AMR/APA might be nearing a deal!

[WorldTraveler]

J,
you appear to be looking at airport boarding statistics rather than revenue or local traffic... you also apparently chose to look at only domestic traffic. If you look at local revenue (network airlines have much higher average fares from BOS and other cities than B6 or other low fare carriers) and if you include int'l revenue - not just boardings, you will see that DL is indeed larger than it was and is now the largest network carrier in BOS... and depending on the quarter, might be the largest carrier overall in terms of revenue. DL's growth in BOS has come in the int'l market and that is exactly where they have grown relative to AA. B6 and VX have grown their share of the BOS domestic market.
.
stockholders don't care how many passengers an airline carries... they do care where the money is coming from.

 

[Jacobin777]

J,
you appear to be looking at airport boarding statistics rather than revenue or local traffic... you also apparently chose to look at only domestic traffic. If you look at local revenue (network airlines have much higher average fares from BOS and other cities than B6 or other low fare carriers) and if you include int'l revenue - not just boardings, you will see that DL is indeed larger than it was and is now the largest network carrier in BOS... and depending on the quarter, might be the largest carrier overall in terms of revenue. DL's growth in BOS has come in the int'l market and that is exactly where they have grown relative to AA. B6 and VX have grown their share of the BOS domestic market.
.
stockholders don't care how many passengers an airline carries... they do care where the money is coming from.

WT, I did state it was domestic only. Fares haven't gone up the past few @BOS years while price of Jet-A has gone up.

Besides LHR where even the B752 flight will be cut during winter, and Bermuda, could you state where DL has expanded internationally out of BOS? The JV with AF/KL/AZ to CDG/AMS/FCO is another, but that's really been there for years. Where is DL's own metal international expansion out of BOS?

You can skew the stats how you want mate but at the end of the day, B6 carriers much, much more traffic @ BOS and its growth @ BOS has been phenomenal - even with the decrease in fares @ BOS and increase in Jet-A.

From RPM's to ASM's, mainline DL's numbers have gone down (but up from 2009).

While boarding stats doesn't give the "whole picture", it does certainly give a good "partial picture".

Too bad I don't have profit&loss/city for the carriers. That would be a nice to have.

Again, I give kudos to DL to expand and be aggressive in a number of markets but the data @ BOS is what it is.

 

[737823]

WT,
Why did DL reduce BOS-SLC to 1x, particularly with an evening BOS and mid morning SLC departure? Not conducive for skiing, where an AM BOS and PM SLC departure would be idea.

Josh

 

[WorldTraveler]

a partial picture is good until you see the part that you don't see.
No one is doubting that B6 has grown - largely because it has been boxed in in NYC - but it doesn't say anything about the total BOS market or about the revenue that is associated w/ the market.
If you are Massport, your primary focus is people who pass through the turnstiles of the airport. If you are the shareholders of an airline, you care about revenue.
.
The simple fact is that AA's revenue has been under attack in BOS just like in other cities and other airlines have been able to adapt and find opportunities while AA has been forced to cut back.
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Even if LHR was the only market DL gained at LHR, that it itself would be notable given that AA has had the only US carrier service from BOS for quite some time. The reality is that DL's expanded international network - not just to Europe but via its other gateways including DTW-Asia have helped DL grow its presence in Asia.
You did notice the reference was made to new competitors in key LHR markets in AA's conference call .. yet DL has clearly decided that BOS and MIA-LHR are key markets that it intends to stay in - and in which it is clearly getting sufficient revenue..... or it has the financial strength to stick it out until that develops.
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Josh,
DL's likely seasonal cuts to BOS-SLC come from the fact that DL has a very good hub at MSP that duplicates many of the same connections but by flying half of the distance from BOS...it simply is not worth flying as many BOS-SLC flights for the relatively few connections that can be made only via SLC. You can track DL's local market share performance on BOS-SLC but I have a pretty strong feeling that DL's share of the market will be maintained regardless of whether they carry some of the traffic via DTW or MSP or CVG or.... or whether it is on DL's nonstops when they do operate. And it is precisely that type of redundancy that DL now has in its network that allows it to make network changes that generate the best financial results. UA and CO have it because of their multiple east-west hubs now and they happen to be focusing on DEN reductions this winter because ORD and IAH are financially stronger hubs.
The ability of DL and UA to fine tune their networks without giving up local markets is a big part of why they outperformed AA on RASM performance for the industry this past quarter and likely will continue to do so.

