First 773 Route Announced

[eolesen]

Interesting... didn't see the press release until now.

Looks at first glance like that is just an extension of the current "Preferred Plus" program, which already blocks out the better seats in the forward part of the cabin for top tiers & full fares, as opposed to a true premium economy product (i.e. different meal options, EQM/EQPs).

http://www.aa.com/i18n/urls/seats.jsp?anchorLocation=DirectURL&title=seats

 

[FWAAA]

Just More Room Throughout Some of Coach (MRTSOC), ala UA E+. As a tall person, I say it's about time.

 

[WorldTraveler]

I still would bet that AA dropped this sentence as a trial ballon to determine feedback... and it doesn't preclude them from adding the appropriate service later... but it is alot harder to add a differentiated service if the differentiated seating doesn't exist already...
it would also seem that AA has decided that they intend to keep 3 class service on at least part of their fleet - probably keeping their current divided fleet strategy - which UA appears to be adopting.

 

[Mach85ER]

My apologies to Hopeful. True statement about the roadblock regarding pay, not the ULH.

 

[Buck]

I believe that that the customer should determine the amenities of each respective class of cabin. If they do not want to pay high fares, then make the whole aircraft coach. I have also grown tired of providing the RETRO product. Buffing of the aircraft should go, maybe the pilots can clean the cockpits and the flight attends can clean the cabin. The company leases these planes as new and all the public does is tear them up but they do not want to pay anymore to keep the fight enjoyable. So I say get rid of the extras. Lay down seats, I have slept fine in a regular coach seat. You get what you pay for.

 

[uncle Omar]

I believe that that the customer should determine the amenities of each respective class of cabin. If they do not want to pay high fares, then make the whole aircraft coach. I have also grown tired of providing the RETRO product. Buffing of the aircraft should go, maybe the pilots can clean the cockpits and the flight attends can clean the cabin. The company leases these planes as new and all the public does is tear them up but they do not want to pay anymore to keep the fight enjoyable. So I say get rid of the extras. Lay down seats, I have slept fine in a regular coach seat. You get what you pay for.

Well put ! I think its Time for The pilots to pull there heads out of there (bad word) they are not NBA players..

 

[Super FLUF]

SuperBluff and a few others have been claiming they'll sit on the ground because there's no book rate on the 773, or for the A319/320/321.

Please reference the post where I said anything close to that.

 

[Super FLUF]

Yea..especially considering AA will have no more Pilot contract roadblocks.

Actually, our roadblock has a name, and it's Lazard Ltd.

***

AMR Pilots Union in Talks With Lazard

By Mike Spector and Jack Nicas

The union representing American Airlines pilots is in discussions with a Wall Street investment bank to gear up for negotiations on a new labor contract during bankruptcy proceedings.

The Allied Pilots Association is in talks with Lazard Ltd. to represent the pilots during AMR Corp.’s bankruptcy case, said APA President Dave Bates and people familiar with the discussions.

The union, which represents more than 10,000 AMR pilots, has been interviewing firms to analyze AMR’s finances for months, and now is close to hiring Lazard, said Mr. Bates, an American pilot for 28 years. An agreement has not been finalized, said people familiar with the matter.

“We’ve talked to a number of firms, but we think Lazard is top notch,” Mr. Bates said in an interview. “The role will take on more importance now that we’re in the bankruptcy process.”

The union also talked with former White House manufacturing czar Ron Bloom, Mr. Bates said, but Mr. Bloom’s “availability is scarce right now,” he said. The union is not expecting to retain Mr. Bloom, who is currently working on the restructuring of the U.S. Postal Service.

A Lazard spokeswoman declined to comment. Mr. Bloom didn’t respond to requests for comment.

The discussions signal the pilots union is readying for a significant battle over their economic futures and attempting to assemble a roster of experienced negotiators to look out for their interests.

Lazard’s restructuring practice represents companies and creditors in many large bankruptcies, and recently negotiated on behalf of the United Auto Workers union during historic contract bargaining and subsequent bankruptcies for General Motors and Chrysler. Lazard and Mr. Bloom teamed in October to negotiate for the union representing U.S. Postal Service letter carriers.

Mr. Bloom, once a Lazard banker himself, has a long history representing unions, including the Air Line Pilots Association. He’s also advised the United Steelworkers union and the Teamsters, and more recently helped craft the president’s government-brokered restructurings of General Motors and Chrysler.

 

[eolesen]

Lazard is the new name for Lazard Freres... That name should sound a bit familiar to anyone from IAM District 100, as they were part of Eastern's failure:

http://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1026&context=lrr

William Usery, former Secretary of Labor under President Ford (and once a Grand Lodge Representative for the IAM), was brought on board by Borman to help run interference for the company. The IAM's original openness to Usery ended almost overnight. Usery asked the investment banking firm of Lazard Freres to conduct what he termed an "independent audit."

