Just a question please? Why when on the AA board I always here IORF instead of ORD and SLT instead of STL? It seems AA is so big they must come up with sub.cat. for each city? Really just woundering the difference.
SLT OR STL
- Thread starter SPG Trvlr
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The different codes refer to flight attendant bases, and in many cities where AA has a base, there are international bases and domestic bases - hence the I in some of the codes.
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<_< ---- It also has to do with the TWA buy out! And the way the Unions sorted out their Seniority issues! STL was TWA's main hub. And I'm being diplomatic here! :bleh:
When AA bought TWA the base there became STL. The precise code is important for many computer entries. The plan was to train TWA pilots and FA's on AA's equipment and procedures and bring aircraft and crews over to the AA side until there was no more TWA-LLC.
In the fall of 2002 AA trained 23 TWA FA's on AA's equipment, and started a small AA base, designated SLT, alongside the larger STL in St. Louis. If things had gone according to plan, we would have been slowly transferred over until there was no STL left.
What actually happened was that the concessionary contract of 2003 caused the furlough of all TWA FA's, and AA trained about 750 (someone will probably provide the exact figure) AA FA's to fly TWA equipment under our certificate and procedures. Most of these were force transferred against their will.
Now that all TWA equipment has been put on AA's certificate, it's no longer necessary to have the SLT designator, and I think some day it will be changed back to STL.
AA's domestic FA bases are designated BOS, DCA, DFW, LAX, LGA, MIA, ORD, SFO and SLT. International bases are designated BOS-I,IDF, IMA, IOR, JFK, LAX-I, RDU, and IAD. The international TWA base was designated ISL.
MK
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<_< --- Thanks for the details kirk! But I do believe there are still a number of exTWA MD80's in the desert that have not been bridged over to aa! And probably never will be! Unless aa comes up with a comprehensive plan to re-engine this fleet type! (MD-80's) Which I hear aa is looking into!
Don't bet on it. The question was asked at SLT not long ago, and the answer was that it would cost too much to change the computer programming at this time. After all it's only the f/as who are/might be inconvenienced by flying to/from STL as an SLT f/a. It's hardly worth the trouble and expense to change it.
When in DECS a lot of commands require either a station/or base designator; so, we constantly have to switch back and forth between the two.
Don't forget the pilots, they are also designated SLT. It would have made more sense initially if they had given TWA the SLT code and made AA the STL code, but hindsight is 20/20.
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<_< ------ You know, sometimes you really have to tell it how it really is! Diplomacy can be a terrible thing! It can "bend" the truth! Put a positive spin on something negative! But in my "lowly" opinion, the SLT/STL thing was just a legal maneuver to get reed of the exTWA F/A's, and get nAAtive aa's on exTWA metal! At the time, I believe there were restrictions in place to prevent this, and this was just a one type of vehicle to circumvent them! Now I know you can blame almost everything on 9/11, but in this case I feel aa and it's Unions used it to further it's own selfish gains! And the SLT thing is nothing more than the left over residue of that dastardly deed! A witness, if you will, to something shameful! :down:
Spin it in your paranoid mind however you want, but it was all a programming issue. Hindsight being 20/20, AA would have set the TWA partition of DECS as SLT and made the AA side be STL.
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There had to be a AA/TWA side as there were two different operating air certificates until the planes and crews were transferred to the AA certificate.
