American Airlines files for bankruptcy protection

Assassin · #1 29.11.2011, 14:02

The only of the American major airlines never to have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection has now done so:

http://money.cnn.com/2011/11/29/news....htm?hpt=hp_t3

One would presume that more or less normal flight operations will continue for now. Begs to ask how their existing new Boeing orders will hold up.

puddycat · #2 29.11.2011, 14:42

Funny. I would have expected United to go down first

How does this work?

KeinFranzösisch · #3 29.11.2011, 15:02

"major airline" is subjective. I'm curious to know what criteria are they using.

Southwest Airlines never filed either, and I'd say it's a "major" airline within the US. They've been around a long time and probably pioneered the "no frills" flying scheme.

Jobsrobertsharpii · #4 29.11.2011, 15:06

	Quote:	KeinFranzösisch
	"major airline" is subjective. I'm curious to know what criteria are they using. Southwest Airlines never filed either, and I'd say it's a "major" airline within the US. They've been around a long time and probably pioneered the "no frills" flying scheme.

I think that SW has only recently established 'Big Boy' status (past 5[?] years or so) and that might be the cutoff criterion...

Jobsrobertsharpii · #5 29.11.2011, 15:07

	Quote:	Assassin
	The only of the American major airlines never to have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection has now done so: http://money.cnn.com/2011/11/29/news....htm?hpt=hp_t3 One would presume that more or less normal flight operations will continue for now. Begs to ask how their existing new Boeing orders will hold up.

Aaannnnddd I've got some FF miles up for sale...

just kidding

dino · #6 29.11.2011, 16:38

Bankruptcy is but a rite of passage for airlines in the US... I can't decide if they are better than the american auto manufacturers.

ThomasT · #7 29.11.2011, 16:54

Sorry to hear that. They're a fine airline with great people working for them.

poptart · #8 29.11.2011, 18:55

Maybe it's because I'm old enough to have flown in the days before cattle class and remember the days when American was a decent carrier but after flying american out of Zurich this autumn, I have to say I was deeply underwhelmed with what the airline has/had become. The flight attendants were great, but the overall experience wasn't. I'm not surprised at all that they've gone chap 11.

And Southwest is a major US carrier, especially now that they're starting to get routes out of major hubs in the US. None of the US carriers have 'frills' for the cattle class anymore so, if you're going to have no frills, you may as well go with the $99 fares and friendly service they offer rather than the rest.

cannut · #9 29.11.2011, 19:05

	Quote:	Assassin
	The only of the American major airlines never to have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection has now done so: http://money.cnn.com/2011/11/29/news....htm?hpt=hp_t3 *One would presume that more or less normal flight operations will continue* *for now*. Begs to ask how their existing new Boeing orders will hold up.

I hope so just yesterday I booked a flight to San Diego

cannut · #10 29.11.2011, 19:11

	Quote:	poptart
	Maybe it's because I'm old enough to have flown in the days before *cattle* class and remember the days when American was a decent carrier but after flying american out of Zurich this autumn, I have to say I was deeply underwhelmed with what the airline has/had become. The flight attendants were great, but the overall experience wasn't. I'm not surprised at all that they've gone chap 11. And Southwest is a major US carrier, especially now that they're starting to get routes out of major hubs in the US. None of the US carriers have 'frills' for the cattle class anymore so, if you're going to have no frills, you may as well go with the $99 fares and friendly service they offer rather than the rest.

Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhh don`t say Cattle anymore I change flights in Chicago

poptart · #11 29.11.2011, 19:19

	Quote:	cannut
	Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhh don`t say Cattle anymore I change flights in Chicago

Just think of it as a great big bus in the sky only with a smaller loo and a slightly higher class of folks. Moo...

If you want frills, fly Virgin or Delta. American is cheap, but you pay in other ways....

Wallabies · #12 29.11.2011, 19:25

This does not surprise me given the quality of customer service of this airline or more correctly lack thereof. They are the only airline I have ever had cancel a flight in New York in January and tell the entire flight to sort themselves out and to wait for when they could sort themselves out.

Impact was I had to organise my own accomodation at my own cost with no help of any sort. Then over the next 24 hours numerous calls to find out what they were doing. All this when the airport was operating noramlly.

Then arrived in Paris 48hours late to have TGV organise a replacement train and accomodation on the spot.

Total contrast in service quality between these organisations. If american airlines is in trouble they will easliy be replaced by one of the Arab airlines who are by some margin the best in the world. American airlines is now starting to see the results of years of cost cutting and poor service.

cannut · #13 29.11.2011, 19:35

	Quote:	poptart
	Just think of it as a great big bus in the sky only with a smaller loo and a slightly higher class of folks. Moo... If you want frills, fly Virgin or Delta. American is cheap, but you pay in other ways....

What I am getting at is , the big meat packers are in Chicago

I think I am in trouble

edot · #14 29.11.2011, 19:43

	Quote:	poptart
	And Southwest is a major US carrier, especially now that they're starting to get routes out of major hubs in the US. None of the US carriers have 'frills' for the cattle class anymore so, if you're going to have no frills, you may as well go with the $99 fares and friendly service they offer rather than the rest.

