[P]
[BLOCKQUOTE][BR]----------------[BR]On 9/25/2002 10
48 AM KCFlyer wrote:[BR]AA's problem wasn't that they matched fares - it was that they matched fares and the increased frequency, both of which disappeared about the same time that the smaller carrier ceded the market to AA. [BR][BR]Notice that they didn't mention Legend in the article. AA's actions against Legend may have
looked predatory, but IMHO, those actions were purely competitive. [BR][BR]Delta does a pretty nice job of matching AirTran's prices on competing routes out of ATL, but they don't seem to flood the market with flights, only to pull them when the low cost threat backs away.
[P][/P]----------------[/BLOCKQUOTE]
[P]Yah....The crux of the problem is as follows:[/P]
[P]AA does not serve A to B or serves A to B using 34 seat SF-340s (3x daily) at $250 a seat.[/P]
[P]Carrier X announces 737 service between A and B (4x daily) at $99 a seat.[/P]
[P]The day after the announcement, AA announces service from A to B using 140 seat MD-82s (5x daily) at $99 a seat.[/P]
[P]The battle rages for four months. After that time, Carrier X announces cessation of A to B service.[/P]
[P]A week later, AA quietly announces, or does not even announce, the cessation of A to B service or reduces service back to 3x SF-340 flights, and, at the same time, raises fares back to $250 a seat.[/P]