 

[damajagua]

AA/APA have been negotiating this whole week.
Any news? I guess the urgency the company had
to reach an agreement has subsided.

 

[Super FLUF]

AA/APA have been negotiating this whole week.
Any news? I guess the urgency the company had
to reach an agreement has subsided.

Nothing significant for this past week. More "underbrush" cleared.

Company still pushing full throttle for unlimited domestic code share.

NFW

 

[BoeingBoy]

Oh good grief. None of you have ever heard of the 737's nickname?

Oh, the ignorance we 737 drivers have to put up with....

Jim

 

[damajagua]

Nothing significant for this past week. More "underbrush" cleared.

Company still pushing full throttle for unlimited domestic code share.

NFW

APA needs to hold its ground on domestic code share.
ABSOLUTELY NO DOMESTIC CODE SHARE!!!!!!
I

 

[737823]

APA needs to hold its ground on domestic code share.
ABSOLUTELY NO DOMESTIC CODE SHARE!!!!!!
I

Concessions in 3...2...1...

Any gains APA makes will be intermediate. AMR will have the agreement abrogated in no time with the courts. Face it, the employees need the company needs the employees.

Josh

 

[frontline]

APA needs to hold its ground on domestic code share.
ABSOLUTELY NO DOMESTIC CODE SHARE!!!!!!
I

Uh, you already HAVE domestic codeshare. Check out Alaska Airlines and JetBlue. And there's still a "pilot shortage". So what's the problem?

 

[FWAAA]

Uh, you already HAVE domestic codeshare. Check out Alaska Airlines and JetBlue. And there's still a "pilot shortage". So what's the problem?

Not exactly. Alaska is a domestic codeshare, jetBlue is not. AAdvantage customers can earn AA miles on selected B6 flights but they are not elite-qualifying and the B6 flights do not carry the AA code.

Pilot shortage? Increase wages and that "shortage" would quickly become a surplus.

 

[Mach85ER]

Uh, you already HAVE domestic codeshare. Check out Alaska Airlines and JetBlue. And there's still a "pilot shortage". So what's the problem?

AS was agreed to in order to service areas where AA didn't have a prescence as in the NW USA. It never would have gotten beyond the first sentence in negotiations had they served cities and rapidly replaced service AA had walked away from before (full airplanes too).

There isn't a "pilot shortage" for narrowbody flying that is requested for codeshares. there wouldn't even be a widebody pilot shortage had AMR planned responsibly. Ask them why they kept reassigning 60+ check Captains into different fleets instead of bringing new blood into the programs. (They reassigned many in the past to suit their own castle building). They knew a market drop could happen at any time. The Age 60 rule was also changed almost 4 years ago. Maybe they should have planned ahead and negotiated a contract to eliminate the contentious atmosphere that blocks any cooperation needed from a labor intensive group like the pilots.

The referree is done counting to 10. you can get off the mat now <_<

 

[WorldTraveler]

AS was agreed to in order to service areas where AA didn't have a prescence as in the NW USA. It never would have gotten beyond the first sentence in negotiations had they served cities and rapidly replaced service AA had walked away from before (full airplanes too).

