I don’t think so. Yes, I’m dancing around the edges of my no commenting on the merger restrictions, but I think this is worth a post. What am I talking about? The perception, worry, fretting, downright fearful thoughts that the positive things American Airlines has accomplished with customer experience in the last year or 2 are about to be rolled back to the dark ages. While I can’t allow myself to think that nothing is going to change, I think some of the worry is overblown.
US Airways is not American Airlines (and vice versa), and the new managers know it. Somehow they took the cobbled-together airline that was US Airways, and made it work. Were there missteps along the way? There sure were, but I believe the relatively reliable airline that US Airways has evolved into offers a glimmer of hope for the future. Admittedly, I am a glass half full kind of guy, but I am convinced the new managers understand the task ahead of them, and get the fact that they are going to be leading a much larger, stronger, and hopefully better airline. The revenue vs. cost equation will change with the merged airline, and maintaining a revenue premium will be important to the airline’s success. I think they did what they had to do with US Airways, and now that they are merging with American, are well aware that the new airline will need to be managed differently than US alone.
The new leadership at American has the advantage of going last, and learning from the mistakes of others as well as their own. In keeping with my prior “Three Things” posts that I hope will and will not change about the new AAdvantage program, look for my “Three Things That Almost Certainly Will Change at the New American” post next week.
-MJ, November 15, 2013
If the story (posted in this thread by sendaiben) about the dog, the blind guy and the passenger revolt) are any indication, US Air/American is likely to be pretty awful.
There will end up being two levels of competition going on…..Delta and United with Delta a clear winner in but in seat miles……….and then another level of minimalist airframe time……..Southwest going up and American going down will battle here with Southwest a decisive winner………….just saying…………
My suggestion: lose the ongoing “non-disclaimer disclaimer” statement.
I mean no offense. I enjoy your posts. But this merger thing is not going away, and your “no comment” prefacing is likely much more important to you than us. Your thoughts are more important than your self-imposed “rule” that you keep running into.
Just get on with your message/thoughts. Otherwise you sound like a politician. Stop equivocating.
Let’s move on with your valuable thoughts.
Is this the new American:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/11/14/245276540/removal-of-blind-man-service-dog-from-flight-sparks-outrage
An amusing, ‘don’t say much’ post. Experience has taught us that there will be some bumps ahead. With their own experiences and the opportunity to observe a couple of other mega-mergers in recent years, perhaps US and Amerikan can avoid some of those problems. Melding schedules and fleets and works groups into one happy family will NOT happen overnight. A significant number of front-line employee groups (try pilots and FAs) are going to get screwed. Only time will report success and I hope that those numbers are small. What will soon become the world’s largest airline needs a stiff rudder.… Read more »
exactly as you predict. the big 3 going forward will be NWdbaDL, COdbaUA, and USdbaAA. their cost structures and product quality are simply too far apart to have synergy.