brewdog11

I think AA will bring back Concorde or pigs will fly before this thing is open by Christmas. Asked recently while at PHL and nobody knew.

FlyFreakquently

Very curious as to the possibility AA puts an A321T or two on the schedule for it's PHL-LAX route if the FL (ever) opens. Probably very unlikely, but this would be a dream come true.

hp12c

PHL seems to have generally been deprioritized. I’m not banking on the FL ever opening.

LlamaJesus

I don't think they'll ever do better than a daily widebody, if that even returns (complete guess, but I think it would depend on more TPAC traffic returning to LAX, since presumably they'd be sending it out there to go international; also depends on AA getting more widebodies in general). As far as I can tell, they only put the A321T on BOS-LAX because they have a few spare planes due to cutting back on JFK-LAX frequency (from ~12 daily pre-pandemic to 9 now; I think they cut JFK-SFO frequencies as well but I'm too lazy to check). If anything, I think they'll cut the 321T from BOS-LAX if and when they increase the JFK-LAX/SFO frequencies back to pre-pandemic since they'll need the planes. Of course, with the B6 partnership, maybe they don't need the same frequencies as before. Additionally, they seem to like having the routes be all A321T or none at all (i.e., all the BOS-LAX flights right now are A321T, same as JFK-LAX/SFO), and they probably don't have enough planes to cover the 5/6 daily PHL-LAX flights (currently 5x daily, increasing to 6x daily over then summer, then who knows), in addition to lacking the demand. So either way, the odds of that ever happening seem slim to none, as much as I'd like to see it (since I tend to do PHL-LAX at least once a year).

As for the FL, I've given up hope. I feel like there's a 50% chance we never hear of it again or a 50% chance it opens on a random Tuesday without any forewarning.

Smiley90

womp womp, good to know. Off to keep avoiding PHL I go!

Raralith

I think it was a month ago that the PHL AC hostess mentioned that the FL was "opening soon," but I always give that a grain of salt. Seems like PHL has enough international to support a FL, but it's doubtful at this point that we'll get Flagship First like we have for LAX-JFK/BOX for the few that fly transcon into PHL which just really sucks; AA did do the 787's for LAX-PHL in Q4 2021, I took a few of them, and they were great plane for redeyes. On the flip side, AA just has a stranglehold on PHL, no one has as much presence after COVID, so why spend money to compete against no one? Makes sense to deprioritize when you don't even serve alcohol in MC.

redtop43

There was a daily PHL-LAX A330 for years pre-COVID, there are still some MIA-PHL 787's, and they had PHL-LAS 787's on and off until early this year. I think they have one PHL-DFW. In all cases,there are probably return routes but I'm mostly citing the ones I've taken. If they wanted, I guess they could fly some 787's and designate them Flagship Business.

ChurnieEls

With respect to those who live in the area, I can't see an A321T being financially viable for them, they won't sell enough J/F in that market - its very much a Spirit/Frontier demographic.

boerne

Re opening FL in PHL is very sketchy. We have 2 TATL in the next 60 days out of there. My plan is Centurion for both, until 2023, then avoid PHL like the plague.

andy_dangg

Any recent reports on crowding in the lounges restricting day pass use? I have a 3ish hour layover in PHL on a Friday mid/late-July.

Not usually one to buy day passes, but it's looking to be a long travel day--being dropped off at TPA early (family member is driving us on their way to work), then the connection in PHL, and possibly a wait for a friend to deal with after work traffic to pick us up in BOS so I could potentially get 3 visits off of one day pass...seems like it would be worth it. I would hate though to buy a pass in TPA for it to be closed due to capacity in PHL.

Segments

Not sure of day pass status, but 2 of 4 lounges are still closed…

Flyer78

I did not see any signage on a recent Sunday (6/12/22) trip that said passes weren't honored, but the B/C lounge was packed, with people sitting on the floor (usually younger traveling with others). The Centurion lounge, at the same time, had about a 30 minute wait, but seemed to go much quicker once getting on their list. No idea how the F club was.

DLmedalliongold

Based on how filthy the carpet is in B/C you wouldn't catch me letting my worst enemies sit on that floor. I cannot believe just how terrible that club is, it should be a royal embarrassment to American Airlines.

NovaEngr

Last month I asked in the B-C club about the A-West club situation. They said expect the 3rd Quarter of NEXT year (2023). Suggested a typical PHL fiasco. Work was just underway when COVID hit. All work was stopped. Then, before work could be restarted, the building permits expired. So, permitting back to square one. Due to its location, the A-West club needs two permits for each type of work - one from Philadelphia and a second from Tinicum, Delaware County (the airport is in both municipalities). Anyone who has had to get building permits in the Philly area knows how much fun that can be. Multiply by two. She said work has restarted, but still in the demo phase (back then).

PHLondoner

Depending on which metric, Philadelphia has either the 19th or 34th largest city GDP on the planet. Ahead of Atlanta, Miami, Seattle, and Milan; similar to Hong Kong and Toronto. But yeah, just a bunch of Spirit and Frontier yokels here.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_by_GDP