AA to reduce staff by 40K, invol furlough 19,000, 1 Oct 2020
Oct 1, 2020, 10:20 am
#76
Join Date: Apr 2017
Location: WAS
Programs: Free Agent
Posts: 1,757
The furloughs appear to be live, with AA leading the pack with 19k involuntarily furloughed and UA is in second place with 13k. DL and WN don't seem to need them.
I think it's a combination of airline's customer facing behavior and the tens of billions in stock buybacks over the years. People already feel like they're getting nickel and dimed with ever-increasing fees to line the pockets of airline executives, and on top of that they're trying to weasel their way into additional tens of millions of dollars in taxpayer money.
Don't overlook the bitter truth that there is little or no public affection toward the remaining major US airlines. There's not much goodwill, and we can put that down to airline strategies, operating policies, and service standards over the past 20 years, and particularly since the last wave of mergers / consolidations. As ye sow, so shall ye reap. AA and brethren aren't going to get a March on Washington to save them. An awful lot of politically active people I know are enjoying the airlines' current misery. I know there's not enough empathy there toward at-risk employees, or comprehension of the shock that would result from liquidation of one or two network carriers, but rational analysis is not in fashion right now.
Oct 1, 2020, 11:55 am
#77
Suspended
Join Date: Sep 2006
Programs: AAdvantage PP
Posts: 13,913
It seems to me we've seen this picture before albeit less severe. In the 1990s as LCC, particularly WN, began to appear and/or expand airlines in order to defend market share got into fare wars. This time around it was the BE fare. Legacy airlines competing against newer and more nimble airlines with a much smaller cost structure. Previously it was a combination of 9/11 and a recession that set off a wave of layoffs, bankruptcies then mergers.
Prior to COVID 19 AA was making little money actually flying planes. I also have to wonder after years of fees being around do consumers start to learn how to avoid some of those fees? For example, check your bag at the gate rather than at check in. Print your BP at home or use a mobile BP. Fill a water bottle at the airport.
Did COVID 19 speed up a process that was again going to play out? Too many planes, too many flights, too many airlines, and too many money losing fares propped up by high last minute fares (which hits the business traveler, now absent) Awhile with seeming ignorance that this business is a highly cyclical industry. The caveat being COVID 19 is far out of the typical ebb and flow economic process.
Prior to COVID 19 AA was making little money actually flying planes. I also have to wonder after years of fees being around do consumers start to learn how to avoid some of those fees? For example, check your bag at the gate rather than at check in. Print your BP at home or use a mobile BP. Fill a water bottle at the airport.
Did COVID 19 speed up a process that was again going to play out? Too many planes, too many flights, too many airlines, and too many money losing fares propped up by high last minute fares (which hits the business traveler, now absent) Awhile with seeming ignorance that this business is a highly cyclical industry. The caveat being COVID 19 is far out of the typical ebb and flow economic process.
Nov 6, 2020, 5:39 am
#80
Join Date: Nov 2017
Location: CLT
Programs: AA EXP, 2 Million Miler
Posts: 821