Additional widebody aircraft

[HiFly]

Still haven't figured out how to reply to a post, eh?

😉

 

[ual777fan]

I think this is the most plausible explanation. The authorities in Beijing haven't exactly been kind to AA (I'm thinking of the ridiculous slot assignments on the PEK service). They're going to do what they do and won't be pressured by anyone, but I'm sure authorities will be granted eventually.

AA would be smart to pick up a couple of people that UA has laid off in their trans-pacific planning unit over the past few years. Dollars to donuts says they know who to talk to in Beijing to clear up these never ending slot debacles that AA has had in China. Sometimes it's all about who you know and what you can do to help speed the process, read that however you will.

 

[Interested]

AA would be smart to pick up a couple of people that UA has laid off in their trans-pacific planning unit over the past few years. Dollars to donuts says they know who to talk to in Beijing to clear up these never ending slot debacles that AA has had in China. Sometimes it's all about who you know and what you can do to help speed the process, read that however you will.

Bribes??

 

[ual777fan]

Bribes??

Now, did I say that?

 

[Interested]

Now, did I say that?

Without coming right out and saying it, yes.

 

[jersey777]

Today I heard this from a check airman.

We are getting 12 777-300's.
The announcement is within the next two weeks.
The simulators and manuals are being readied for the differences between the 777-200 and 777-300.
JFK-NRT is being moved to MIA...hence the need for 777-300's.
JFK-HND is doing poorly on sales and a decision will be made if this flight will be long term.


Thats the latest gossip on the line.

 

[eolesen]

If the JAL-AMR anti-trust application gets approved, the NRT and HND moves might make sense.

As I said in the "corporate restructuring" thread, AMR is set to release 4Q2010 earnings on 19Jan, and typically, big announcements like new airplanes are timed in conjunction with that.

 

[1AA]

777-300?

Those GE engines are looking better and better.

 

[Mach85ER]

Today I heard this from a check airman.

Thanks jersey777, but almost stopped reading at the point of check airman 😉


I sincerely hope the rumor comes true, but I personally won't be holding my breath. Nothing more would make me happy than to ruin my .890 batting average of knowing whatever a CKA says regarding fleet plans is right up there with the accuracy of the guy slicing Quesadillas at the Flight Academy cafeteria. 😛

I hope I'm wrong.

 

[eolesen]

right up there with the accuracy of the guy slicing Quesadillas at the Flight Academy cafeteria. 😛

To be fair, the guy slicing quesadillas might have actually overheard the a sim technician or vendor rep talking about modifying the sims while they waited in line....

 

[Mach85ER]

To be fair, the guy slicing quesadillas might have actually overheard the a sim technician or vendor rep talking about modifying the sims while they waited in line....

I doubt it. They never hear me ask for extra cheese even when I'm leaning over the sneeze guard. 😛


I get exactly what your saying. Word for word, if the Q-guy repeated something that included technical info, I'd probably believe him over a CKA. The CKA will probably unconsciously embellish a rumor with his own technical knowledge and beliefs. The Q-guy probably wouldn't unless he was an airline/airplane enthusiast.

Same goes for when we hear an inflight report from the back regarding something a pax saw outside. Sometimes it's "whatever, they really don't know what they saw". Other times it's "Oh s#$%" because you know what they described wasn't good no matter how uneducated they may be.

 

[FWAAA]

JFK-NRT is being moved to MIA...hence the need for 777-300's.

MIA-NRT won't happen unless the pilots agree to waive their duty day limitation (same issue as the ill-fated DFW-PEK application) and unless AA is ready to throw lots of money at the pilots, that ain't likely in the short-term.

There's no need for 777-300s for MIA-NRT; A-market 777-300s (like the ones JAL is going to be dumping shortly) don't have sufficient range. 777-300ERs could certainly make it, but it makes little sense for AA to acquire even a single (let alone a dozen) nearly 747-sized 777-300ER when 777-200LRs would suffice.

AA may very well make some aircraft announcements in ten days but my money is on additional 738 orders and perhaps some acceleration of AA's existing 777-200ER orders, maybe even conversion of those to LR models to enable some ultra-longhaul flights. But I still place the odds of 777-300s at less than 1 in 100. AA hasn't flown anything as large as a 777-300 since it retired the last 747-100 decades ago, and I doubt that AA is going to change that philosophy now, especially as oil prices continue their slow but steady climb back to the stratosphere.

To sum it up, a rumour that struggles to overcome its logical failures.

Of course, WT will be along shortly to repeat that AA "absolutely must start flying larger airplanes" just because. B)

 

[FWAAA]

If the JAL-AMR anti-trust application gets approved, the NRT and HND moves might make sense.

I may be wrong, but isn't the AA-JAL ATI deal and USA-Japan Open Skies treaty a done deal since late October or are they still awaiting some approvals?

 

[commavia]

Today I heard this from a check airman.

We are getting 12 777-300's.
The announcement is within the next two weeks.
The simulators and manuals are being readied for the differences between the 777-200 and 777-300.

I, too, have heard from multiple people that this is, indeed, happening, and that an official announcement is, indeed, imminent. Getting -300s from JAL is questionable, though, since JAL only operates 7 -300s and 13 -300ERs, so if AA were to take 12 of anything, there wouldn't be enough -300s at JAL, and taking 12 -300ERs would wipe out JAL's entire premium longhaul fleet, which I don't see happening. I could foresee these -300ERs showing up on DFW-NRT, DFW-GRU, MIA-EZE, and maybe a few other dense routes, plus used for new growth markets currently outside the reach of AA's existing -200ERs, like MIA-JNB or DFW-HKG. Will be interesting to see ...

JFK-NRT is being moved to MIA...hence the need for 777-300's.
JFK-HND is doing poorly on sales and a decision will be made if this flight will be long term.

I have been hearing something to this effect for months - JFK losing a few flights per week, which would get shifted down to MIA-NRT. However, it sounds like what you heard was that JFK was losing its AA flight to NRT altogether?

MIA getting a nonstop link to NRT/Asia is not surprising - if well timed (I'd guess a roughly 1000 MIA departure and roughly 1900 MIA arrival) for Latin America, the flight should do quite well. However, as others have said, if the -300 rumor is, indeed, true, and MIA is, indeed, a driver of those aircraft, than it would need to be a -300ER, since a standard -300 couldn't do it without a severe penalty. Then again, they could operate MIA-NRT with the existing -200ERs, albeit with a smaller (relative to a -300) penalty.

As for JFK, the now-combined AA-JAL schedule doesn't really need 14 weekly flights JFK-NRT plus 7 JFK-HND. It's overkill. A daily JAL 777-300ER plus maybe 3-4x weekly AA 777 is probably enough. JFK-HND was doomed from the start. The schedule is absolutely awful, and I don't expect it to be around for long. It's really just a total waste of 1.5-2 good 777s worth of capacity that could be so much better utilized on, say, DFW-ICN or even ORD-DXB.

 

[Veritas]

I doubt it. They never hear me ask for extra cheese even when I'm leaning over the sneeze guard. 😛

That's because their attention span is fully occupied with the rumor mongers.