On Feb 14 US Airways and American Airlines announced their intentions to merge by October, 2013. I am not a huge fan of this merger. I don’t like the concentration of airlines in the USA, am not convinced that the merger will quickly fix some key AA issues and wonder what the result of merging two mediocre airlines. (I am not a huge fan of either carrier). This week, the two airlines appeared before the US Senate Judiciary Committee’s subcommittee on antitrust, competition policy and consumer rights for over two hours. It was noted that…
American Airlines
Tag Archives for American Airlines.
American -US Merger
While, I know its pretty much inevitable, I am not a fan of this $11 billion merger. We know that: Merger will be completed by October, 2013 American will be the world’s biggest airline It will have two per cent more air traffic than United Airlines AA will have 6,700 flights to 336 locations in 56 countries The airline will have 1000 planes The new workforce will be close to 100,000 AMR creditors will own 72% of the combined airline and US Airways the other 28% of the ownership The American Airlines name will…
American Airlines New Livery
American Airlines has been using the same logo and aircraft livery for more than 40 years. The AA symbol, for example, complete with eagle,was created by Massimo Vignelli in 1967. Last week they announced a complete revamp. The new image was created by FutureBrand with input from AA customers and employees. The AA Logo on the tail is gone There is a new stylised red and blue tail which American’s Chief Commercial Officer describes: “Our core colors — red, white and blue – have been updated to reflect a more vibrant and welcoming spirit. The new tail, with…
Mid East Air Alliances: Emirates, Etihad, Qatar
The recent Qantas -Emirates partnership agreement seems to be having a flow through effect with two major announcements today. One World Alliance has been set for a week now to announce a “significant membership development” today in NewYork. The alliance includes American Airlines, British Airways/Iberia, Cathay Pacific, LAN and Royal Jordanian. The shortlisted options are: Qatar Airways or Emirates. In the meantime, Etihad snuck in their own announcement today with a wide sweeping relationship with Air France-KLM. Etihad’s a major code-sharing arrangement is between itself and 30% owned Air Berlin (itself a new member of One World with Air France-KLM), a Skyteam founding member The code-sharing agreement is seen as…
Stop the Plane, I wanna get off
I knew I don’t like flying Air Asia for a reason. On Saturday 11th August, One of their flights from Miri in Sarawak state, Malaysia to Kuala Lumpur, the country’s capital was delayed for an hour when a man opened the emergency doors and leapt out of the plane just before take off. Other flights were also delayed. Fight passenger Siva Nathiran. said “The raft automatically opened. Other passengers started screaming. The plane was brought to a halt,” Flight attendants advised the captain who halted the flight (do the pilots know when a door is opened?). The passenger was arrested…
Not Wanting the Cheapest Fare?!
As a Qantas Frequent Flyer, there are some categories of American Airlines Coach tickets that earn me points and status credits. These are: GLMNSV Discount Economy and BHKY economy. Other fare classes do not earn me any points or status credits eg OQ. I don’t overly care about the points but Status Credits are important to me as I want to keep my priority check in, higher luggage allowance and lounge access. Often the difference in price between a Q and a N fare is very, very slight but the outcome is,of course, very different. The obvious…
An American -US Air merger- closer [updated]
American Airlines has bowed to pressure from creditors and is exploring merger options, having previously vowed to go it alone. This consideration makes the possibility much more real. Especially with the AA unions being so keen on a merger. Lots of logic for the move. It would create the second-largest airline in the United States in terms of operating revenue. US Airways plans to adopt the American Airlines name. The unions feel it would protect them. Not sure what it will do to customer service at the airline. I personally think AA has the worst in the USA (Business Insider said in 2011 that American Airlines is…
The D36 Connection
My flight from Miami to Dallas (AA 495) departed out of Gate D36 at Miami Airport. My connecting flight from Dallas to Vancouver departs from Gate D36 at Dallas Fort Worth Airport. How often does that sort of coincidence happen? Someone can probably work out the odds! It had me bemused! Related Posts: Buenos Aires, Argentina Argentinean Altercations
AA Bankruptcy Restructure- What does it mean? [Updated]
As I suggested on October 4, American Airlines has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. In its petition filed in New York, AMR reported assets of $24.72 billion and liabilities of $29.55 billion. The company has $4.1 billion in cash. They have lost about 50 billion dollars in the last decade. The bankruptcy will give the carrier the opportunity to reduces its debt levels. A chapter 11 filing allows for a reorganisation. The aim is to survive. What does this filing mean? Not much will change immediately. Existing ticket holders will find their tickets are honoured. Planes will still…
British Airways & Iberia PLUS American?
This week saw the first anniversary of a joint business agreement between American, Iberia and British. Under this agreement, the airlines agreed to co-operate commercially on flights between the United States, Mexico, Canada, the European Union, Switzerland and Norway. The agreement was backed up by anti trust immunity from US and European authorities. Shortly, after the agreement was signed, in January, 2011, Iberia and BA merged into a new company called IAG (international Airlines Group), Europe’s third largest airline group and the sixth largest in the world by revenue. The airlines have combined the strong BA Asian connections with Iberia’s…
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