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ARCHIVE: AA - US Reservations Merger 18 Jul - 16 Oct; US code / brand end 17 Oct 2015

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Old Jun 11, 2015, 5:30 pm
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Last edit by: JDiver
"One system. One code." Target: Effective Saturday, October 17, 2015.
AA and US Computer Reservations and Passenger Services Systems Merge 18 Jul - 16 Oct 2015
US Shares data moved to AA Sabre (with the QIK overlay used by US) in 3 month "draindown" process.
LAA - LUS fora move to "Combined" forum occurs 17-18 October.


NOTE: This thread is now archived. For the current thread, please see AA -US CRS & PSS and Brand Merger 17 Oct 2015 - Issues, Q & A, Etc.
OCTOBER 17 2015 CHANGES: The AA front page now links to nhttps://www.aa.com/i18n/aboutUs/arriving.jsp, which lists changes on October 17 at BOS, DCA, SFO.

BOS: Special notice Link

Beginning October 17, we’ll only operate out of Terminal B. There will be 3 check-in locations, marked outside by gate number.
DCA: Special notice Link

Beginning October 17, we’ll operate out of Terminals B and C. American Shuttle flights and ticket counters will move to Terminal B, as well as ticket counters for Priority. Ticket counters for Main Cabin will be in Terminal C.
SFO: Special notice Link

We operate out of Terminals 1 and 2. Ticket counters are only available in Terminal 2..
Note: "Just the facts: changes and issues occurring 17 Oct 2015" and "Drain down" (Shares -> Sabre merger) discrepancies, errors, bugs etc. for issues, troubles, etc. have been merged into this thread.
Executive summary:
  • All flights will be changed to AA, reservations and bookings controls to Sabre and aa.com for flights effective 17 October.

  • All US Shares data will move to AA Sabre by 17 Oct; the QIK interface used with Shares will be added to Sabre.

  • On Saturday, 17 October., AA will have 20% higher than normal staffing to assist.

  • On Saturday, 17 October., AA will reduce by 200 flights for that day.

  • All policies going forward will be Legacy American Airlines, unless otherwise modified. US Airways policies will no longer apply.

  • Full rebranding (other than aircraft reprinting, which will proceed well into 2016 at least) will be carried out by October 17 - all flight coding, kiosk and ticket counter, lounge (previously completed), etc. will be done.

  • The US Airways brand will cease to exist 17 October 2015.
NOTE: Reverse chronological order.

Chicago Tribune, 14 Oct 2015, c/o XLR26 (post #410):

From an article in today's Chicago Tribune:

American Airlines officials say they have spared no expense to decrease the chances the airline will have trouble Saturday but can't guarantee complete success. Here's what American has done so far:

  • It switched to the larger airline's reservation system, which requires moving less data and less retraining of employees.

  • In July, it began draining US Airways reservations from the system, leaving fewer records to migrate, just 4 percent of all reservations.

  • American did six full-scale tests of the migration with 5 million mock plane reservations.

  • Staffing levels at airports will be increased 20 percent Saturday.

  • American's flight schedule Saturday has been reduced by some 200 flights.

  • Airport agents and reservation agents had extra training.

  • USAirways.com will automatically redirect to AA.com on Saturday, and the US Airways mobile app will be disabled.

Full article: link (May need to Google the headline to avoid the paywall.)
23 Sep 2015: Latest in Sabre dated 9/23 (c/o skunker, post #392)
An important message from American Global Sales

In preparation for moving all US Airways flights to the Sabre reservation system, American Global Sales encourages you to process any remaining merger schedule changes and reissue tickets on the original ticket stock no later than October 1, 2015. This will ensure you maintain control of these tickets.

After October 1, American may reissue any tickets you haven't processed to ensure all customers are ready for travel on or after October 17. On that day, Sabre will serve as the single reservation system and all flights will use the American Airlines code.
Obviously this is aimed at TAs, but if you have tickets issued by a TA you might want to check that they have be reissued correctly

This FAQ should be viewable by all: http://www.aasaleslink.com/servlet/s...0PE000000L05GR see skunker, below.

17 Sep: 30 days away, and all flights show as AA after 16 Oct - online meal ordering on aa.com works for US flights now coded AA flights.

Sep 15 2015: AA has adopted US' baggage tracking system (SITA World Tracer system here). Better tracking, but you MUST file your claim at the airport now; calling won't do.

From JonNYC, 19 Jul 2015 (post #175):

Originally Posted by JonNYC
PNR migration is now 100% complete.

And, things should be mostly bookable by this afternoon.
From JonNYC 10 July 2015 (post #103):

http://viewfromthewing.boardingarea....next-saturday/

American begins the process of moving US Airways flights and reservations over to become American Airlines flights and reservations. It’s a 90 day process, so October 17 there will no longer be US Airways flights.

