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Concierge Key event in Dallas 11 Apr 2019...did anyone go?

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Concierge Key event in Dallas 11 Apr 2019...did anyone go?

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Old Apr 17, 2019, 10:13 am
  #16  
 
Join Date: Nov 2009
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What are you trying to say?
teemuflyer is offline  
Old Apr 17, 2019, 10:29 am
  #17  
 
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I don't get "its all gone wrong." If you really want to experience "its all gone wrong" go try UA for awhile. Please accept the below as my non sarcastic, substantive feedback on the discussion(s) I had. And thank you again to AA for the forum.

My feedback to whomever from AA who was there that would listen was that I understand organizations and services change in time. Some good. Some not so good. On the good the premium cabins have improved with Casper products, general food offerings (international and transcon especially), AC and FL are light years improved from what they once were (remember paying for alcohol? No food? I do.) No more hockey puck pizzas (remember Delta hedged fuel, AA bought into Pizza Uno?). New planes are typically good. Flagship dining exceptional. My comment was that they should be congratulated on how well they integrated during the merger, compared to UA/Continental and Delta/Northwest. That their IT and planning worked really well and that things were as good as they probably could have been during the integration.

Several AA people indicated that the DFW Flagship Lounge will be better than either JFK or LAX. My comment was that both JFK and LAX set a high standard.

On the critical side I don't think they were surprised to hear that mileage devaluation, lack of Saaver space, and Oasis seating are not so happy for their customers (purely my perspective). We talked about the Oasis seats a lot, and there was a wide acknowledgement from AA that they have an issue there, and that it will be addressed. They directly stated that the Oasis conversion has stopped until they "fix" the seats in First, and that the seat was a miss. They did say however that the seat is commonly used among airlines, but that its widespread use did not excuse their problems with the Oasis First seat ("plastic feel, lack of the middle space under the seat in front of you, weird power location, odd storage" to paraphrase what one AA executive stated. I agree with his comments, but do not honestly understand the "odd storage" complaint. But whatever. They have said they have a problem, and are taking steps to address it.

On the mileage devaluation they stated that the entire industry has done it, and that they were outliers for some time. I agree with that. Miles are worth less, but we earn a lot more of them, so they have become proverbial Venezuelan currency to some degree. (Apologies to any offended Venezualans). They get it (my impression, their statement), but that things change and they can't be total outliers on it.

I said that the old US Air aircraft suck (the 757 without wifi/power??), and they said they knew that, and that they are working to retire the oldest, and renovate those with flying hours left in them. I was most unclear in this part of the discussion (and I was drinking club soda).

Apologies to anyone who thought my prior comments were sarcastic or snarky, or who has a relationship with Venezuelan currency or Pizza Uno. Just one person's opinion and an effort to convey my conversations at the event. I am grateful they had the event and came to listen and express their interest in meeting some of their most frequent fliers.
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Old Apr 17, 2019, 10:42 am
  #18  
 
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Originally Posted by rowingman
I don't get "its all gone wrong." If you really want to experience "its all gone wrong" go try UA for awhile. Please accept the below as my non sarcastic, substantive feedback on the discussion(s) I had. And thank you again to AA for the forum.

My feedback to whomever from AA who was there that would listen was that I understand organizations and services change in time. Some good. Some not so good. On the good the premium cabins have improved with Casper products, general food offerings (international and transcon especially), AC and FL are light years improved from what they once were (remember paying for alcohol? No food? I do.) No more hockey puck pizzas (remember Delta hedged fuel, AA bought into Pizza Uno?). New planes are typically good. Flagship dining exceptional. My comment was that they should be congratulated on how well they integrated during the merger, compared to UA/Continental and Delta/Northwest. That their IT and planning worked really well and that things were as good as they probably could have been during the integration.

Several AA people indicated that the DFW Flagship Lounge will be better than either JFK or LAX. My comment was that both JFK and LAX set a high standard.

