American Airlines to Fly From Chicago to Moscow

[Hatu]

CHICAGO, Oct. 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- American Airlines, the world's largest airline and a founding member of the global oneworld Alliance®, will begin nonstop service from Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD) to Moscow's Domodedovo International Airport (DME) on June 2, 2008.

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/071016/latu109a.html?.v=1

 

[FrugalFlyerv2.0]

Nice.

Initially I was a little surprised to see that the service would be ORD-DME instead of SVO. I sort of forgot that SA (and BA?) I believe were among the first airlines (western airlines) to switch service from SVO to DME, which from a customer service and management point of view is a better airport. Good to see 1-world airlines under one roof.

Any idea where the 767 for this service coming from? Is a route getting downgraded or upgraded to a 777 to free up the 767 for the ORD-DME service?

 

[MAH4546]

Nice.

Initially I was a little surprised to see that the service would be ORD-DME instead of SVO. I sort of forgot that SA (and BA?) I believe were among the first airlines (western airlines) to switch service from SVO to DME, which from a customer service and management point of view is a better airport. Good to see 1-world airlines under one roof.

Any idea where the 767 for this service coming from? Is a route getting downgraded or upgraded to a 777 to free up the 767 for the ORD-DME service?

The goal for 2008 is much tighter scheduling of widebodies to maximize their utilization. As it is now, especially the 777 fleet is heavily under utilized. The way they are scheduled, AA sometimes gets as little as 11-12 hours a day out of them, when they could be getting 15-16. The new routes will be possible thanks to tighter aircraft scheduling. Though they are also looking at cutting BOS-CDG, DFW-OGG (seasonal suspension), the 2nd DFW-HNL, and removing the 763 from LAX-HNL.

 

[Nor'Easta]

The big question is...

Where they going to find enough Russian speakers for the route? They're still are short on speakers for PVG.

 

[BuffaloJoe]

All ya need to know is "STOLI".

 

[fliboi78]

I know a few Russian and Russian speaking Poles at JFK and LGA. At least 10 or so. I don't think there will be a problem finding Russian speakers. But like our problem at JFK with BRU, people are already settled at other bases and may not want to commute or move to ORD.

 

[s80dude]

The route starts in June of 08, but I guess AA could technically start recruiting Russian speaking new hires later on in the summer depending on the outcome of the proposed legislation from Senator McCaskill.

Did TWA ever fly to Russia? Are there Russian speakers amongst the ranks of those being recalled?

 

[kirkpatrick]

Did TWA ever fly to Russia? Are there Russian speakers amongst the ranks of those being recalled?

Yes, and yes.

MK

 

[mga707]

Yes, and yes.

MK

Regarding TWA to Moscow, are you sure?
Pan Am served Moscow beginning in 1968, when the first Soviet/US bilateral was finally enacted (Aeroflot got JFK authority at that time also), and that route authority went to Delta in 1991 when PA sold their entire European operation to DL in a last-ditch, and futile, effort to stay alive.
American Overseas Airlines planned to serve Moscow following WWII, but the rapidly deteriorating state of US/USSR relations at that time prevented it from ever happening.

 

[twaokc]

TWA did serve Moscow at one time.

Regarding TWA to Moscow, are you sure?
Pan Am served Moscow beginning in 1968, when the first Soviet/US bilateral was finally enacted (Aeroflot got JFK authority at that time also), and that route authority went to Delta in 1991 when PA sold their entire European operation to DL in a last-ditch, and futile, effort to stay alive.
American Overseas Airlines planned to serve Moscow following WWII, but the rapidly deteriorating state of US/USSR relations at that time prevented it from ever happening.

 

[FrugalFlyerv2.0]

The goal for 2008 is much tighter scheduling of widebodies to maximize their utilization. As it is now, especially the 777 fleet is heavily under utilized. The way they are scheduled, AA sometimes gets as little as 11-12 hours a day out of them, when they could be getting 15-16. The new routes will be possible thanks to tighter aircraft scheduling. Though they are also looking at cutting BOS-CDG, DFW-OGG (seasonal suspension), the 2nd DFW-HNL, and removing the 763 from LAX-HNL.

OK - so I'm going to ask a question, and sorry if it's lame but since I don't work for any airline I don't know. How can AA increase the daily utilization of their widebody fleet? Are they going to use them more on domestic routes? For example, is a 767 going to do a EU-ORD-USA-ORD-EU routing? (in this example EU = some city in Europe, USA = some city in United States) Or is AA just planning to turn around the planes faster? BTW - how long does it take to get a widebody such as a 767 or 777 ready for its next flight? Isn't it ~ 2 hr or so? Or is the ~2 hr just a scheduling convenience for connections etc.?

 

[kirkpatrick]

Regarding TWA to Moscow, are you sure?

Yes. Flt 768 was routed JFK-BRU-SVO. It started in the mid nineties, I believe, and lasted a couple of years. It was a 767-200 to BRU and a 727 between BRU and SVO.

MK

 

[jimntx]

We have all gotten so used to USA airlines only flying from US to some point in EU and back that we forget that Pan Am and TWA had cabotage rights to fly country to country in Europe.

 

[lpbrian]

Nice.

Initially I was a little surprised to see that the service would be ORD-DME instead of SVO. I sort of forgot that SA (and BA?) I believe were among the first airlines (western airlines) to switch service from SVO to DME, which from a customer service and management point of view is a better airport. Good to see 1-world airlines under one roof.

Any idea where the 767 for this service coming from? Is a route getting downgraded or upgraded to a 777 to free up the 767 for the ORD-DME service?

Though not likely, AA could still aquire more 767's new from Boeing, as Boeing still offers new 767 pax models, and can probably deliver on short notice.

 

[eolesen]

AA may be ok EQ wise without upgrading/downgrading existing routes. There was one 777 leased out to Boeing for 787 flight control testing, and a 762 or 763 subleased out to an undisclosed party out of the Florida Panhandle. I'd expect that one or both are back on property by now.