Starting next weekend, US Airways flights October 17 onward will be moved over to American’s reservation system. Attempts to book flights 17 Oct or later are referred to aa.com.
From swag: The farewell flight for US Airways will be a red-eye — Flight 434 is scheduled to leave San Francisco around 10 p.m. and land in Philadelphia after 6 a.m. on Oct. 18.

http://news.yahoo.com/last-flight-us...--finance.html

BUT in light of what AA says, might it be 16 October?
AA partial statement 10 Jul 2015:

Scheduled on a US Airways flight departing on or after October 17? Here's what to keep in mind:
  • Once your flight becomes an American flight, we'll send you an email with your itinerary and new record locator. Look for the subject line: "An important update to your reservation." If you booked through a travel agent, you can view your reservation on aa.com as early as July 20.
  • Upgrades on domestic flights will be auto-requested if everyone in your reservation is eligible for a complimentary upgrade. If everyone isn't eligible, you'll need to manually request the upgrade.
  • Upgrades for a companion traveling on the same flight will need to be requested using 500-mile upgrades. If you want to upgrade a companion, make sure you request it.
  • You can request upgrades on aa.com, by calling reservations or your travel agent, or at the airport on the day of travel.
  • As always, you can get alerts for all of your flights by signing up for BeNotified. And, you can download the American Airlines app for a more personalized mobile experience and quick access to all of your flight information.
Originally Posted by skunker
(11 Jun 2015) Just noticed this in Sabre

We have been working with American Airlines since they announced the process of transitioning the US Airways reservations from Shares to Sabre. We would like to provide you with the following update:

This will begin with a merger schedule change process as early as July 2015, which will convert all US Airways flights from about 90 days out and beyond to American flights. As a result, you will notice these existing PNRs with US segments will be updated to reflect this change and will appear as AA segments. American currently is conducting various tests and business readiness assessments and will identify specific dates once these activities are complete.
WSJ 12 May 2015: American Airlines Group Inc. plans this summer to meld key computer systems from the two carriers that combined in its merger 17 months ago, as it works toward eliminating the US Airways brand by the end of this year.

The company said in a letter to ticket sellers on Tuesday that it would begin the transition as early as July, with the final so-called cutover happening 90 days later, when flights with the US Airways brand will end. That milestone would signal the company is finished with the biggest parts of the integration kicked off by the December 2013 merger between the former American and US Airways to form the world’s biggest airline.
"Drain down" from AA : The transition period of ninety days is being called a "drain down", according to IT Chief Maya Lieberman, who said the benefit of the AA - US merger is that AA has learned from the other (NW - DL, UA - CO) mergers - albeit once the process has begun, there can be no turning back. The "drain down" period will lead to no US flights existing after the 90th day; all sites, kiosks, flights, passenger service lines etc. will be branded American Airlines. Those attempting booking flights during this 90 day period for US flights beyond the 90 day transition period will be redirected to booking AA flights on aa.com.

This is being referred to as "One system. One code."

There are a lot of details that could change in a PNR, but this is probably the most important:
•Seat Assignments – All US seats previously assigned will be re-accommodated as the same seat number on the AA flight
[/quote]

Suggestion: For your comfort, ease of upgrades and miles posting, do not book codeshares. At some point soon, you won't be allowed to book US flights for October 17 or later.

When it's over, all upgrades and other policies will follow the current AA AAdvantage system; the vestiges of the US upgrade system, move up, etc. will be gone.

[/COLOR]
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ARCHIVE: AA - US Reservations Merger 18 Jul - 16 Oct; US code / brand end 17 Oct 2015

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Old Jun 10, 2015, 5:04 pm
  #61  
 
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Originally Posted by dmsdfw
Out of interest, on the topic of US/AA codeshares, is it actually currently possible to book US flight numbers on 001 ticket stock and AA flight numbers on 037, or is this blocked somehow? In other words, if AA issues a ticket will it force the use of AA flight numbers and likewise for US?
I try to book on 001 whenever I can. The only difficulty I've had is buying US-marketed/AA-operated flights from AA, who will try to sell them under their own flight number.
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Old Jun 11, 2015, 1:45 pm
  #62  
 
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Just noticed this in Sabre

We have been working with American Airlines since they announced the process of transitioning the US Airways reservations from Shares to Sabre. We would like to provide you with the following update:

This will begin with a merger schedule change process as early as July 2015, which will convert all US Airways flights from about 90 days out and beyond to American flights. As a result, you will notice these existing PNRs with US segments will be updated to reflect this change and will appear as AA segments. American currently is conducting various tests and business readiness assessments and will identify specific dates once these activities are complete.
There is a lot of details about what could change in a PNR, but this is probably the most important:
•Seat Assignments – All US seats previously assigned will be re-accommodated as the same seat number on the AA flight
skunker is offline  
Old Jun 11, 2015, 1:45 pm
  #63  
 
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Just noticed this in Sabre

We have been working with American Airlines since they announced the process of transitioning the US Airways reservations from Shares to Sabre. We would like to provide you with the following update:

This will begin with a merger schedule change process as early as July 2015, which will convert all US Airways flights from about 90 days out and beyond to American flights. As a result, you will notice these existing PNRs with US segments will be updated to reflect this change and will appear as AA segments. American currently is conducting various tests and business readiness assessments and will identify specific dates once these activities are complete.
There is a lot of details about what could change in a PNR, but this is probably the most important:
•Seat Assignments – All US seats previously assigned will be re-accommodated as the same seat number on the AA flight

Last edited by JDiver; Jun 11, 2015 at 5:24 pm Reason: Add emphasis
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Old Jun 11, 2015, 6:20 pm
  #64  
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Thank you, skunker.

