Originally Posted by
buddies8
I fail to see where APA mentions A320 and E190's that are replacing AE flying which is the same as replacing AA flying. Seems when you have a known dog to kick around just keep kicking the same dog (AE). APA now has West Jet with JB interline agreement with AA. Wait and see how some known AE and AA routes start appearing as West Jet and JetBlue flight. BOS-DCA is JB, BOS-RDU is in NOV JB. APA is short on insight. AA will allow AE to be replaced on routes by JB and West Jet and AE will move aircraft over and replace AA mainline flying. Yeap, keep kicking the little dog.
Oh, I still forcast that AA will have an interline agreement with Frontier in the next three months. GO APA.
Option Three: Get Narrow-Body Aircraft Into Eagle Livery.
What all thismeans is that AA is facing a crossroads where itmust
deal with an Eagle fleet that is economically deteriorating, and
an AA fleet that needs new-generation 90- to 120-seat airliners.
Mainline American, to its credit, has a major fleet renewal
program, but the absence of any airliners in this size range is
glaring, and for APA members, it’s a red flag. When a new fleet
in that size range is ordered, it’s entirely possible that the intent
will be to have the word “Eagle” painted on the fuselage, and
Eagle crews in the cockpit. And unlike the CRJs and ERJs, these
will be mainline airliners, with cabins and operational missions
that approximate those of Super-80s. (Or, for comparison
purposes, the F-100s that AA retired a few years ago.)
This is where management may propose to fix the capacity
gap by purchasing new 90- to 120-seat jets, with the intention of
“re-fleeting” American Eagle. These may be Embraer 190/195s,
Mitsubishi MRJs or even Russian-built Sukhoi SRJs. Possibly, the
proposalmight be even for a fleet of Bombardier C-Series airliners,
a platform that starts at around 125 seats and might be stretched
to 160 or more. Regardless, this will signal turning Eagle into an
operator of mainline, narrow-body airliners.
Prepare for this: reality is that any fleet renewal plan at Eagle,
other than more CRJs, will probably be focused on new narrowbody
airliners in the 90- to 120-seat categories. The intention is to
operate them in markets and in mission applications now flown
by Super-80s and 737s. They are direct replacements for mainline
flying, regardless whether or not the name of the specific airplane
model has the now-meaningless term “regional” in it.
On the surface, the arguments will be quite compelling.
Watch for the headlines in Flagship News: These new airliners at
Eagle will increase feed to mainline AA at DFW and ORD and
MIA! They will make AA as a system more competitive as other
airlines merge and consolidate! The addition of these larger jets
to the Eagle fleet will result in more job security for all!
Of course, just a look at the fact that AA departures at
ORD are now 63 percent Eagle-operated makes these arguments
entirely hollow. The intent is to continue outsourcing more
American Airlines flying to Eagle.