From my understanding they said they had no intention of getting rid of Hawaiian's airbuses. Granted they said the same with VA initially. But if AS truly wants to become a national airline this is their chance. The other legacies all operate a mixed fleet and for good reason. Spirit gives them true coast to coast and a network including the Caribbean and South America flying.

 

Wouldn't surprise me. JetBlue's financial situation is only lagging Spirit by a couple of years. They're in a merge or die situation as well, it just isn't as apparent yet.

 

VA was their chance. Then they shut it down quickly. It’s anybody’s guess as to what they really do this time, but they seem to be quite content being a PNW airline.

 

Sounds like I struck a nerve. 😂

Jesus dude, I'm just stating the obvious. Jetblue needs a dance partner bad, and like Spirit, they haven't turned a profit since 2019. Yeah, AAL isn't as profitable as DAL or UAL, we all know that, and they're paying down their debt, but they did turn a $600 million profit last quarter. I also beg to differ when it comes to the first class product.

As far as my 832 posts go, that's since 2013. Over 12 years, that's a whopping 0.18 posts per day. I have a pretty great life and happily married, thanks for the concern though. 😂

 

If I had to bet, long term future of AS goes down to NG/MAXes and Dreamliners.

 

“English M’fer, do you speak it”

 

Ehh, ego isn’t big enough to care about the swipe at the current employer (AA), but for the sake of the spirit guys looking for a place to land:

AA is very different airline than B6. Despite the neglect, they do have an international presence and some name recognition. Did they screw the pooch getting rid of the 75/76 and 330 fleets during Covid? Yeah, sure looks like it. Are they slowly rectifying that with XLR and 787 deliveries? Also yes.

Is there too much of a sun belt/domestic tilt given the current yield environment? Yes. Does it look like they tried to be the international LCC after pulling fares from GDS? Yeah. Are they rectifying that? Seems to be yes with the firing of Vasu and the re-engagement in ORD and NYC.

Is there also a lot of debt? Yeah, definitely. Are they paying it down? Yeah. They seem to want to be disciplined going forward. Who was the architect? Kirby. What’s he doing at UA? United next looks pretty similar, maybe bigger. Leverage is awesome when you’re making money. Really sucks when you aren’t or are sliding sideways. Hopefully his instincts are correct this time. Kinda hobbled us, though.

As far as the CEO? Yeah, he’s “meh”, but he’s finally steering the ship in the right direction. Better late than never, I guess. Seems pretty concerned with the things that drive pax nuts, like misconnects and mishandled baggage. Also seems concerned with making money.

Does our contract lag DL and UA in some areas? Certainly yes. Stop by the AA sub if you want the low down. Short version is seniority matters a lot. We’ve got a few nice things, too, though, like “sick if needed” on reserve and a reservable jumpseat with a “one shot, any method” commuter clause.

AA has its challenges, for sure. There’s reason for concern, but not panic. We’re running classes and we’ve still got a ton of retirements. So does UA, of course. Don’t let the trolls convince you to avoid applying. I don’t think AA is going anywhere any time soon. Same for any other legacy.

And also, our first class product holds up fine when the number one FA cooperates. As a former gov traveler that routinely got upgrades on all 3, I miss the screens, but not enough to care if I’m looking at a convenient flight. We’ve got a new FA contract. AFAIK, AFA recently rejected theirs.

 

All Alaska wants to be is a primarily PNW airline that flys to a few international destinations from Seattle. In ten years the fleet is most likely 737/787, that’s if the the international experiment isn’t a giant flop.

 

Does it constitute a flop if it breaks even or attracts mileage members? The Hawaii route cutting seemed overreactive for BOS and ICN, but they are not the PNW after all.

 

The demographics in the Pacific Northwest are definitely different than the demographics in other parts of the country. I think Alaska knows what it’s doing and knows what it doesn’t want to do.