Originally Posted by
All Bizniz
Actually I'm not my friend. I've seen the Boeing lines. They are objectively worse than the Airbus!..... and ours are as bad as they are already.....
The Boeings are now doing most of the transcons the Airbus used to, but since its a much bigger fleet than ours, proportional to your total flying, you guys are still doing a lot of short hops too..
Whether it's the Airbus or the Boeing doing the majority of the short hops, the point I was trying to make is that compared to the other Major airlines, AS route structure overall is more regional in focus.
My takeaway from the Kool-Aid series, was that they want to own and defend the PNW and now CA with the acquisition of VX, although as they are seeing, the CA market is proving MUCH tougher than they expected....
And apparently, they have lost a LOT of the traction they inherited on the transcons, which was VX's most profitable routes. It seems they thought that by coming in and doing it the AS way, and putting the "superior" Boeings on our transcons, they would win the hearts and minds of the CA flying public. Well, the proof of the pudding was in the eating and the folks did not like the taste, so they decided to take their business to American, JetBlue, United and Delta.....
Historically, AS has not spent the time, energy or other resources to build out the rest of the US like how the other airlines have. Their strength is in their PNW regional network....anything else and we are just a small carrier trying to fake it, till we make it..
We as AS pilots are all collectively doing what we need to, to contribute to this success..... hopefully management is recognizing the deficiencies that exist and are not too myopic, to not make the required adjustments...
You guys keep talking about how poorly we’re performing but our upcoming Q2 projections have been increased twice. Everything I’m reading says we’re starting to outperform our expectations. I think we’re gonna be just fine.
You say “Historically” AS hasn’t spent the time to develop outside the PNW. After 9/11, AS was one of the ONLY airlines to develop their route structure and build their network. Expanding to the East Coast and eventually HI. From ‘13-‘18, AS has grown more than most other airlines in the country. Yes, there have been cut backs on unprofitable routes but there has also been added frequency to many East Coast routes and HI recently. To the chagrin of many who enjoyed 24 overnights in some of those places. (cue the boo hiss section regarding 24 hr overnights).
I don’t think AS inherited any traction on transcons, nor was that their intention. They bought gates. That’s about it. Was that a waste of resources? Yes in every sense. To you and I, it seems they could have done much more with the acquisition but we’re not in charge.
As far as those Koolaid sessions you speak of, I had to think for a minute about what you meant. I realize you’re referring to flight path. Those snake oil conventions are so unremarkable I forgot all about it. Most companies do them and most employees don’t give it a second thought.
Anyways, AS and JB are very similar companies.