The lead article in today's WSJ is titled "Long Flight - How Airlines Resisted Change for 25 Years, and Finally Lost". The airline industry in its entire history has never made a profit.

Only the ability to borrow or be subsidized by governments has kept planes in the air.

Even the discount airlines are seeing profits shrink so you should expect many more revenue increasing attempts.

Get used to it.

I have known for some time that AA will eventually go the way of the other airlines. When that happens, then, I will start shopping for other flights.
I will always be partial to AA. I have enjoyed my flights with them.

As far as AA being too generous with their FF program, well, they are the ones who started it in 1981. So, they have no one to blame but themselves if they don't like it. I don't think that the program is too generous. You would think that in the massive losses the airlines have incurred in the past several years, they would strive to have customer loyalty on their agenda.

Let's look at some facts:

AA was the ONLY airline left that allowed mileage upgrades from any published fare. NO MORE!

AA is one of the very few that still let's the deep discounted fares earn miles. SOON, NO MORE!

All earned mileage, regardless where they came from count towards lifetime status. Most if not all airlines only count the BIS miles towards the same goal.

AA still allows to earn status with miles, some othes already started to count points only, as in the higher fares only.

So, I'll say that AAdvantage is/was very generous, but it's slowly coming to an end. With the product offered they will not be anything special. I like AA, as it always treated me well, an even if I don't fly very much with AA in the future I will have status till at least Feb.2008, so I will always get some kind of better treatment, but if they expect me to pay the higher bucks they better show me something in return. The J product is one of the worst in the business right now. While the seats have tons of room and they do have a nice recline and foot rest, they are not very comfortable and many times don't even work properly. The ancient entertainment system is embarrasing when comparing it to others. Most European/Asian airlines went to flat beds already in J and their entertainment system will entertain you. Food on AA is ok, but again nothing special and the service is a 50/50 proposition at best, ranging from outstanding to very poor. That's not going to make people pay the same top dollar when they could get better stuff elsewhere for the same money.

Would someone please define J for me?

J - business!

Really -- what is the J product? I just flew AA and was delayed outbound (2 hours) and again on my return (3+) hours. Was that the J product?? I don't fly for business and collect points with AMEX that I use for free air travel. I've been bumped up only 3 times in 20 years and wish I could swing it more often, but I suppose a free ticket to Europe is a good thing.

Ok folks, one more time.....

F = First class
J = Business class
Y = Economy class

Or you could thing of it as:
F = Fancy
J = Justifiably Nice
Y = Yucky

That's "think" of it -- not "thing" of it. Must be time for bed.

<b>Patrick</b>,

That's funny ,


Anyway, here is the official word:

<b>http://makeashorterlink.com/?E28952679</b>

This move by AA, whether it stands up long-term or not, serves as a cautionary tale about customer loyalty and being taken for granted. Like other &quot;legacy&quot; airlines, AA evidently doesn't respect its customer base enough to provide evidence for its assertions that the Aadvantage program's features are making the airline less competitive. Fuel bills, and AA's poor performance in hedging against debilitating price spikes, make AA less competitive. A busted hub-and-spoke system that makes everybody on Earth visit DFW several times a year whether they want to or not, makes them less competitive. Outdated, uncomfortable jets makes them less competitive. But pretty minor perks to people who have accumulated hundreds of thousands of revenue-based miles, many of them <i>not</i> in the cheapest seats in back, making AA less competitive? Oh please. Show some respect.

I suspect that the cost of marketing spin to reverse the impact of moves like this is going to outweigh the &quot;savings&quot; big time. I suspect that many of the elite FF members who used the mileage upgrades in conjunction with cheap company-paid travel are, this very morning, talking to their company travel boffins (bean counters themselves) about switching to another airline who will take a more liberal, or negotiated, position on upgrades. That will free up seats in both the front and the back for sure. There's no other carrier that offers a comparable product to FFs? (That's AA's spin evidently.) Okay, just wait.

I can't help sensing deja vu all over again. US TV networks who all went with the same programming models (westerns, sitcoms, lawyers...) in slavish me-too fashion, only to have the cable networks eat their lunch. Fast food. SUVs. Hey, Southwest Airlines and Ryanair are making money by cramming everyone into the back and feeding them pretzels, for a pound a pop. Let's get on that gravy train. Or perhaps I should say Skytrain. But maybe I'm wrong and the economic rationale for this is compelling. Okay, you've got a big (bigger? smaller?) hub in St. Louis. Show me.

Interesting.....I've been following the prices for the flight I need (Tulsa to Rome). As it stands, the economy flight is only $600 cheaper than business class. It would make no sense whatsoever to spend miles plus the $250 to upgrade when I can buy it outright for an extra $600.