American sees market-specific pressure on transatlantic
 

From FlightGlobal

28 AUGUST, 2017 SOURCE: FLIGHT DASHBOARD BY: EDWARD RUSSELL

American sees market-specific pressure on transatlantic

https://www.flightglobal.com/news/ar...satlan-440630/


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It basically says that WOW and Norwegian and other int'l budget carriers are putting downward pressure on economy prices, but that premium cabins are making up for it.

But does that mean AA should redesign its TATL plane seating to have more premium cabin seats and fewer economy seats?

AA has basically retreated quite a few fights from JFK>PHL. This would indicate they see the need for connections from smaller cities that still don't have Ultra low cost European carriers. NYC-Europe fares are just crashing so this is a really smart move for them. I think they can see summer 2018 will be even worse, best to get these moved now. JFK has too many of these lower cost airlines, no reason to bleed money there. Best to focus on PHL and preserve their fortress hub.

Just wait until jetblue starts flying mint A321NEO-LR out of JFK/BOS to all over europe. Going to be a bloodbath.

They always cited (probably rightly) big government subsidies from the UAE carriers for putting them under pressure on UAE routes.

Might find it harder to come up with an excuse this time.

US carriers aren't alone in feeling the pressure. I note that EI (now part of the bigger group that includes BA) has very recently launched a saver type fare to US destinations that removes hold luggage, in response to the new TATL LLCs.

The legacy US carriers have gotten away with too much for too long. It's high time there is competition and let the markets figure it out. The legacy carriers have treated loyal customers like crap and now customers are no longer being loyal, they are chasing the lowest fares. It's lovely that AA thinks it can save itself by doubling down on PHL but doing so shows how little it understands that market.

If fares are cheap enough out of JFK, PHL flyers will just drive up to NYC. I get that there are connecting passengers, but routing connections through PHL or JFK makes little difference in terms of cost for connecting passengers.

About time. TATL flights can be obscenely expensive, especially from smaller airports. It's not a function of distance; it's lack of competition. An example:

PVD-LHR on AA costs around $1,000 rt
PVD-DUB on AA costs around $375 rt

Norwegian serves the PVD-DUB route now, so it's no big surprise that we got a price drop from the the 3 legacy carriers on that route as well.

For comparison, MHT-DUB is $1,000 because, surprise, there's no competition there. The big 3 have an identical price for that route. Smells like price fixing...

Realistically, there's no compelling reason why PVD-LON should be significantly more expensive than PVD-LAX (heck, BOS-LGW is $275!). Sure, it's a bit farther to LON, but not hugely so. Yet the cost to LON is double. It's all down to lack of competition on many TATL routes (and perhaps APD tax at LHR).

Even PE is under pressure now. BOS-LGW on DY's PE product is $975. That's a 787 with 46" of pitch. BA's PE product on the BOS-LHR route (B747/A380/B777) only has 38" of pitch and a half inch narrower seat. And it's $200 more expensive.

I'm not holding my breath on this one... IME B6 prices out the same or higher when compared the big three for domestic service. I also can't help but wonder if AA's trans-Atlantic pinch ex-JFK has something to do with DL's JFK ops which continues to offer far more destinations.

The PHL strategy is interesting; and kind of sad to see AA shudder destinations ex-JFK. I had a lot of 'firsts' with AA out of JFK back in the day...

This. AA could have taken care of customers, and many would have stayed loyal to AA. Now, why bother?

Not going to hurt my feelings any if the big 3 get smashed by competition.

Ha! Smash away!!!