We've moved this to the Reso Systems Merge thread, "stuck" it and quoted your post in the new wiki.
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Old Jun 13, 2015, 12:32 am
  #65  
 
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it looks like they are now pricing the same between the two reso systems. I regularly fly CHO-ORD and for the last several months on google flights it has typically been around 50$ cheaper rt to book via US site (AA metal and operated). In the last several days the prices have now been the same and jumped more than $100. Its this high for the next several months, so I dont believe it is just the fare buckets im looking at... it appears AA has taken this opportunity to raise ticket prices as well.
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Old Jun 13, 2015, 6:59 am
  #66  
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Originally Posted by Coldagglutanin
it looks like they are now pricing the same between the two reso systems. I regularly fly CHO-ORD and for the last several months on google flights it has typically been around 50$ cheaper rt to book via US site (AA metal and operated). In the last several days the prices have now been the same and jumped more than $100. Its this high for the next several months, so I dont believe it is just the fare buckets im looking at... it appears AA has taken this opportunity to raise ticket prices as well.
Not surprising to me.

We'll not see as much competition with the cartelization of the US3.
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Old Jun 13, 2015, 7:42 pm
  #67  
 
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Originally Posted by Coldagglutanin
it looks like they are now pricing the same between the two reso systems. I regularly fly CHO-ORD and for the last several months on google flights it has typically been around 50$ cheaper rt to book via US site (AA metal and operated). In the last several days the prices have now been the same and jumped more than $100. Its this high for the next several months, so I dont believe it is just the fare buckets im looking at... it appears AA has taken this opportunity to raise ticket prices as well.
You can almost imagine an algorithm to synchronize pricing... if AA >US, then AA... if US > than AA, then US.

It is a shame the gov't allowed all these mergers - CO, Airtran, US, NW... all it means to consumers is higher prices.
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Old Jun 14, 2015, 2:47 pm
  #68  
 
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Originally Posted by JDiver
Not surprising to me.

We'll not see as much competition with the cartelization of the US3.
But US didn't fly this route nonstop pre-merger. If the prices on the connections through CLT/PHL have increased then I might believe this claim.
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Old Jun 14, 2015, 2:56 pm
  #69  
 
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Originally Posted by JDiver
July 4th probably won't see major changes.

LAX-DEN in late December won't be AA codeshares any longer, they'll be AA coded.
It is kinda smart not to do something major like this during the 4th July Holiday..
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Old Jun 14, 2015, 3:28 pm
  #70  
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Originally Posted by kevindavis338
It is kinda smart not to do something major like this during the 4th July Holiday..
Agreed. Or during the summer season. Or just try to pull the handle to make it happen overnight... that's been done.
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Old Jun 14, 2015, 3:35 pm
  #71  
 
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Originally Posted by JDiver
Agreed. Or during the summer season. Or just try to pull the handle to make it happen overnight... that's been done.
True.. But I think during the time frame they are starting it is at the tail end of the summer vacation season.
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Old Jun 18, 2015, 9:50 am
  #72  
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On another, but realted, topic....

Was listening to JFK ground ATC the other day. Heard a pilot refer to his aircraft as "American xxx in US Air livery."
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Old Jun 18, 2015, 11:07 am
  #73  
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Originally Posted by kevindavis338
True.. But I think during the time frame they are starting it is at the tail end of the summer vacation season.
I'll bet the BOH (Back Of House) stuff has been going on for some time.

It'll be interesting to see what's detectable to us, the passengers.
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Old Jun 18, 2015, 10:38 pm
  #74  
 
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A week ago, I booked a PHX-PDX trip for mid July on usairways.com. Today I was calling into the platinum line to see if the new system would recognize me any better than before. Imagine my shock when it did recognize me but tell me my flight was still on time and leaving in 6 hours! I panicked and thought I fatfingered the date but then went back and confirmed with the original email that the flight was scheduled for late July. Moreover my AA app on my phone was counting down to my "evening" flight all day but I never got any text messages about a departure. I ended up calling AA to ensure they were not going to label me as a no show. After a 30 minute wait for an agent (!!!!) she told me that I was still on the July flight and not today but they have been getting many calls about conflicting issues between systems lately.
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Old Jun 22, 2015, 11:03 am
  #75  
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Originally Posted by kevindavis338
True.. But I think during the time frame they are starting it is at the tail end of the summer vacation season.
Yes, but that is just the "countdown" clock during the summer season for booking flights 90 days out. It's pretty clear that they are trying to have the main effects of the switchover happen between Labor Day and Thanksgiving to avoid affecting flights during the peak holiday season.

If they have issues and it starts running into Thanksgiving, they will probably delay until Jan 2016 (although I'm sure they don't want to do this).
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