FWAAA

According to Arpey, just moments ago, AA is very close to announcing a new competitive J class seat.

Good news!

How many years will it take until we can sit in them?

richarddd

I wonder what he means by competitive? Horizontal?

This is good news

tismfu

I give the news a cautiously optimistic ^.

HKG_Flyer1

One of the only remotely good pieces I've heard out of AA in a long time.

Improving product to deliver value rather than just cutting, cutting, cutting to the bone.

Savvy Traveler

Also look for on-demand IFE to go with this.

tismfu

Please say it's so! And I hope this is for F/J AND Y.

richarddd

Have you considered carrying your own IFE, such as laptop, DVD player, ipod & books, etc.?

CoMooter

...Now it all starts to make sense...not that some of us thought that the block-buster of two weeks ago might have something to do with thinking along these lines.

LLZ

I wonder if it occurred to American to do what they've done in another order.....

Roll out the fantastic, brand spankin new J class seats (and service hopefully) and let folks experience it, etc....

and THEN add on the $500 co-payment....???

But nooooo, they had to institute the $500 co-pay with their sub-par J class first, really irritating some of their most loyal fliers.

New seats aren't gonna do anything about the huge disparity in service in J, or F for that matter. What's AA gonna do about that....pass out comment cards on every flight?

Savvy Traveler

Oh, I do. I don't even fly AA anymore. I was merely sharing some inside information I have access to.

tismfu

I travel with an iPod but that's about it in terms of entertainment. I hate traveling with my PowerBook and when I do it stays under the seat or in an overhead 90% of the time. This is especially true when I am on vacation. The least amount of stuff in my carry-on the better. I don't want to deal with batteries, the hassle (especially at security checkpoints) etc.

With AVOD I have a nice, slick system built into my seat. Plus there is the element of surprise in that I might get to see a movie I had never thought of viewing or that isn't out on DVD yet.

FlyAO2

The problem is they cannot do it in the order you suggest because they're probably not going to get the new J seats for another 2 years.

aa4ever

Anybody think that they could announce/roll out the first seats in December? With the co-pay beginning 12/1, it makes sense.

Or have I just speculated Apple announcements too long??

inlanikai

I hope - no, pray - they tested these seats with people who fly a lot on J. And I mean by actually sitting in them and trying to sleep in them and not just look at a mock-up and some pictures.

benchy

Considering the huge lost they have posted, and that the new J service will not be available, where are they planning to get the money to do the upgrade, and how are they expecting people to remain loyal.


Article from Airwise news
--------------------------

American Airlines on Wednesday said record-high fuel costs pushed it to a hefty third-quarter loss and warned it must cut costs and find new revenue sources to survive in a world of soaring oil prices.


To bolster its balance sheet, American plans to cut jobs, slash the number of seats it puts on sale in the US market and add seats to more planes. It also will look to expand in the Asia-Pacific region to bolster revenue and profit.


The world's largest carrier said it lost USD$214 million, or $1.33 per share, in the third quarter, reversing course from a narrow profit of USD$1 million a year earlier. It warned that it expects fuel costs to make its fourth-quarter loss even worse.


"The harsh reality is that despite our tremendous progress to date, our cost structure remains too high for us to succeed in a world where the price of oil is at such an extraordinary level," said Gerard Arpey, AMR's chief executive.


The airline also said "there will be a reduction in the size of the workforce, although the details for accomplishing this are still being identified."


The carrier said the high cost of fuel added about USD$342 million to its costs in the quarter compared with a year earlier and it has said it expects fuel costs this year to be some USD$1 billion more than a year ago.


Costs per available seat mile were up 2.7 percent from a year ago. A 50 percent rise in fuel expenses drove the increase in this key airline industry cost measure.


To cut costs, AMR said it will withdraw capacity equivalent to 15 narrow-body aircraft in 2005. It expects first quarter 2005 domestic capacity to drop by 5 percent from a year before.


Backing further away from its policy of offering more legroom in coach than rivals, American said it plans to add seats to its MD80, 737, 767 and 777 fleets.


It will also reduce flights in some regions where it flies to two or more airports, and cut flights that are less essential in its domestic network.


Its regional affiliate, American Eagle, has reached an agreement in principle with Embraer to cancel delivery of 18 ERJ-145 regional jet aircraft.


AMR said it expects to record a gain of about USD$145 million in the fourth quarter for the sale of its stake on online travel company Orbitz.


American's revenue per available seat mile declined 2.5 percent, driven by a 4.8 percent drop in passenger yield, or average ticket price.


The company said it ended the quarter with USD$3.6 billion in cash and short-term investments.


American teetered on the brink of bankruptcy over a year ago and it launched a massive cost-cutting campaign that staved off a Chapter 11 filing.


(Reuters)