I swear we must be the last miserable bastards using dot matrix.

That said, I used a laser printer in SFO ops a few years ago and griped for days about how the paper didn't fold right. And the next time I was in there, both laser printers were down.

You Can't Kill a dot-matrix printer.

 

Would be nice if we could sync out schedules using a program on our iPad. Check in at the crew rooms using the wifi there and unique IP. No more printing needed.

 

It would be nice if we could just upload the release paperwork and print the parts we want to write on...the rest being available to read on the iPad.

 

Think the language for virtual bases has been in the green book for awhile, or they already have them, so don't see this as something new or fast tracked.

Releases on the ipad are coming supposedly.....baby steps for the old guys not used to the technology. GOGO already has the ability to setup crew wifi, I would imagine allowing access to only certain websites etc.....just a matter of getting it approved. Think JB already or soon will have wx overlays on jep pro etc...

Same with the releases, ultimate idea is, u turn it on at the gate and it shows up on your ipad......

 

I have heard, not confirmed, that AAG owns alot of those slots that JetBlue is using. Perhaps when the lease agreement ends, we take them back and BOS once again becomes a bustling AA/US hub. Could put a hurt on JetBlue.

 

Except BOS isn't slot controlled... So, there's that.

 

A look at Parker's track record with regard to crew bases might be worthwhile when pondering the fate of BOS.

Since taking over the combined US/AW almost a decade ago, he has closed four crew bases; PIT, LGA, LAS, and US BOS.

Parker doesn't like multiple crew bases.

He has cut the number of US/AW bases from eight to four.

Parker doesn't like small crew bases.

AA BOS is now a small crew base; a skeleton of what it once was. Like US BOS, it has cut way back on its point-to-point flights. Like US, most BOS departures are now just to AA hubs (PHL, CLT, and PHX, plus the Shuttle to LGA and DCA for US; DFW, ORD, MIA, and LAX for AA). Like US, AA has abandoned most of its international flying out of BOS, handing LHR to BA and SJU and the Caribbean to B6 (but maintaining the seasonal CDG flight).

Parker doesn't like redundant crew bases near other crew bases.

PIT, BOS, and LGA were too close to PHL and DCA; LAS was too close to PHX. AA BOS is right up the street from a much bigger AA NYC base than US had, and again, just an hour's flight time from PHL.

Parker doesn't like expensive crew bases.

Employee parking at PHL is $15 a month per head. At BOS it's somewhere around $100. And apparently, LUS management found it less expensive to RON dozens of crews a night in BOS hotels, many of them long RON's to protect the early morning Shuttle and hub departures, than to pay Massport the rent for office space and employee parking. (AA does now reimburse US pilots for out-of-base parking, but only up to a maximum of $65 a month.)

This is not to speculate as to the fate of the AA BOS base; rather just to reflect back upon Parker's disposition of several US/AW crew bases since becoming CEO of the combined companies.

 

I would love to see the hotel bill for all the BOS overnights on the US side. Every night there is about 20 US planes there. Can't believe it isn't a crew base now.

 

I have no info one way of another, but I'm cautiously optimistic based on the combined market share of AA and US.

The 2011 numbers were JB with 26.8% of passengers and US/AA combined with 25.5%. DL was around 11%.

Who knows what Parker will do. Hard to believe he would trash that much of a market share. BOS isn't PIT or LAS with other connecting hubs nearby. Plenty of originating traffic with plenty of FF miles in their accounts.

 

What destinations does AA/US serve from BOS that are non hub cities(hubs being: JFK/LGA/PHL/DCA/CLT/MIA/ORD/DFW/PHX/LAX)? I know US used to have a lot of upstate NY from BOS, but is that still there?