I actually wouldn't hope for that, since AA is pretty mind-numbingly mediocre in my experience, and I don't have any particular use or vested interest in having them running the universe, the same way an EXP does- whereas I actually fly VX and would like them to stick around (even if I am skeptical after years of "we're )( this close to making a profit someday").

^

As mediocre as you believe AA to be, they have a network that's actually usable beyond SFO-JFK and a product that focuses on more than just hipsters.

Regarding VX's post-liquidation assets, depite your objections, AA is in the best position to use them effectively. In SFO, AA can add some domestic pressure on UA by expanding their current operation in T2. T3 in LAX (if AA expands as some suspect) will allow AA to offer more connections/frequencies to local & intl pax. Neither UA, WN, or DL or can effectively use T3.

VX holds only one evening hour slot at JFK, but I'm sure AA will grab it since it will prove of little value to any new entrant, and DL already has plenty.

I'm not sure about the engines on VX's fleet, and whether or not they would be of value to AA. If not, then maybe B6 or NK would find use for them.

AA's network isn't particularly usable where I live (SEA), unless I fly a lot of AS (which I do anyway), or love connecting at ORD/DFW.

You speak as if you've never taken the T3->T4 shuttle, or flown out of T3.

I have (as an AS elite and VX passenger). T3 is a dump (VX's side is slightly nicer, but still, T3 is a dump). Go ask some AS folks if they'd like to go back from T6. Cooling your heels for 30+ minutes for shuttles for your connection (or walking outside and reclearing TSA) is a bad passenger experience. There's no doubt in my mind that once the AA-US merger is done in 2015-2016 or so, they'll be trying as hard as they can to consolidate operations under one roof. So I place no value on a T3 presence for AA, unless they tear the sucker down and figure out a way to connect T4, Bradley and T3. There's plans for this, kind of, but they are hideously expensive.

Also- you seriously think DL or B6 wouldn't find those assets useful? I'm sure B6 would love to dump LGB for LAX and is plenty popular with "hipsters", as you put it, and DL is in just as good a position to pressure UA (if not better).

Oh, and neither of them will be hip-deep in the middle of a merger that your .sig seems to be ridiculing...

Any time can't be soon enough ^

My bet is on Q4 2013

Regards,

El Puerco Volante

FFP complements the weakness in network, though.
I will go out of my way to fly AA (and can save money because of it, too)
If US ruins the airline then I might consider crediting to AV.

I consider FFPs ancillary to the plane getting me there conveniently. This would explain why I'm happy to fly WN and VX when it suits my needs, as opposed to doing contorted routings for mileage, status and just so I can eat a calorie-laden, blast-chilled meal that I could get better in a diner for $10-15. I'm willing to snap up a good deal if the arbitrage is there in an FFP scenario, but in the end I am more interested in where the hurtling metal tube is going.

Makes sense for domestic but international lounges tend to have edible, good tasting food.
Some of them even have high quality booze.

Sure, but why stay in an airport more than you have to when there's a ton of good food out there?

HKG surely has nice lounges, but give me a choice between dim sum in the UA/TG/SQ/CX lounges and Tim Ho Wan, I think I pick Tim Ho Wan (have actually tried dim sum breakfast both ways). And I live somewhere where great cocktails are easy to come by.

Granted, Dom and caviar have snob appeal, to be sure, and I like the LH FCL/FCT myself, but in the end the food and drink you get in the F cabin can be replicated better on the ground, and lounges rarely have truly outstanding food.

VX amateur carrier. Have booking next moth. They changed all flts with no advice to pax. That will not get goodwill nor fiture bookings. Today so easy to malign bad carrier via internet...

The problem is, people generally don't listen to negative reviews that lack proper grammar, spelling and punctuation.

I love VX. I just committed by dropping my BA Visa for a VX Visa because I hate flying American and I happen to do almost solely ORD - LAX.

It sucks because barrier to entry in this market is brutal. The product is so much better than the competition though. Hell, I booked an AA F fare on points and specifically went for an afternoon flight so we could get the 767 with the international business class as first and it was still terrible.

Ok, here ya go:

VX picks up the slack when US management ruins AA and COdbaUA continues to suck, making VX the new "legacy carrier" of choice.

I've taken VX a couple of times and like their service.

I spend time in the lounge only to have a few drinks, though the CX lounge is one of the best lounges that I can use worldwide (compared to the PPL in YVR with limited booze selection and reheated food-then again, I can't ask for much when the flight departs at 2:45)
HK is also different in that I can get decent food for cheap, unlike some of the other places I have been (Canada and OZ come to mind)

As long as their FFP isn't wrecked I will fly the legacies.