On the critical side I don't think they were surprised to hear that mileage devaluation, lack of Saaver space, and Oasis seating are not so happy for their customers (purely my perspective). We talked about the Oasis seats a lot, and there was a wide acknowledgement from AA that they have an issue there, and that it will be addressed. They directly stated that the Oasis conversion has stopped until they "fix" the seats in First, and that the seat was a miss. They did say however that the seat is commonly used among airlines, but that its widespread use did not excuse their problems with the Oasis First seat ("plastic feel, lack of the middle space under the seat in front of you, weird power location, odd storage" to paraphrase what one AA executive stated. I agree with his comments, but do not honestly understand the "odd storage" complaint. But whatever. They have said they have a problem, and are taking steps to address it.

On the mileage devaluation they stated that the entire industry has done it, and that they were outliers for some time. I agree with that. Miles are worth less, but we earn a lot more of them, so they have become proverbial Venezuelan currency to some degree. (Apologies to any offended Venezualans). They get it (my impression, their statement), but that things change and they can't be total outliers on it.

I said that the old US Air aircraft suck (the 757 without wifi/power??), and they said they knew that, and that they are working to retire the oldest, and renovate those with flying hours left in them. I was most unclear in this part of the discussion (and I was drinking club soda).

Apologies to anyone who thought my prior comments were sarcastic or snarky, or who has a relationship with Venezuelan currency or Pizza Uno. Just one person's opinion and an effort to convey my conversations at the event. I am grateful they had the event and came to listen and express their interest in meeting some of their most frequent fliers.
My apologies. Do you think “THEY” actually paid attention?
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Old Apr 17, 2019, 10:44 am
  #19  
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Lightbulb

Originally Posted by rowingman
...We talked about the Oasis seats a lot, and there was a wide acknowledgement from AA that they have an issue there, and that it will be addressed. They directly stated that the Oasis conversion has stopped until they "fix" the seats in First, and that the seat was a miss. They did say however that the seat is commonly used among airlines, but that its widespread use did not excuse their problems with the Oasis First seat ("plastic feel, lack of the middle space under the seat in front of you, weird power location, odd storage" to paraphrase what one AA executive stated. I agree with his comments, but do not honestly understand the "odd storage" complaint. But whatever. They have said they have a problem, and are taking steps to address it.
Some FT AA forum "experts" will really have to eat their words on -that- one if it happens!
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Old Apr 17, 2019, 10:48 am
  #20  
 
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Originally Posted by rowingman
I don't get "its all gone wrong." If you really want to experience "its all gone wrong" go try UA for awhile. Please accept the below as my non sarcastic, substantive feedback on the discussion(s) I had. And thank you again to AA for the forum.

My feedback to whomever from AA who was there that would listen was that I understand organizations and services change in time. Some good. Some not so good. On the good the premium cabins have improved with Casper products, general food offerings (international and transcon especially), AC and FL are light years improved from what they once were (remember paying for alcohol? No food? I do.) No more hockey puck pizzas (remember Delta hedged fuel, AA bought into Pizza Uno?). New planes are typically good. Flagship dining exceptional. My comment was that they should be congratulated on how well they integrated during the merger, compared to UA/Continental and Delta/Northwest. That their IT and planning worked really well and that things were as good as they probably could have been during the integration.

Several AA people indicated that the DFW Flagship Lounge will be better than either JFK or LAX. My comment was that both JFK and LAX set a high standard.

On the critical side I don't think they were surprised to hear that mileage devaluation, lack of Saaver space, and Oasis seating are not so happy for their customers (purely my perspective). We talked about the Oasis seats a lot, and there was a wide acknowledgement from AA that they have an issue there, and that it will be addressed. They directly stated that the Oasis conversion has stopped until they "fix" the seats in First, and that the seat was a miss. They did say however that the seat is commonly used among airlines, but that its widespread use did not excuse their problems with the Oasis First seat ("plastic feel, lack of the middle space under the seat in front of you, weird power location, odd storage" to paraphrase what one AA executive stated. I agree with his comments, but do not honestly understand the "odd storage" complaint. But whatever. They have said they have a problem, and are taking steps to address it.

On the mileage devaluation they stated that the entire industry has done it, and that they were outliers for some time. I agree with that. Miles are worth less, but we earn a lot more of them, so they have become proverbial Venezuelan currency to some degree. (Apologies to any offended Venezualans). They get it (my impression, their statement), but that things change and they can't be total outliers on it.

