AA and Pilots making progress

[737823]

whether it has to do with a pilot contract is not the point, Bob. The point is that airlines lease aircraft out to other carriers all the time... if AA doesn't have a contract at a certain point in time, the aircraft could well be leased. And once they are leased out, they may well not be back as part of the AA fleet for a long time. The point is that AA isn't going to sit around wiith billions of dollars of aircraft sitting around on the tarmac waiting for their unions to come to agreements even if other US airlines have done it before- nor are they going to expect those aircraft to be available to AA if they pass a point in time when it is deemed to high of a risk to keep them in the fleet and they could make money for AA flying for someone else.
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Given that interior fittings of aircraft happen in the last few months before delivery, it is very possible that AA already has a date in mind beyond which they will either sell the aircraft or put them on the lease market. They could be leased with an AA-specific interior but their value will be higher if a buyer/leaser is able to provide input into the furnishings.

WT, didn't the initial 777-232ERs for DL sit idle for several months since the DL pilots were demanding an outrageous pay rates to fly the new aircraft? They eventually saw the light of day and DL began flying them.

Josh

 

[WorldTraveler]

I don't remember the details of either the DL or UA contract issues but I do remember that DL has had its share of issues with getting the pilots to use the assets made avaialble to it. If you can remember what happened with DL and the 77s, how long it lasted, where the company and ALPA ended up - I'd be interested in hearing it... but I will also note that however it happened DL introduced the 77LR into service and I believe is still the only US airline that flies segments regularly over 16 hrs... at some point, DALPA woke up and realized that these aircraft have enormous earnings potential for DL pilots... and DL agreed to staff them (and all DL flights over 12 hrs) with 2 Captains and 2 FOs.... perhaps that is part of why DALPA has been very happy to agree to an increase in 70 and 76 seat flying because DL has added more int'l flying than any other airline.... even considering pulldowns such as they are doing now to Europe this winter and which also happened about 2 years ago. Since DL is also the only airliine that flies 767s on flights over 2 hrs, the "joy" gets spread further down the food chain - since those aircraft are staffed by the same rules as the 777s, IIRC.
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I believe AA is capable of that kind of growth... and the 773ERs could be part of it... but it requires changes in AA's network strategy to really allow the planes to be pushed to their limits - not solely because it is good for the pilots or because they have planes that can fly that far but because there ARE routes that AA could fly on its network that could use the capabilities of an aircraft like the 77W... and it will be good for AA employees in the process. AA has enormous potential in its fleet even with its 772ERs which are used nowhere near capable of what they could be doing - and that capability could well be good for AA employees, the company, and investors. I'm betting that there are some pretty happy DL pilots and FAs who only have to do 2 trips per month on ATL-JNB or DTW-HKG or ATL-PVG.
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Wealth in the world has shifted... Americans are now the ones who don't have money. The backlog of 777s shows that the vast majority are going to foreign airlines esp. in parts of the world where economies are racing far faster than the US or Europe or Japan. The best way American companies and workers can tap into that wealth shift is to provide products and services that people in those countries and the Americans who deal with them (family and business) want.
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The 777 is the ideal aircraft for connecting the world's developing economies many of which are a long distance from the US.
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AA needs to have and use it large fleet of 777s - 200 and 300ERs to reguarly are profitably fly to places on the other side of the world.

 

[eolesen]

Easy? Who would want to build a business plan using equipment that may not be available once a union at the company they are leasing it from gets a contract ? Mach 85 gave examples of what other carriers have done, do you have any examples where the airline simply leased out aircraft that they could not fly due to contractual conflicts with their pilots?

Not necessarily due to a contract issue, but AA definitely dumped a dozen or more brand new 738's prior to interior fitting after 9/11. The aircraft wound up at QF.