Parker set to make Important Announcement on 9 June 2015

[robbedagain]

I second that LD3

 

[OldGuy@AA]

You mentioned changes and I gave them to you.  No I did not blow my refund check but what I did do with it is none of your concern.  I'm certainly not going to get investment advice from an ego maniac who's only skills seem to be throwing bags, insulting AMTs, and trying to convince others he has superior intelligence.  Your view of aircraft maintenance outsourcing is what has been told to you by the TWU Koolaid drinkers so of course you believe it.  I will not waste my time with an explanation since you obviously are an expert on everything and know more about aircraft maintenance then the guys who actually do it.  But maybe the TWU will have a free A&P license give away again and even you will be able to get one.  I make close to $40 per hour (not really but as you say) for what I know.  After close to 40 years working in aviation maintenance I'm betting I forgot more than you'll ever know about it.  My license carries a risk to it and I am supposed to be paid for that risk.  I'm sorry you have to settle for your close to $30 per hour while others in the industry that do your job make about half of what you do.  Let me clue you in.   Just because you can start an APU on an airliner and push one back doesn't make you close to a mechanic.  Just do your job and don't worry about me and the other AMTs OK Ace?   

Oh yeah, and I bet you wouldn't bring your car to someone who picked coffee beans during the day and worked on cars at night with no experience or certification from anyone.  You get what you pay for.  

 

[topDawg]

There is talk of Delta doing something and AA consolidating into T5. I'm not sure what would happen. Maybe Delta moves to 3 and either TBIT/T2. Then AA and maybe Alaska move to T5. Not sure that leaves enough room for VA and B6 in T6 or that they would even move for that matter. I'm just trying to rationalize how it MAY work. Delta may be desperate to get their own access to TBIT by way of the planned walkway.

Few options on the table and being looked out. Leaving T5 isn't what is wanted but it may be what has to happen. 

 

[WorldTraveler]

thank you, dawg.

the point should be clear that DL is not going to sit back and allow the progress DL has made in gaining share in the market and I wouldn't expect AA to do anything differently.

If AA really had gained a permanent hold on LAX facilities, then there would be no debate. There is little chance that the number of slots at DCA are going to increase significantly and thus there is no debate that AA is and will remain the largest carrier at DCA.

The reason why there is debate about gates at LAX is because the process is not at an end stage.

DL added LAX-PVG, AA adds LAX-SYD. AA will add LAX-MEX in a couple months; DL will add it shortly thereafter.

AA has enough gates to add more flights even if those gates are limited to large RJs at best even though those gates will become full mainline gates in other facilities at LAX over time. DL is simply at a different point in the process but it is still a process that is fluid and moving.

AA and DL both are very committed to growing at LAX and there is no reason to believe either will run out of new flight options before they run out of space to put it.

 

[ChrisUS]

OMG!! Does it REALLY matter who's number one, two or three in LAX? it's a big enough pie for everyone to to be happy and make money.  Knowing who has the most gates or most routes does not concern the average passenger.  They go by fare and service. Does it fly where I want to go at the time I want and is it cheap enough?  If two are competing then it may fall to loyalty program or past experience.  

 

[Overspeed]

DL spent over $200M on renovating T5. I doubt they are planning on moving.
 
http://www.foxnews.com/travel/2015/06/10/delta-new-terminal-5-at-lax-is-made-to-be-paparazzi-proof/

 

[WorldTraveler]

OMG!! Does it REALLY matter who's number one, two or three in LAX? it's a big enough pie for everyone to to be happy and make money.  Knowing who has the most gates or most routes does not concern the average passenger.  They go by fare and service. Does it fly where I want to go at the time I want and is it cheap enough?  If two are competing then it may fall to loyalty program or past experience.

 
exactly.

and given that all of the big 3 offer very similar networks from LAX differentiated mostly by where their other hubs are, there isn't a huge difference overall between all 3 network carriers' LAX hub.

and average fares are very close - less than a couple percent difference.


 

DL spent over $200M on renovating T5. I doubt they are planning on moving.
 
http://www.foxnews.com/travel/2015/06/10/delta-new-terminal-5-at-lax-is-made-to-be-paparazzi-proof/

and those costs are rolled into the lease which would be passed on to whatever carrier operates from that facility.

If part of the process is for AA to take over 4 and 5, those costs would fall to AA - and they are probably similar to what AA spent per gate on T4. In turn, DL would have to spend money customizing its own facilities elsewhere if they are the ones to move.