I said that the old US Air aircraft suck (the 757 without wifi/power??), and they said they knew that, and that they are working to retire the oldest, and renovate those with flying hours left in them. I was most unclear in this part of the discussion (and I was drinking club soda).

Apologies to anyone who thought my prior comments were sarcastic or snarky, or who has a relationship with Venezuelan currency or Pizza Uno. Just one person's opinion and an effort to convey my conversations at the event. I am grateful they had the event and came to listen and express their interest in meeting some of their most frequent fliers.
Thank you for your more detailed perspective. I note the "spin" or lack of "spin" when the AA execs discussed the disposition/use of the older legacy US aircraft - it appears from your remark that they really have no definitive answer. And you could have included the old America West Airbuses. I took one a few weeks ago with no power hubs and non-working wi-fi although the seats were reupholstered with leather.
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george 3 is offline  
Old Apr 17, 2019, 10:59 am
  #21  
 
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Originally Posted by rowingman
Please accept the below as my non sarcastic, substantive feedback on the discussion(s) I had. And thank you again to AA for the forum.
<snip>
Apologies to anyone who thought my prior comments were sarcastic or snarky, or who has a relationship with Venezuelan currency or Pizza Uno. Just one person's opinion and an effort to convey my conversations at the event. I am grateful they had the event and came to listen and express their interest in meeting some of their most frequent fliers.
Thanks very much for this insightful context, very much appreciated.

No worries on sarcasm, etc. Obviously, I'm not eligible to attend this type of event, but as I mentioned, if I were and I couldn't make it, like the OP, I'd certainly be interested to learn what I missed. Sounds like there might be other ways (e.g. secret FB group, etc) they could get the info but nonetheless they asked on this thread. It just felt like nobody was offering any substantive answer to the OPs inquiry

Thanks very much for taking the time to compile your observations and share them with this forum! Very valuable indeed.

Regards
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scubadu is offline  
Old Apr 17, 2019, 11:11 am
  #22  
 
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I'll just hope that the Oasis Seat fix comes sooner rather than later. Good to hear that they received the message(s).

Last edited by Rebob; Apr 17, 2019 at 11:12 am Reason: Spelling
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Old Apr 17, 2019, 11:23 am
  #23  
 
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Originally Posted by donotblink
AA paid for event space at the Hyatt at DFW Airport, sent executives and invites to CKs. Not an unofficial event.
I didn't say it was an unofficial event, but AA said that for the last CK event...until people noticed the official AA materials and FAs present.
skunker is offline  
Old Apr 17, 2019, 12:14 pm
  #24  
 
Join Date: Jan 2011
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I am not on facebook or other social media (linkedin excepted), but there were a couple questions posed above.

Do I think they listened? They certainly "got" as in understood every comment, and most of my conversations were at a 1 AA exec to 2 CK ratio. And both unrelated, never met before CKs (me plus one) were saying the same things (both positives and constructive feedback to AA). I do believe they know that Oasis seats/Max8 seats in First suck, and I do genuinely in my heart of hearts believe they will do something about it. Maybe not on my timeline, but I don't think they are rushing out to spend more money on something they are getting much negative feedback on. There was zero defensiveness about the problems with the Oasis First seat.

I did not previously mention it, but we talked about the Y class Max8/Oasis lavatory size. I related that I had heard tales from FAs of people crapping themselves on the plane because they didn't fit in. I also related that I took a field trip (sorry to sound arrogant, but I am usually up front) to the Y lav just to see what the fuss was all about, and that I didn't find it that bad. The AA exec related that the lav, like the F seat, is in common use with other carriers. Again, I genuinely believe they will ultimately change the F seat, but I just as much believe they aren't going to do anything about the Y lav size. Sorry if the readers of this have big (no size pun intended) objections to the shrunken toilets.

I did "offer feedback" on the lack of a bulkhead or better visual barrier between F and Y on the Oasis, and the little "Jetsons piece of plastic" (the exact words I used) that now separates Y and F. My impression was that in their Oasis rethink, the "little Jetsons piece of plastic" was on the list of rethinks/regrets (like the F seat, but per the above, not the aforementioned Y lav). Apologies to anyone who doesn't get my Jetsons reference. Its an age thing.

