Re. :Still, the industry is closing in, leaving fewer potential partners — with American a smaller player than it once was."
SWA was smaller, made more money and has a well defined culture that mingles well with their customers. Now SWA is eating up competition left and right while remaining financially solvent and paying top wages. Their management is smarter than ours.
We need to once again become the "thought leader" of our industry. We once promoted American Airlines as; "QuAAlity From The Ground Up" and "Based Here, Best Here"... No more. Now we are all about; "Yes our industry sucks and we have to make a thin dime taking meals and pillows off planes and yes you pay for checking a bag and sitting in front of coach cabin"; etc. Or, "F* the customer"! - Much less US.
Who wins with that? No debate needed on this. We know the answers. WE are paying for boob managers. And we have no friends at the top, in congress, in the White House, or in the TWU. A bunch of leaches.
I heard someone say, "P@@rk 'em for Thanksgiving"!
This tells me nothing I didn't already know. AA is contracting and is no longer the leader they have been much of the past decade and the carriers influence and market share continues to diminish. It's not a bad or sad thing, it's just business.
I have to love what the SMU professor says
We should not fall into the trap of thinking American Airlines is some weak sister out there. They're a very strong airline with an international route structure, but the way the industry is shaking up, they need to be even bigger.
I don't know what the guy is smoking or it's the Texan "were bigger and better" attitude. Of course AA is weaker than the other carriers, specifically internationally in respect to UA/CO and DL. AA has a very, very limited international route structure and is taking a brutal beating from WN, B6, and DL domestically. AA's success even in MIA is compromised with NK and B6 growth at FLL. I'm glad I didn't attend that overpriced university, and you wouldn't see a professor from NYU Stern make such a false, uniformed statement.
