Rumor has it DL PHL-LHR

[Kev3188]

Is this the PHL-LHR topic?

 

[Glenn Quagmire]

Is this the PHL-LHR topic?

I thought it was about Kevin Bacon:

https://oracleofbacon.org/movielinks.php

 

[eolesen]

Kevin Bacon had a bit role in "In The Cut" with Meg Ryan, who starred in "Sleepless in Seattle" with Tom Hanks, and Tom Hanks was also in "Philadelphia".

 

[WorldTraveler]

.... and DL will be adding a flight from PHL to LHR, a key AA/US route, competing with a product that is as good if not better than what AA/US will offer.

just had dinner last night with a person who flew an int'l AA 767 and was appalled at the lack of amenities on the aircraft.

 

[FWAAA]

Is this the PHL-LHR topic?

No kidding.

Wonder if anybody knows the answer to my question? Does DL have to pay rent for this slot or is it free?
 

Over on Flyertalk, some of the posters are crowing that Delta essentially gets a "free" LHR slot as long as it toughs it out for three years from PHL.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/delta-air-lines-skymiles/1630649-dl-start-phl-lhr-2.html

I know that after three years, DL could use it from any gateway, but doesn't DL have to pay AA/BA for the slot?

 

[LDVAviation]

.... and DL will be adding a flight from PHL to LHR, a key AA/US route, competing with a product that is as good if not better than what AA/US will offer.

just had dinner last night with a person who flew an int'l AA 767 and was appalled at the lack of amenities on the aircraft.

 
What does the AA 767 have to do with PHL/LHR?
 
US operates the flight with an A333, featuring a version of the Sicma Cirrus Seat.
 
That seat was customized for US by JPA Design.  Whereas, by all appearances, Delta's was customized by Home Depot.
 
... Or, is Skippy Traveler oblivious to the fact that US opted for a version of the Sicma Cirrus seat that is more premium-looking than Delta's off-the-shelf, all-plastic version?
 
... Of course, knowing Skippy, he will now try to make this a fight between the DL 757 and the AA 757.  But, based on time of departure, the DL 757 flight is not competing with the AA 757 flight.  It is competing with the US A330 which has a premium product that is superior to that of the DL 757.
 
(Now, back to pushing the red down button.  Negative 5036 and counting.)

 

[LDVAviation]

No kidding.

Wonder if anybody knows the answer to my question? Does DL have to pay rent for this slot or is it free?
 

 
If you read the EU Decision (not just the Commitments section appended to the doc), it is somewhat vague on the matter.  That is consistent with the EU's reluctance to take a definitive stance on the Heathrow slot market.
 
The decision, however, does make two acknowledgements.  That consideration might be made for the slots.  And, that the value of such a consideration can be used as a criteria when choosing among competing claims for the slots.  Nowhere in the EU Decision or the Commitments does it stipulate that AA/BA have to give the slots away.
 
That being the case, it is arguable that the confidential conditions to this decision are similar to the public conditions in the EU Decision regarding the AA/BA JV.  In that decision, if I remember correctly, the EU allows AA/BA to lease the slots and in fact to reclaim them if the EU does not seek to extend the terms of that decision.  Indeed, I would not be surprised if AA/BA sought to make the Commitments offered in this case subject to the full terms of the EU Decision regarding the AA/BA JV.

 

[WorldTraveler]

uh.... someone made a comment that DL would be using a subpar 757... actual market information says people aren't talking about DL's aircraft but rather AA's.

further, there is no doubt that DL's 757 is as good as or better than anything US operates.

DL's profitability on the Atlantic is a whole lot larger and for a whole lot longer than either AA or US.

bring on yet another route where DL can invade AA's network using its own assets.....

DFW-LHR is next

 

[Kev3188]

just had dinner last night with a person who flew an int'l AA 767 and was appalled at the lack of amenities on the aircraft.

What'd Josh order?

 

[robbedagain]

on second thoughts kev  we may not wanna know what josh ordered!      on the other hand  its only natural that skippy would have to change tunes and make it dl metal vs aa metal and may be a dfw lhr run   what a pathetic buffoon he is

 

[Glenn Quagmire]

What'd Josh order?

Maybe corn from the vast fields?

 

[WorldTraveler]

I'm sure it would never dawn on anyone else besides Josh to realize that most airlines have actual in-seat IFE while AA does not....worn interior...

 

[Hope777]

And Still making money hand over fist.  More then anyone!

 

[WorldTraveler]

neither AA or US has the track record of profitability to Europe that DL has.

http://www.transtats.bts.gov/Data_Elements_Financial.aspx?Data=6

AA's profits are due almost entirely to eliminating US as a low cost competitor that focused on undercutting AA's fares in its top markets - or rather US justified its merger by eliminating its pricing practices.

 

[FWAAA]

DL's profitability on the Atlantic is a whole lot larger and for a whole lot longer than either AA or US.

 

neither AA or US has the track record of profitability to Europe that DL has.

http://www.transtats.bts.gov/Data_Elements_Financial.aspx?Data=6

A whole lot longer? I'm seeing net losses (some of them very large) for Delta in the Atlantic region for each and every year other than 2007, 2012, 2013 and so far in 2014. That's the "track record of profitability to Europe that DL has?" Huh? Color me not very impressed with Delta's performance across the Atlantic.

The database is buggy for me right now so I can't access the AA or US numbers, but the DL net income figures aren't anything to write home about.