I somehow missed that UA announcement. Wikipedia says UA announced the 3-class to 2-class back in 2011, so I'm guessing the changes are already underway.
Was AA planning to market the flights differently, ala UA's "p.s." service?
I haven't kept track of their conversion but I believe that it's probably about complete.
In 1991 or so, when they began, AA marketed its 3-class transcons (between BOS/NYC/IAD/MIA and SFO/LAX/SAN - there were a lot of them back then) as American Flagship Service, or AFS. That designation has faded from view but was still in use 10 years ago when UA renamed its transcons "ps." 20+ years ago AA marketed its 3-class long-haul international flights as International Flagship Service, or IFS. Perhaps AA will revive that marketing later this year when the new A321s arrive. AA is planning to have five of them enter service in the fourth quarter and the rest of them in early 2014.
The oddest part was that conventional wisdom had declared 3-class transcons (and all international 3-class for that matter) to be an extinct relic and then AA surprised everyone by announcing that the JFK transcons to LAX and SFO would remain 3-class, with 1-1 First class configuration and 2-2 Business Class. Around the same time, AA announced that the 47 existing 777s would lose First Class and be reconfigured as 2-class, so the transcon announcement was a big surprise.
I've sat next to enough celebs between JFK and LAX to see that AA has a lot of that business. And with UA abandoning it, there will only one airline with the privacy and intimacy in the front cabin that these big-spenders crave, and that will be the new AA. With 10 F suites (lie-flat) up front where all 10 have aisle access - that's much better than even today's AA First. 20 lie-flat J seats arranged 2-2 is not too shabby, along with 36 extra legroom MCE seats (3-3) and 36 regular economy seats (also 3-3).
Of course, that will be a very high-CASM A321 flight, so it's essential that AA keep getting its historical high average fares for these routes. The good part is that the trip cost will be substantially less than the current trip cost of the 762s that AA uses on these routes.
When it come to customer service, I am really not too confident that Parker will shine. That being said, maybe sweet revenge will keep Parker's foot on UA's neck and the AA customer will be the beneficiary. After all, Parker was wooing UA for a merge until CO came in with the "pretty girl vs. ugly girl at the dance." Somehow I don't think Parker will forget the snub.
If that helps cause him to keep up the revenue-attraction perks for customers, then I'll be happy.
🙂
