An Interesting Week for American Airlines
In A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens said "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." That is almost an appropriate description of this past week for American Airlines. It was week of good news, and bad news.
The good news first.
American announced that "American Airlines, British Airways and Iberia signed a Joint Business Agreement (JBA) to cooperate on flights between North America and Europe, and announced that we plan to expand our global cooperation."
"Though our three airlines will continue to operate as separate legal entities – with our own fleets, employees and brands – we will cooperate more closely to improve travel choices, offer more convenient schedules and give customers more opportunities to earn and redeem frequent flyer miles."
What impact will this have? A huge impact for travelers making transatlantic flights. It will open up many new options for flights from America to Europe, and will also provide greater flexibility on flights within Europe. It will have no affect on flights within the United States.
When can travelers expect to see these benefits? "As a key first step, our three airlines – along with Finnair and Royal Jordanian, our transatlantic partners in the oneworld global alliance – plan to apply today with the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to receive global antitrust immunity."
The agreement will require approval from the United States and, I would think, also from the European Union. American can only say that these changes "will take some time to be implemented."
There is one point that AA does not address in their announcement. American AAdvantage members currently earn AAdvantage miles on all flights on British Airways except those between the US and Europe. Those flights compete directly with AA's service, so no are miles awarded on them. (Miles are awarded however on service between Canada and Europe.) Will this change when the new agreement is implemented? I have no idea.
The three airlines have set up a website with more information about the JBA. Moretravelchoices.com provides information about the proposal. Among the expected benefits to customers are:
In addition, American announced plans to purchase six Boeing 737-800 aircraft by 2010 as replacements for its aging fleet of MD-80s, which average 18 years of service. They will also ground their fleet of Airbus A-300 aircraft which also average 18 years of service.
The bad news for American came when the Federal Aviation Administration(FAA) announced a $7.1 million fine against American for maintenance problems and poor implementation of drug testing.
The FAA said that American knew that two MD-80 aircraft had defective auto-pilots, but flew the two aircraft 58 times before making the repairs.
The FAA is also seeking fines for against American for violating drug testing procedures involving several dozen flight attendants and other employees, only one of whom was a pilot.
This is the second largest fine ever assessed by the FAA; the largest being the $10.2 fine against Southwest Airlines in March, 2008 for improper maintenance procedures.
American says it will contest the fine.
"We do not agree with the FAA's findings and characterizations of American's action in these cases," the airline said. "In accordance with FAA procedures for handling these matters, we have requested to meet with the FAA after we have had time to thoroughly review their findings, so that we may discuss the issues. Since these matters are ongoing with the FAA, we will not have any further comment at this time."
The good news first.
American announced that "American Airlines, British Airways and Iberia signed a Joint Business Agreement (JBA) to cooperate on flights between North America and Europe, and announced that we plan to expand our global cooperation."
"Though our three airlines will continue to operate as separate legal entities – with our own fleets, employees and brands – we will cooperate more closely to improve travel choices, offer more convenient schedules and give customers more opportunities to earn and redeem frequent flyer miles."
What impact will this have? A huge impact for travelers making transatlantic flights. It will open up many new options for flights from America to Europe, and will also provide greater flexibility on flights within Europe. It will have no affect on flights within the United States.
When can travelers expect to see these benefits? "As a key first step, our three airlines – along with Finnair and Royal Jordanian, our transatlantic partners in the oneworld global alliance – plan to apply today with the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to receive global antitrust immunity."
The agreement will require approval from the United States and, I would think, also from the European Union. American can only say that these changes "will take some time to be implemented."
There is one point that AA does not address in their announcement. American AAdvantage members currently earn AAdvantage miles on all flights on British Airways except those between the US and Europe. Those flights compete directly with AA's service, so no are miles awarded on them. (Miles are awarded however on service between Canada and Europe.) Will this change when the new agreement is implemented? I have no idea.
The three airlines have set up a website with more information about the JBA. Moretravelchoices.com provides information about the proposal. Among the expected benefits to customers are:
- The combined route network would offer seamless service to approximately 443 destinations, in 106 countries, with 6,277 daily departures worldwide:
- Greater expected availability of lower fares and more routing choices.
- Discounts for corporate customers to more destinations and on more frequencies in a single contract.
- Expanded opportunities to earn and redeem frequent flyer miles and elite tier benefits on flights worldwide and continued reciprocal airport lounge access. Reinvigorated competition as the oneworld alliance would finally be allowed to compete on equal footing with other global air alliances that have longstanding immunities.
In addition, American announced plans to purchase six Boeing 737-800 aircraft by 2010 as replacements for its aging fleet of MD-80s, which average 18 years of service. They will also ground their fleet of Airbus A-300 aircraft which also average 18 years of service.
The bad news for American came when the Federal Aviation Administration(FAA) announced a $7.1 million fine against American for maintenance problems and poor implementation of drug testing.
The FAA said that American knew that two MD-80 aircraft had defective auto-pilots, but flew the two aircraft 58 times before making the repairs.
The FAA is also seeking fines for against American for violating drug testing procedures involving several dozen flight attendants and other employees, only one of whom was a pilot.
This is the second largest fine ever assessed by the FAA; the largest being the $10.2 fine against Southwest Airlines in March, 2008 for improper maintenance procedures.
American says it will contest the fine.
"We do not agree with the FAA's findings and characterizations of American's action in these cases," the airline said. "In accordance with FAA procedures for handling these matters, we have requested to meet with the FAA after we have had time to thoroughly review their findings, so that we may discuss the issues. Since these matters are ongoing with the FAA, we will not have any further comment at this time."
Labels: American Airlines, FAA
posted by Happy Flier | 1:30 PM
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