TWU proposes intense period of negotiations with American Airlines

[Bob Owens]

Right, Bob. But you can't upgrade to F from Y. The upgraders to F are paying J fares. Those $5,000+ fares add up quickly. Using your figure of $250K per seat and my (conservative) figure of $5,000 per J fare r/t, that's 50 round trips to get to break-even on one of these seats. That's not a lot considering how much the birds are in the air. And that doesn't factor in the (minority of) folks who pay full boat F.

Your math is flawed.


Listen, people dont just sit in those seats in a public square for $5000 a pop. Those $5000 seats are in an aircraft that costs money, burns fuel, uses labor and incurrs fees etc. So you cant just figure in the revenue as compared to zero, you have to figure the difference between the revenue they get for that cabin compared to the revenue they would get for the cabin if the same space was filled with the old seats(more seats in the same space but at a lower price) or if it was filled with coach seats (even more seats at an even lower price).

For all the criticism I've levied against management at least they figured that out. I feel sorry for your employer if you have anything to do with running their business.

 

[chris perry]

Your math is flawed.


Listen, people dont just sit in those seats in a public square for $5000 a pop. Those $5000 seats are in an aircraft that costs money, burns fuel, uses labor and incurrs fees etc. So you cant just figure in the revenue as compared to zero, you have to figure the difference between the revenue they get for that cabin compared to the revenue they would get for the cabin if the same space was filled with the old seats(more seats in the same space but at a lower price) or if it was filled with coach seats (even more seats at an even lower price).

For all the criticism I've levied against management at least they figured that out. I feel sorry for your employer if you have anything to do with running their business.

I agree with Bob on those seats,no way no how can a seat that weighs that much could ever make money.The weight alone makes it a loser!!!!!We used to get a fork lift just to lift one ,plus Ive spent 8 hrs working on one seat problem,ur talking all night just to replace one.Not to mention some galleys had to be removed just to get on board.Major major waste of resources!!

 

[FrequentFlierCA]

I agree with Bob on those seats,no way no how can a seat that weighs that much could ever make money.The weight alone makes it a loser!!!!!We used to get a fork lift just to lift one ,plus Ive spent 8 hrs working on one seat problem,ur talking all night just to replace one.Not to mention some galleys had to be removed just to get on board.Major major waste of resources!!

Ok, so keep the "cradle" seats and then watch your premium business evaporate. I just flew in the new lie-flats on UA last week. A little narrow but a great product overall. There's no going back to the cradle seat once you get used to a bed. And sure as hell I'm not going to pay $5,000+ for that tatty old seat when I can fly UA, CO, DL (and many foreign flag carriers) and enjoy a vastly superior product.