Friendly service on SW? Huh. Not in my experience. Rudest flight attendants, appallingly drunk passengers. But of course, YMMV.

I flew Jet Blue last time I was in the US and they weren't bad. Reasonable price, too.

I've flown the ZRH-JFK flight on AA several times. I'd rather go through Heathrow, to be honest - the creaky 767 is definitely uncomfortable.

poptart · #15 29.11.2011, 19:50

	Quote:	edot
	Friendly service on SW? Huh. Not in my experience. Rudest flight attendants, appallingly drunk passengers. But of course, YMMV.

LOL, did you fly out of Vegas?

Their service can be pretty variable but, for $99 what do you want? It's not like it's the BA concorde...which I have to admit was one of the best flights I ever had....but it cost a lot more than $99. You get what you pay for.

FCBarca · #16 29.11.2011, 20:35

United, American, Delta, Northwest etc. are all terrible airlines run by similarly corrupt corporate fatcats...American taxpayers will continue to flip the bill for a never improving industry

Right now, it's technology & warring - those are the two remaining titans of American industry atm...everything else is substandard

jrspet · #17 29.11.2011, 20:35

They claim the Miles are secure:

	Quote:
	Dear AAdvantage® Member, As you may know, on Tuesday, November 29, American Airlines filed for reorganization under Chapter 11. We took this action as part of our efforts to secure our long-term success in delivering the highest standards in air travel. We are committed to meeting your travel needs with outstanding customer service and safety, and it will be business as usual at American throughout our reorganization process. More than 80,000 people at American appreciate your loyalty and look forward to continuing to serve you. We want to assure you that your AAdvantage® miles are secure. The AAdvantage miles that you have earned are yours and will stay yours, subject to usual policies, until you choose to redeem them for a great award with us. Likewise, your elite qualifying miles and your elite status, including lifetime status granted under the Million MilerSM program is secure and remains intact. You will continue to earn miles through all our existing AAdvantage participating companies and you will be able to redeem those miles for the same great awards — flights, upgrades, car rentals and hotels just to name a few. And, throughout the coming year, we will be adding even more opportunities to earn miles, as well as new ways to redeem those miles. American is honoring all tickets and reservations as usual, and making normal refunds and exchanges. And, we intend to maintain a strong presence in domestic and international markets. As we and all airlines routinely do, we will continue to evaluate our operations and service, assuring that our network is as efficient and productive as possible. Additionally, relationships with our oneworld Alliance and other codeshare partners are continuing to provide you with opportunities to earn and redeem miles for travel to Maya Leibmanhundreds of hundreds of destinations worldwide, and we are honoring all tickets and reservations for travel on our partner airlines as usual. For information about American's reorganization process, please visit AA.com/restructuring. Even more importantly, we remain committed to providing a superior customer experience with a focus on delivering what our customers value most — the newest fleet with our upcoming aircraft deliveries, network strength in the important cities of the world and world-class products, service and technology. American Airlines has a proud history, and we will have a successful future. All of us on the American team thank you for your loyalty and we look forward to welcoming you aboard soon. Sincerely, Maya Leibman President — AAdvantage Loyalty Program

edot · #18 29.11.2011, 20:45

	Quote:	poptart
	LOL, did you fly out of Vegas? Their service can be pretty variable but, for $99 what do you want? It's not like it's the BA concorde...which I have to admit was one of the best flights I ever had....but it cost a lot more than $99. You get what you pay for.

Phoenix, AZ. True, you do get what you pay for... though I think I paid more than $99.

Assassin · #19 29.11.2011, 20:50

The difference between AA, Delta, Northwest and United for example, is that they are so called "legacy airlines", established before deregulation in the 1970s. Along with other mammoths like Eastern, Pan Am & TWA, they all gained route licenses handed out by the government. When deregulation opened up the skies there were a host of newbie start ups which included (amongst many, many others, Southwest, PSA, ValuJet, Braniff etc.). Only Southwest managed to start independent and profitable whilst all the others buckled under, merged or just kept on changing identities.

Stay tuned. I'm sure that Wolli will come and give you all a bit more aviation history from the archives. He is the guy BTW who helped to compile the world's most accurate airline fleet listings for many years and is (in the real world) a veritable authority on airlines and their airplane equipment.

Castro · #20 29.11.2011, 20:58

AA ZH to NYC was probably the worst flight > 5 hours I've ever taken (beaten only by a Monarch charter to Tunisia

). Ancient aircraft, dirty, threadbare seats (the foam was sticking out of the seat next to me), unedible food e.g. rubbery chicken with glutinous polenta, followed by a long life pastry in a sealed bag

Then there is the entertainment system, rows of 80's style screens with bad image burn showing the same sacharine sweet schmaltz. All that would be bearable if the staff weren't so robotic, uncaring and shabby in their polyester uniforms. All they seem to do between services is sit in the galley glowering at passengers

Kevin Spacey is currently fronting their advertising campaign, and even first/business doesn't look that appealing.