FWAAA's right that once the beach markets of Hawaii & GUM are separated from US-Japan, and you focus on the mainland-Japan ops only, then the differences between the Big Three aren't anywhere near what the resident cheerleaDLr can admit to. He can't separate out the DOT's data to be route or sub-entity specific. Others can and do.
in terms of capacity and share, AA and UA do help close the gap but DL is still dominant by a fairly large margin in the US mainland to Japan market, retaining and building on NW's dominance of the US-Japan market that was very carefully developed and DL has preserved.
unlike the narrative that some want to push, DL has NOT lost relative to its peers in Japan relative to its peers even with the changing dynamics of Tokyo as a hub and with the fall in the yen.
The new 333s are undoubtedly going to allow DL to maintain its share of capacity in the US-Japan market by using an aircraft that can fly to most of the US and do so at costs that compare very favorably to any other aircraft
Only when you look at the name on the side of the aircraft and who mans it. You usair people crack me up . I count MY AIRLINE not MY alliance. It must be envy or love lost that fuels your comments . This forum has become mired in anti WT ,union organizers and new AA employees. I come here less and less because of it. If we had a moderator all these topics would be locked. Then what would the six of you have to do? I come here to find info not to see who's #### is bigger. Sorry just feed up with all the childishness.
yes, meto.
alliances can help a carrier build on its position in a market but it cannot turn around what is not there.
DL has used its alliance partners to build on DL's strength in Europe and Latin America. DL has not chosen to share its strength with any alliance partners in Asia because none have been willing to recognize what DL has.
it is quite ok to talk about the JL alliance with AA, but the simple fact is that it has done nothing to help AA recover its position in the local market. and you are absolutely right that alliances can help but data shows that the vast majority of passengers flying on JL are JL passengers, not AA. As you know, nearly every pilot union has specific language that prevents carriers from using the capacity of its alliance partners to replace flying that could be done by a carrier's own pilots. DOT data shows that does take place.
Do I care? No. Is it in a long range marketing plan. Yes. When the market is built out then take a look at it. I flew lax -nrt back in the early 90s and it was lousy. Time will tell I fly them and I do not sell tickets buy fuel or make marketing plans. That is their job and so far they have served me and the company and stockholders well. Perfect no.. But percentage wise they are doing quite well.
yes, DL is doing well.... and the reason why people struggle with it is because DL has repeatedly done a far better job of transitioning to changing economic situations than other US carriers.
People can point to Song and DL Express as failures - and they were in hindsight - but DL's strategic goal of protecting and growing its franchise in the NE has been a great success. DL didn't become the largest carrier in NYC by not building on what Song and DL Express did, even if they were strategic failures in their own right.
as a pilot, you might not care about the strategic ins and outs of how DL achieves its goals. many frontline people do not. However, there are plenty of mid-level mgmt. people who just came from the Leadership Conference in ATL this past week and are very fired up and excited about what DL is doing and will pass that enthusiasm on to their employees.
no one tells DL people they have to care about anything other than their own specific job.
but it is completely invalid to argue that frontline employees can dominate a discussion board based on their perception of insufficient QOL issues when they have no more evidence that DL people are willing to give up anything to achieve them than it is to argue that DL people ín the majority don't care about strategic issues.
if they don't care about strategic issues that are discussed here, all they have to do is just pass over them.
and anyone that doesn't think there are major strategic issues at play regarding the SEA-HND and LAX-PVG routes that are far beyond just the growth in China traffic due to the 10 year visa are simply choosing not to believe the truth solely because DL cannot directly and openly say it.
both routes involve very high stakes strategic issues that DL will not allow to work against DL.
If I ruled the world, Hauenstein and Anderson would have to switch salaries...
Hauenstein is very good at what he does but he does not have the gifts or desires to do everything that a CEO does, including dealing with labor related issues which consume a lot of Anderson's time.
Hauenstein is well compensated as he should be. He is clearly the brains behind DL's commercial strategies but it takes a whole lot more to run an airline as good as DL is today. Hauenstein is also smart enough to not try to be people he is not.
