No frills American?

Seggy said:
Not sure what you are getting at here as you already have 4-5 different cost structures on the same leg.

Are you just regurgitating what Spirit Management is saying?
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Perhaps if you bothered to stay around for more than a month, you'd know exactly what management is saying.
 
wheelsup said:
If you don't take them seriously, they will be major competitors in several years.

Look at Europe and how the ULCC's have not only decimated the local markets, but are pushing into the trans-Atlantic routes as well.

AA has a good opportunity to leverage their network with higher capacity seating. You can still have two or three products, they certainly need to work on the first class experience but I think increasing seating capacity in their aircraft is the right way to go.
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There is a big difference though between the European culture and infrastructure that allows for ULCC to be successful. In Europe the ULCC facilitate second and third tier airports to a city. Do you think folks in New York City would be ok with SWF or ACY being marketed as New York area airports? How did ONT work out for ExpressJet Aquabrand dream as an alternate to LAX? Also, they have to get to these airports as there really isn't a public transportation system to get them there. Finally, frequency between markets is huge here. The ULCCs don't have the planes for that frequency.

I am not saying there isn't a market for ULCC, but will they grow here like in Europe? Doubtful. I think that the ticket tier pricing is a very good alternate though.
 
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I'm not sure you guys understand what AA is doing. They're not creating another Song/TED. They are adding a 'bare bones' fare to their fare structure. Delta did this last year. All they are doing is offering a cheap fare, one that is nonrefundable, doesn't allow seat selection, etc. One that more closely matches what the cheap fares at the (U)LCC's are offering.
 
scooter2525 said:
I see what you are saying. Delta/United created a different airline vs AA just competing with the ULCCs.

Doesn't seem like the TED/Song worked to compete, will AA be able to?
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Delta and United created TED and SONG for a variety of reasons, but they really didn't have to do with the ULCCs as they weren't around yet. TED and SONG was more of a push against JetBlue if anything.
 
Nark said:
Perhaps if you bothered to stay around for more than a month, you'd know exactly what management is saying.
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I knew on day one when they said 'we don't want to merge with anyone' was BS as they have little control over that. It is the institutional investors that control that. How did those 35 minute turns work out for them in IAH this summer? They LOVE that idea! To bad they have no clue how to deliver it.

All they are is typical airline management. They have little control of the price. A merger is being set up. Just sit back, relax, and be happy you have ALPA that will represent your interests in the merger when it gets to nut cutting time.
 
Nark said:
@Seggy you mean staple time?
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Oh yes

kristen-blog-1.jpg
 
The race to the bottom. AA has identified different strategies to compete with different market segments. It's sad that they didn't go the other way and try to compete on quality with the ME carriers, while pushing for regulatory efforts at the bottom end of the market.
 
This is just matching what delta has been doing on routes in their hubs. Spirit has become large enough in Dfw that AA is chosing not to ignore it. It's not a downgrade in service rather another tier in the fare structure. AA is banking on the fact that Spirit gets it's passengers because they are the cheapest, and for no other reason.
 
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