Regarding the ancient legacy USAir/America's Worst aircraft, my impression (not from explicit conversation, but just my impression) was that "yes, they are old, we are retiring them as quickly as we can." I recollect that they said some of these oldest aircraft are being replaced by 320 and 321neos when those deliver. And they said they hoped I enjoyed my MD80 luggage tag. I did tell them how much I liked the MD 80, and they agreed that First on the MD 80 was pretty great.

Last comment I can recall was that I suggested they sell their surplus, as Delta and United does. That there are enough AA geeks out there that we would buy things like Casper pillows, AA drink glasses, the Casper throw blanket, maybe the nut mix. One of the AA execs, formerly of Delta, said that Delta does a monthly hangar sale, and sells drink carts, seats etc. She was not clear on why AA doesn't do that, but two of the AA execs received this comment from me.

I will definitively say, without naming who said it, that they explicitly stated that the Oasis First seat purchase is "on hold" and is being revised. Their qualitative comments were detailed above (plastic, underseat storage problem, seat storage, power location).

OK, I have to go back to work, and this is completely off topic, but I am hearing that the 321T that was damaged last week as AA 300 JFK/LAX is a write off. Rumor from an informed source. But there you have it. If so, sad to hear one of these birds is lost.

Thank you again to AA for the hospitality and generosity to host the event.
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rowingman is offline  
Old Apr 17, 2019, 12:47 pm
  #25  
 
Join Date: Jan 2011
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OK, really the last comment, as I head out the door. I brought up Delta flying a lie flat seating 757 on the DCA/LAX route. Their response, "yes, we are quite aware of that. DCA/LAX is a great city pair for us and that flight does really well." I suggested the 321T to respond, and they said that for an oddball aircraft config like the 321T, it takes a high frequency route to allow the logistics to work. That on a 2x daily route, if a plane goes out of service, the ripple effects are wide, as would be the case if they put a 321T on the DCA/LAX. I suggested they look at international 757 use on that route. Again, they said nothing specific, other than "we hear you. We are quite aware of what Delta is doing, and that we likely need to do something to remain competitive on what is a great city pair for AA. We are working on it." Hope springs eternal. I am not holding my breath, but I will hope they can figure something out.
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Old Apr 17, 2019, 1:06 pm
  #26  
 
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Originally Posted by rowingman
OK, really the last comment, as I head out the door. I brought up Delta flying a lie flat seating 757 on the DCA/LAX route.
Amen. Was just having a discussion very recently with coworkers on the paucity of lie-flats out of DCA. If they launched an A321T or int'l 757 on that route, they could fill the biz cabin twice a week with just people I run into in the hallways of my office.
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Old Apr 17, 2019, 6:52 pm
  #27  
 
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Great insights! I know this ship has sailed (and is not coming back), but any mention of the stripping of screened IFE? Even if they stuck to the party line, at least they'd know no one believes them.
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iadisgreat is offline  
Old Apr 17, 2019, 6:58 pm
  #28  
 
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No mention. Although I will editorialize that the new streaming wifi is better than the seat back video. Just one opinion.
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rowingman is offline  
Old Apr 17, 2019, 7:05 pm
  #29  
 
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Originally Posted by rowingman
No mention. Although I will editorialize that the new streaming wifi is better than the seat back video. Just one opinion.
Thanks - I figured. It's obvious that they've decided they will beat into the customer that this is the way it is and let DL run away with the customer experience. It's just bothersome to be *required* to have a phone or, realistically, tablet to enjoy.

I agree with you on the overall satellite wifi sitch - very bonvoy.
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iadisgreat is offline  
Old Apr 17, 2019, 7:12 pm
  #30  
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Thanks for the wonderful insights rowingman!

Glad AA senior leaders are getting direct feedback from customers on what AA does well and what AA needs to improve.

Another area I'd wish they were nudged about at the event is the PHL Flagship lounge. It is, IMHO, crazy how much they are dragging their feet on this one.
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