Originally Posted by
SkyHighHobo
What if there was a new airline formed to fly so that any additional jobs were guaranteed to the AA pilots currently on furlough?
Or, how about a new carrier that has total costs less than Eagle, so that its cheaper for AMR to operate, thus increasing job stability for the current AA pilots. Heck, they could even transfer the CRJ's there to save some bucks..
Just sayin-
There was a thread on another board about creating a LCC within a legacy carrier and the reasons why it failed (Ted, Song, etc). If the LCC is integrated into the legacy carrier (MTX, pilots, FAs, gate agents, etc) then the total operating cost is the same or close to that of the legacy which negates the reason for the LCC. If you keep the companies separate then you have two separate structures of management, frontline labor, assets, etc which adds to the total cost again.
The second situation is basically what AMR does with Eagle currently, and they profit from it due to the very large cost gap between mainline and regional industries. Reducing that gap is what will allow APA to regain all flying whether it is from lowering the mainline costs, or increasing the regional costs.
If APA was serious about getting the furloughed guys off the street then they should look to AE ALPA to work out a way to add new airframes on the Eagle certificate, but offered first to AA furloughees. I doubt it will ever happen, FWIW