Worldtraveler.
I agree with many of your view points.
Totally agree that AA needs to get serious
about competing with DL and UA if AA is going
to make it.
My only question to you is how to address senior
managements actions when it comes to their executive
compensations. AA lost close to $400 million last year
and a select few are getting $35 million as a reward
for such a dismall performance. I know $35 million is
a drop in a sea of water. But what this actions does to the moral
of tens of thousands of employees that have
sacrifice a lot for this company is beyond words.
Just because the board of directors approve these rewards
does not mean that they have to take it.
Not if they where serious about improving labor ralations at AA.
I agree that AA employees have fair better than other employees
that have gone thru the bankruptcy process.
I'm glad you asked what I think needs to be done... despite what some people might think, I genuinely am interested in seeing AA turn around - and I do have my thoughts on how that should take place. Unfortunately, I am in the middle of a grueling travel schedule - but I am hoping that I can take a break next week and post some of my thoughts.....
I will add that the continued notion that AA employees have fared better than other airline employees is becoming more legend than reality.... other airline employees are now earning profit sharing and the only reason AA employees show such high average salaries is because AA is not growing... yet, other airlines are paying their employees as well if not better and have indeed "made up for" the cuts that were imposed in BK - not the least of which was the stock issuances that were made post-BK; many posters here look at the cuts within BK without factoring in the "paybacks" that were indeed made after the fact.... of course they also don't want to look at the "paybacks" that AA gave (stock issuance) because in reality AA's paybacks were far less valuable.
That's not a dig of AA - but again just part of the reality that AA's turnaround plAAn wasn't as good as what other carriers accomplished - inside BK.
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Redhead,
if the notion that AA will acquire dozens of new aircraft is rooted in the notion that AA will add a half dozen new transpac routes from LAX, I can assure you that the rumors are completely false. LAX is one of the most competitive gateways acrtoss the Pacific; while it is true that US carriers have an unusually small share of the transpac market, the Asian carriers have much lower costs and deeply entrenched positions - with the majority of the market is local LAX passengers - where US carriers have alot less control than they do from other gateways where they can funnel alot more passengers onto their flights.
AA is in the most unlikely position to attack those realities - the industry's highest costs, the smallest position in Asia (it would be alot easier to develop LAX by a carrier that already has a strong position in Asia from other gateways), and with the smallest transpac alliance - which can go a long way to helping overcome some of those obstacles.
Your predicitons take a hit as every day passes withouth a press release from AA substantiating your predicitons - as you well know.
While I expect AA will turn things around, I don't think multiple new LAX-Asia flights will do it.
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If AA bought 773ERs without pilot pay scales for the aircraft, then you can bet the pilots will use that error to APA's advantage.