There isn't a "pilot shortage" for narrowbody flying that is requested for codeshares. there wouldn't even be a widebody pilot shortage had AMR planned responsibly. Ask them why they kept reassigning 60+ check Captains into different fleets instead of bringing new blood into the programs. (They reassigned many in the past to suit their own castle building). They knew a market drop could happen at any time. The Age 60 rule was also changed almost 4 years ago. Maybe they should have planned ahead and negotiated a contract to eliminate the contentious atmosphere that blocks any cooperation needed from a labor intensive group like the pilots.

The referree is done counting to 10. you can get off the mat now <_<

as one who apparently knows, how is AA doing w/ pilot/captain replacement in light of the last two months of retirements and do you have any predictions for this month?

yes, it is true that AS serves markets AA doesn't now and didn't at the time that codeshare was approved by the APA but AA did have a route system up and down the west coast in the same manner that DL did as well... and AS has served as a convenient replacement for both.
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B6 OTOH is something AA has sought to deal w/ its own pulldowns in the NE, esp. JFK.

I am with you and the APA completely in that AA cannot be allowed to expand its domestic mainline codeshare presence without very strong controls about the size which AA mainline must have.

 

[odie01]

68 pilots choose to retire from American Airlines this month
After two months of 100-plus pilot retirements, only 68 pilots decided to retire from American Airlines on Monday.

American Airlines spokeswoman Missy Cousino said that the November pilot retirements are not anticipated to have an effect on the Fort Worth-based carrier’s schedule.

“A number of steps have been taken over the last few months to mitigate staffing shortages as a result of the higher pilot retirements in September and October,” Cousino said.

American has already cut capacity by 3 percent for its winter flight schedule to adjust to the higher-than-usual number of pilot retirements. On average, about a dozen pilots retire from American each month.

Of the 68 pilot retirements, only 47 were on active duty. Seventeen of the retired pilots worked on MD-80s while 16 pilots operated Boeing 767 aircraft.

There were fewer pilot retirements than had been anticipated partly because of the stock market’s recovery in October.

In addition to their pensions, American pilots have a defined contribution retirement plan, Plan B. It lets pilots lock in the value of the fund 60 days before their effective retirement date. So pilots who retire today can get funds based on stock market values on Sept. 1. The Dow Jones industrial average has increased 4 percent since Sept. 1.

Shares of AMR [ticker: AMR] declined 3 percent or 8 cents to close at $2.63 on Monday.

Currently, the pilots union and American are in ongoing contract negotiations in Fort Worth. A few weeks ago it appeared that the two sides were close to a deal, however, no tentative agreement has been reached.

It takes six to eight weeks to train a pilot on a new aircraft, and American has been recalling 30 to 40 pilots a month. Last year, the carrier announced that it was recalling 250 pilots as it added international routes as part of its agreement with British Airways and Iberia.

More pilots will have to retire starting in December 2012 because of federal requirements that increased the mandatory retirement age for pilots from 60 to 65 in 2007. The first group of pilots forced to retire under the new requirement will hit 65 at the end of next year.

-Andrea Ahles

Posted at 05:47 PM in Allied Pilots Association, American Airlines | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)


Read more: http://startelegram.typepad.com/sky_talk/#ixzz1cPU6Zi1m

 

[eolesen]

AS was agreed to in order to service areas where AA didn't have a prescence as in the NW USA.

The codeshare is almost 20 years old, and technically, the partnership with Alaska goes back even further, to 1982. Braniff had an interchange with Alaska Airlines that AA took it over after BN1 imploded. AA metal would operate DCA-ORD-SEA-ANC-FAI RT (391/392), and AS metal would operate FAI-ANC-SEA-DFW-IAH RT (393/394), keeping the same flight number on both airlines, and a crew change at SEA (AS worked west of SEA, AA worked east of SEA).

That worked as long as both AS and AA were flying former BN 727-227 aircraft with the same cockpits, systems and engines. When AS retired their 727s in the early 90's, there were enough differences between AS's MD80s and AA's that a crew change wouldn't work anymore. That's when the codeshare came into being, and it slowly moved beyond just those routes into other ex-SEA routes where AA didn't operate.