What's not cooked is anything on a domestic flight in economy. Seriously, their domestic buy on board is subpar even to Spirit and Frontier! I had an LAX-PHX-MCI this year and there was only a single beverage served during my entire journey. Inbound flight was late to PHX so I raced to my connection and was last on board. I had planned purchase my favorite Stetson salad from Cowboy Ciao but didn't have time. Nothing other than Biscoff and pretzels served from PHX-MCI.

Their seats are fairly uncomfortable. No IFE screens. Uneven service.

I don't know how anyone there thinks they are competitive on anything other than price, and that's not a great place to be. I was an ExPlt for many years and while my overall travels have scaled back considerably, I don't miss anything about the current AA and am happy to share my business with other carriers. Unless they have a good premium cabin fare, where service is not quite as diminished, or have a nonstop that is not served by another carrier, I simply don't even bother looking at them.

That is true. Cities are based on the municipal boundaries which vary widely. Metro area size is obviously a more reliable metric to determine population that would use the airport.

There is. Just continue to charge the exorbitant premium prices for the nonexistent premium service and it will soon catch up.

Delta never fired him.

I haven't looked into this closely, but Kirby hasn't been an insider at AA since he left and thus don't think he would need to report his AAL holdings or transactions either publicly or privately. So the information is likely outdated. He may or may not still own AA shares, it's unlikely there's anything preventing him from owning shares of a competitor, unless it's a UAL-specific policy (which I don't believe is common).

I really liked AA and was an ExPlat for 3-4 years in the 2010s based on a combo of AA and CX flying. They really have abandoned the west coast and Asia since then and it just doesn't make sense for anyone west of the rockies to choose them as their primary if they aren't based in PHX. I'm not sure what their strategy is but no IFE and no Asia presence doesn't seem like a winning one to me, then again I'm not an airline executive so what do I know!

Kirby is Kirby and doing his thing - but there�s some truth to his comments. You all know it, too.

I agree, I would even say the bigger problem is the board's composition and inaction. To be fair, we don't see what happens at board meetings but they have allowed the company to underperform for going on 10 years.

I don't like Kirby's style of talking smack, but he makes really good points.

DL and UA reconfigured their hubs structures dropping at least one during their last mergers. AA has a few strong performers- MIA for Latin America, DFW strong for domestic and international and CLT, but the network overall has no strategic thought put into it. Not far north of CLT there are the runt hubs all clustered too closely together looking for a defined mission to fill: DCA, PHL, JFK.

On the West Coast you have two more hubs situated too closely together- a stunted LAX with every major competitor and PHX without any real international service from AA despite their seemingly commanding position. AA states their best transpacific hub is, wait for it, DFW. What the hey?

AA seemed to recognize the West Coast Problem and 8 years said they would develop SEA as a major transpacific gateway working with AS. Somehow that mission is being fulfilled by the recent arrival of DL but while competing with AS. This clearly did not work out for AA.

On the East Coast they seem to realize that JFK does not have enough domestic feed to operate as a transfer hub for their international flights and announced a tie-up with B6, stumble again and it is UA now partnering with B6. Not that UA needs it, they are just blocking and tackling AA.

This is why Kirby says AA is getting boxed in from further growth. Combine this network fumbling with few aircraft on order while UA has hundreds of widebodies coming in and DL larger planes than AA as well, where and how can AA grow? AA used to say they have the newest fleet so their maintenance costs are lower than DL and UA. On the last earnings call they blamed having newer plans and financing costs for their higher operational costs. So which is it and what is the real picture? Does anyone at AA even know?

ORD deserves a brief mention, slowly being deprived of flights resulting in losing gates. Which they managed to do at JFK as well,

I've sat on many board meetings and none of this would fly (pardon the pun). I just cannot imagine how this board operates.

nvm, already covered

I wouldn't spare a nickel for anything Scott Kirby says. He's a disciple of Baldanza, and has the completely ludicrous viewpoint that United is the best, greatest, most amazing airline in the world - ignoring the fact that Singapore, JAL, ANA, AF, Cathay, Emirates, all clean United's clock in a dozen different ways. American certainly has its problems, but all US carriers are just different flavors of the same poop. He just wants more consolidation to get more control over pricing and amenities, and find new ways to mess with customers - that's the Baldanza way.

Warning: might be unpopular ideas.

Downsize JFK/CLT into focus cities. JFK keeps flagship transcons, LHR, and regional flights, then let OW pick the other international flights up. CLT can focus on transcon/regional with maybe 1-2 international flights a day.

Flex heavily into PHL. Make PHL the main East Coast hub with international, transcon, midcon, and regional. Pipe dream, but maybe do a full-scale, SLC-style reconstruction of PHL and hire better staff.

Why PHL? Lower costs, not as crowded or congested as JFK, and I'm sure PA will give AA tax credits/a sweetheart deal. NYC has just too much competition. CLT also wasn't built for the size of AA operations.

It's honestly the only way I can think of balancing out the proximity issues of the 4 hubs.

Leave ORD/MIA/DFW/AUS as is with small adjustments, dehub PHX, expand LAX, and add a small NW focus city/hub to balance things out. PDX, perhaps?

*cries in unpopular opinion/prepares to be flamed*

Agree. But the guy has enthusiasm and a vision and he's done a great job leading and executing. UA is a completely different airline from when he took over. The warm fuzzies of the Munoz era are gone but operationally it is a very solid airline.

Um, it is the 5th largest city in the country. In order: (1) New York City, (2) Los Angeles, (3) Chicago, (4) Houston, (5) Phoenix. Look this up anywhere. (And relatedly, Maricopa County is the 4th largest county by population in the country.)

As already noted, Metropolitan Statistical Area measures something completely different. You could look that up as well. Or ask one of the AI engines to explain the difference between a "city" and a "metropolitan statistical area."

Did DL ever hire him or even make him a job offer? Normally one must be hired in order to be fired.

Brilliantly said.

The only quibble is the timeline. AA has had rubber stamp boards that have overseen decades of stupid in the C Suite. Carty, Arpey, Parker, Isom. That's nearly 30 years of weapons grade incompetence.

The fact that the LCC leadership (who basically retreat to their fortress at the first sign of trouble) keep trying to do anything but have PHL should tell us something. CLT is one of AA's most profitable hubs due to a low operating cost and prime location - it would be insane to throw that away.

Yes, but the colloquial discussion of a city does not stop at the city boundaries. The catchment area is what is important.

While technically correct, IME, it isn't that relevant. Dallas isn't on that list, but the DFW area is far more important to AA and aviation than PHX.

The sad part is that AA has done nothing to prove him and others wrong. Not a big fan of Kirby's bumptious temperament, and UA is far from the "greatest airline in the world" that he proclaimed a few days back (they're not even on par with many European carriers in my opinion) , but there's no question that there is at least a a coherent message at United. I can't say the same about American since Doug Parker.

My last experience with AA was from London to Chicago ORD. The flight experience was as tasteless as their company culture. Below par cabin crew, terrible food, poor seat comfort, you name it. The only reason I fly with them is the seat selection and FF membership.

To be honest, even Lufthansa, while not perfect, is better than United these days. If Kirby ever left the States, he wouldn't be so self-aggrandizing.