District 100 blasted that attempt because it claimed that Lazard Freres was in no way "independent/' President Bryan disclosed a number of facts to back up this contention, including the following:

• Felix Rohatyn, general and leading partner of Lazard Freres, served on EAL's Board of Directors from May 1977 through November 1980.
• Lazard Freres, in 1976, was brought in to restructure Eastern's debt and introduced the first pay concessions—the variable earnings program.
• Rohatyn reported when he was on the board at Eastern that Lazard had received $2 million for services it provided Eastern from 1977 through 1979.

President Bryan made clear that the District would not trust "the self-serving report from a firm which has an established dependency on the economy of EAL and which has played a leadership role in the plans of EAL employee concessions in the past eight years." Bryan went on to demand the retention of the firm Locker-Abrecht to review all corporate information necessary to establish "a true and accurate picture of the financial status of Eastern Airlines."

A few days later the company gave in. Eastern agreed to settle the labor dispute with the flight attendants and to rescind the threat of bankruptcy. The three major unions and management at Eastern agreed to have Lazard Freres and Locker-Abrecht jointly perform an analysis of the status and prospects of the company. The study by Lazard Freres and Locker-Abrecht, once finished, would be the basis for further discussions on getting the company on firmer financial footing. The three unions did not agree on any form of pay concessions, cuts or reductions—just discussions.

Former UAL & US Airways CEO Stephen Wolf was a partner there for a while, and more recently, they've had senior partners involved with insider trading investigations involving TPG & Sabre Holdings.

Definitely a group I'd want representing my interests...

 

[Hopeful]

There aren't any "pilot roadblocks" in serving London.

Just another inaccurate "Hopeful" post. I'm seeing a trend lately with you.

The above statement was due to posting before consuming the morning coffee.

Mach, FWAAA explained best what I was referring to. I think for some reason you feel I am on the "IT'S THE PILOTS FAULT" bandwagon. Not true.

Let me clarify my statements.

---About SCOPE......For quite some time all we have heard from the company is our cost disadvantage compared to other carriers was because of SCOPE and the fact we in house our OH....In maintenance, OH is their bane...With pilots, it is SCOPE......These are not what I think, but what the company has made issues of.
My posts that mention SCOPE are tongue -in-cheek....As with the 777-300 topic, I was again being sarcastic that now AA will do whatever it wants because of labor agreements not being so restricitive anymore..That goes for all of us.

I put the blame mostly on AA management who squandered billions in employee concessions. But there is at least some blame to be spread around inflexible union leaders who need to beleive that this time BK was not just a threat anymore.

After the rape of emplyees wages and penefits and thousands of job losses, unless AA cleans house at the top, AA will not be profitable...Fuel could hot $200 a barrel overnight because of a potential attack on Iran by israel......then every airline will hold a group filing of CH 11 and the government might have to step in.

AIrline management will usually put their blame on labor..always have,,aways will.

 

[Mach85ER]

Thanks H.

Forums are tough to get a persons real thoughts across. Sharing a beer can sometimes be worth a 1000 post exchanges.

Then again there is the issue of alcohol and politics :blink:

 

[BoeingBoy]

I wonder if the AA pilots are just lacking experience with bankruptcy (excepting the former TWA pilots, obviously). It almost sounds like they're just preparing for normal negotiations, with the Judge acting like a super mediator. After living through the two US bankruptcies, I'm afraid that they're sadly mistaken if that impression is correct.

Unless the Judge overseeing AA's bankruptcy is the proverbial sore thumb (as in sticks out like a sore thumb), the company will tell him what AA "needs" and as long as it not completely out of line the pilots will only be able to negotiate where to give up less in exchange for giving more somewhere else. Take pay scales on the various fleet types (including those types not on the property yet - so much for that being a roadblock). Management will present a set of pay rates. The union may be able to up pay on one type by decreasing pay on another, as long as the total payroll is the same.

Jim

 

[Hopeful]

Thanks H.

Forums are tough to get a persons real thoughts across. Sharing a beer can sometimes be worth a 1000 post exchanges.

Then again there is the issue of alcohol and politics :blink:

In the case of airline life,,,,,,we may have to resort to the hard stuff!

 

[Mach85ER]

In the case of airline life,,,,,,we may have to resort to the hard stuff!

Vaporized Skydrol?

 

[Super FLUF]

Definitely a group I'd want representing my interests...

Yes, I'm sure the myriad of lawyers and consultants who recommended this firm have no idea of what they were talking about. I'm also sure that this firm has a track record of nothing but a string of cataclysmic failures.

What on Earth were we thinking.