DL might be the one that has to move because it is sandwiched between AA and UA but it does have options and they might not spend more per gate than other carriers will elsewhere.

but again, the point is that LAX makes more and more sense for growth because fares are going up and will continue to go up because there is little room to grow domestically which will push fares up.

LAX is not at the end of its growth but it does take more juggling to make it all work and it is absolutely true that AA, DL, UA and a whole bunch of other carriers will all do well at LAX.

 

[FWAAA]

DL spent over $200M on renovating T5. I doubt they are planning on moving.

Delta spent just over $11 million on the renovations. TSA kicked in $25 million and Los Angeles World Airports spent about $190 million:

Delta Air Lines will cover $11,255,627 for renovation to its proprietary areas and needed equipment. The Transportation Security Administration has provided $25 million in reimbursements through Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) for the in-line baggage system that was completed in 2011. LAWA will invest in the remainder of the project at a cost of $190,000,000.

http://www.lawa.org/uploadedFiles/LAXDev/News_for_LAXDev/T5%20Renovation.pdf

Whether or not Delta moves to different space depends on the lease between DL and LAWA. The $11 million spent by DL on the renovations won't be a factor.

It's clear that you are not up to speed on the facts at LAX.

 

[Bob Owens]

 
 
http://www.foxnews.com/travel/2015/06/10/delta-new-terminal-5-at-lax-is-made-to-be-paparazzi-proof/

 
FOX News. 

 

[Overspeed]

FWAAA,
No I am not up to date on all things LAX.

 

[LDVAviation]

Good for Delta for wanting to become "the airline of choice" for L.A.  We'll see how they plan to do that with half the gates AA has.

 
 
How can Delta be the airline of choice when Delta still does not fly to ORD and DCA/IAD from LAX?  Who in LA thinks Atlanta is a much more important city than Chicago or DC for business or leisure?
 
... Half the gates and no bargaining chips (i.e., master leases).  But let's not forget Delta and LAWA are currently in negotiations over the terms of a top secret Terminal 9 XXX project.  The fanboys have all the details.

 

[WorldTraveler]

perhaps because ORD is not the center of the universe and no carrier serves every market that every other carrier serves.

regardless of what project is on the table or under it, the notion that AA is going to expand with no growth from competitors is solely in the hands and heads of the fanboys.

 

[commavia]

Once again - nobody ever said that AA was going to expand with no growth from competitors.  Please provide a source for a single person who ever said that.  On the contrary, what was said was that the reality of the gate/facility footprint at LAX, coupled with the strategic necessity and network utility of the market and broader competitive dynamics, strongly indicates that AA is likely to keep expanding at LAX long often other competitors run out of gate space to keep up, let alone run out of need to keep growing.

 

[WorldTraveler]

what you WANT TO BELIEVE is that AA can expand and others will not.

that is the bottom line in your mind and it is wrong.

Other carriers will expand and AA will not be free to expand without competitive impact just because AA supposedly has more gates, a big chunk of which are remote, RJ only gates

 

[commavia]

Once again - nobody ever said that AA can expand and others will not.  But since there's obviously no credibility left to destroy, by all means go on knocking yourself out misstating and misrepresenting others' opinions.
 
Back here in reality, it is undeniable that some airlines can make markets work that other airlines cannot, and some airlines have the combined rationale of both (1) resources and (2) strategic imperative to justify investments in margin-dilutive market development.  There's no way some of Delta's new SEA flying has been generating anywhere close to network-average margins, and we know for a fact that NYC lost money for years because Delta told us.  But those things were worthwhile investments because Delta had (1) the resources to sustain the margin dilution and (2) the strategic imperative to boost its presence in higher-yielding NYC business markets and build a Pacific gateway in SEA to replace NRT.
 
AA has both (1) the resources and (2) the strategic imperative to justify investments in margin-dilutive market development LAX-Asia.  It is my belief that while Delta does, indeed, have (1) the resources, it does not have (2) the justifiable strategic imperative.  As such, it is my opinion that Delta will ultimately conclude that once it reaches a certain point, it will no longer be worth continuing to grow at LAX to keep up with AA and Delta will settle for "good enough," just as AA has in NYC, United has in Florida, Delta has in Texas, and on and on.
 
Now I consider that sequence of thought to be fairly logical, rational and reasonable (key word).  If others disagree, fine.  Reasonable (again, key word) people can disagree over reasonable arguments, but thus far I've really heard no actual contention about any of that logic, but rather the standard, meaningless rantings about how if Delta can't do it, nobody can.  Talk about comical non-logic.