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AA Northeast Shuttle
Question:
>Is there anything US Air could do to prevent AA ? > What happened to the scarcity of landing slots at LGA and DCA? Have > airlines cut their schedules to the point that National and LaGuardia > no longer have to deal with too many planes trying to land > simultaneously? Or is AA cutting service to other cities in order to > free up slots for the shuttle flights?
The FAA has not reopened DCA to general aviation. This frees up a number of arrival/departure availabilities each hour. I doubt if you can call them "slots", since I doubt if they are guaranteed to be available like the slots each airline "owns". AA probably bets it can use these availabilities and that GA won’t be allowed back into DCA within the foreseeable future. US Air is probably not in a position to use them. I can’t think of another airline that would want to use them. Delta? Are airlines allowed to use GA slots?? Perhaps the feeder branches such a Eagle are. And AA is probably betting that they’ll drive US out of business and be able to buy enough of its slots before GA is allowed back into DCA (even if that ever happens). Bob C.
Response:
<What happened to the scarcity of landing slots at LGA and DCA? Have airlines cut their schedules to the point that National and LaGuardia no longer have to deal with too many planes trying to land simultaneously? Or is AA cutting service to other cities in order to free up slots for the shuttle flights?> The slots and planes for this new shuttle come from airports like PVD. AAEA now uses Saabs for the 3 JFK flights and the 5 LGA flights are now gone. Both JFK and LGA had a combination of 135’s and 145’s. These flights were well utilized by the Providence market. Just shows AA’s continued growth at BOS.
Response:
>Is there anything US Air could do to prevent AA ?
What happened to the scarcity of landing slots at LGA and DCA? Have airlines cut their schedules to the point that National and LaGuardia no longer have to deal with too many planes trying to land simultaneously? Or is AA cutting service to other cities in order to free up slots for the shuttle flights?
Response:
Just checking the prices on Orbitz and Expedia. Seems everything’s locked into the same $236 RT. A lot of fares on AA’s site are $340 or $450 though. I’m not convinced that $236 RT from LGA to DCA is going to turn a real profit. John Fernandez
Response:
I do 5 to 10 shuttle flights a month. RJ’s are nice, but I’ll take a 319 or 320 over one any day. Being that Logan is a quasi hub for AA they’ll get all the AA FF’s that used to use the US or Delta Shuttles. I don’t see it having too much of an effect. ’Course I’ve been wrong before…. J
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> Delta and US Airways use large airliners, while American plans to > use smaller but more economical Embraer regional jets with 37 or 44 > seats. > Very smart move to open up a new route. I am surprised that they wouldn’t be > using their larger CRJ-700 flying skidoos. Perhaps they don’t have enough of them. > What this will do is put AA on the CRS with perhaps competitive frequencies > and if they can steal 30 passengers from US air, that is 30 fewer pax for US > air which might then not be able o sustain its shuttle flights. > Defenitely very agressive move on the part of AA, one might even say > anti-competitive since it is designed to drive US Air out of business.
Response:
> I also included the AA "shuttle" move. This AA move would seem to be a far > more serious threat. Shuttle ridership is well down already. The Shuttle > kept Eastern alive for many months as the airline failed. Sounds like AA > intends to finish US off quickly.
Is there anything US Air could do to prevent AA ? I get the impression that if the government does nothing, it is tantamount to admitting that US Air has no hope and letting the eagles feast on the remains of US Air. has the US government given any money to US Air yet ? If so, they would have a vested interest in help US Air survive, and that would include telling AA to wait until US Air is healthier before pouncing on it.
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The AA decision is great, I think. ERJ’s should make it cheaper, and give a reasonable way to get to Logan from Manhattan, flying American. Otherwise, have to go from JFK, which is much more annoying. John Fernandez
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> has the US government given any money to US Air yet ? If so, they would have a
other than the shut down money, no. The stabilisation board *only* guarantees loans, so no money is paid out unless the airline defaults.
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> The AA decision is great, I think. ERJ’s should make it cheaper, and give a > reasonable way to get to Logan from Manhattan, flying American. Otherwise, have > to go from JFK, which is much more annoying.
You could fly AA-Eagle from LGA to Logan 
) Yeh, I know what you meant.
Response:
> > has the US government given any money to US Air yet ? If so, they would have a > other than the shut down money, no. The stabilisation board *only* > guarantees loans, so no money is paid out unless the airline defaults.
IIRC, Uncle Sugar has demanded that the US Air slots at DCA and LGA be put up as collateral. Even in today’s market, they would likely bring Big Bux. Maybe they would have to be rented out for a while to allow the market to improve.
Response:
> Delta and US Airways use large airliners, while American plans to > use smaller but more economical Embraer regional jets with 37 or 44 > seats. > Very smart move to open up a new route. I am surprised that they wouldn’t be > using their larger CRJ-700 flying skidoos. Perhaps they don’t have enough of them. > What this will do is put AA on the CRS with perhaps competitive frequencies > and if they can steal 30 passengers from US air, that is 30 fewer pax for US > air which might then not be able to sustain its shuttle flights.
Size probably depends on what planes AA has and what their initial guess for ridership is. > Defenitely very agressive move on the part of AA, one might even say > anti-competitive since it is designed to drive US Air out of business.
American _never_ does anticompetitive things. Surely not at Love Field Dallas against what was that now-defunct airline…. Earlier today I posted a link to a news story in which the Pres of USAir complained that Delta was trying to drive US out of business by sharing frequent flyer credit with United. I also included the AA "shuttle" move. This AA move would seem to be a far more serious threat. Shuttle ridership is well down already. The Shuttle kept Eastern alive for many months as the airline failed. Sounds like AA intends to finish US off quickly.
Response:
One month after announcing it was laying off 7,000 employees and reducing flights, American Airlines is starting a new Northeast Corridor shuttle service to compete with two other shuttles. American will start 10 weekday round-trip flights between New York’s LaGuardia Airport and Boston’s Logan Airport beginning Tuesday, and add 10 roundtrip flights between LaGuardia and Washington’s Ronald Reagan National beginning Oct. 1, said Tara Baten, a spokeswoman for American parent company AMR Corp. The decision for the new service was based on customer requests, and the company saw an opportunity to boost revenue, she said Wednesday. She would not say what the fare would be on the shuttle, operated by the airline’s regional American Eagle. A walk-up, one-way ticket from New York to Boston or Washington on the Delta Air Lines and US Airways shuttles costs about $226. Delta and US Airways use large airliners, while American plans to use smaller but more economical Embraer regional jets with 37 or 44 seats. A month ago, American announced the 7,000 job cuts. The company, which lost two planes in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, already had said it was cutting 20,000 jobs. It has lost $2.8 billion since the beginning of last year.
Response:
> Delta and US Airways use large airliners, while American plans to > use smaller but more economical Embraer regional jets with 37 or 44 > seats.
Very smart move to open up a new route. I am surprised that they wouldn’t be using their larger CRJ-700 flying skidoos. Perhaps they don’t have enough of them. What this will do is put AA on the CRS with perhaps competitive frequencies and if they can steal 30 passengers from US air, that is 30 fewer pax for US air which might then not be able o sustain its shuttle flights. Defenitely very agressive move on the part of AA, one might even say anti-competitive since it is designed to drive US Air out of business.