Originally Posted by
FlyGuy2021
Some markets will be profitable for XLRs, others will not. The biggest difference is cargo. AA Cargo is doing really well right now. Places like London Heathrow do not make money on aircraft from the US that do not have a ton of cargo. JetBlue is losing money on Heathrow flying as a result of no cargo.
The XLR's will have a lot of premium seats. If we can fill them with paying passengers, they will be a great addition for AA. Look for places that we currently do not serve. PHL/JFK to Shannon, Edinburgh, Cologne, etc... Also, some wide body flying doesnt make sense to do it all year on a 777/787, so seasonal routes will play a big part as well. A 787 out of PHL in the busy months, and a 321XLR in the slower months when that 787 is utilized elsewhere.
Cargo is not as important as you are making it out to be. Not trying to be a jerk, but I am trying to quantify, “cargo is doing really well” in that sure relative to 10 years ago it is doing well, but as a money maker, it made less than the interest they earned on our cash on hand. For the 3rd qtr, cargo generated 193M in revenue, out of 13.4B in revenue or 1.4% of total revenue. It’s nice to have, sure, but it accounts for less than 1.5% of quarterly revenue.