Originally Posted by
SkyGodKing
I'm starting to agree with Kirby that AA will dehub ORD. Two mid-America hubs seem excessive, and DFW already covers most, if not all, of ORD's routes and unlike ORD is actually profitable.
That's a bit of a cop-out. Sure, AA has assets, but what's the point if expenses consistently exceed revenue? We're approaching a situation where we can't generate enough to keep this machine running on it's own. If the economy takes a **** which is looking more likely than not and the over 65 crowd stops going on the Viking river cruises in business class, then what?
There was a post I read on Yahoo Finance discussing AA’s performance numbers in ORD. It’s a profitable hub. They do not lose money in ORD. LAX the graphic showed AA having better CASM than UA and DL, everyone lost money in LAX (lower RASM). Apparently we get absolutely smoked in NYC. They intentionally fly expensive LGA slots with RJ’s so they don’t have to invest in the market like DL has in JFK/LGA and UA has in EWR. Right now DL and UA are making out like bandits on premium travel in the NYC market. It’s probably why we’ve seen upgauging recently in NY, management following the trends after the fact once again. Btw I bet they continue to upgauge ORD and acquire some gates back.
As to your post about AA’s performance. Expenses exceed revenue in a few quarters but yearly AA makes a lousy profit. I’m not glazing the idea our cash flow is acceptable, but some individuals grossly exaggerate the situation.