formerly NY George

Also remember there are huge populations (and businesses) from Baltimore North to Wilmington. BWI is not exactly an uber International airport. Getting to IAD while shorter in distance is a traffic nightmare. From somewhere like Towson or Hunt Valley, MD it could be three hours to IAD versus 90 or so minutes to PHL.

FWAAA

While that may certainly be correct in the abstract (higher ticket prices), the decline in real (inflation adjusted) ticket prices since 1978 demonstrates that airline mergers may be the exception to that rule. The startups and their low fares (made possible by their low wages) have provided real checks on the ability of the high-cost airlines to extract high fares over the long-term.

Sure, in some communities, fares look outrageous as the B6, VX, NK or WN effects have yet to reach them (and probably never will). But overall, air travel is very cheap despite very expensive fuel prices.