American Airlines has announced that they will be opening a new gateway airport in the Asia region. The new airport, dubbed LAX Asia, is expected to open in 2020 and will serve as a hub for routes from China and Japan.
American Airlines has announced that they will be moving their LAX terminal to a new location. The new location is the Asia Gateway Airport, which is located in the city of Inglewood, California.
American Airlines Discusses LAX’s Future And Its New Asia Gateway Airport
on September 21, 2021 by Gary Leff
Seattle will become the main Asian gateway for American Airlines. American says that when there is minimal competition in the schedule, they earn money. They also do badly while competing against Asian carriers. Here’s what the LAX hub and the airline’s Asia flights will look like in the future.
An LAX-based pilot questioned airline President Robert Isom about the carrier’s intentions for Los Angeles during an employee question and answer session last week, which was recorded and analyzed by View From The Wing. Brian Znotins, American’s Vice President of Network Planning, took up the issue and provided five important points:
- Before the epidemic, American Airlines was losing money on its Los Angeles-Asia flights because the markets were too competitive.
- South America isn’t a good fit for them if they’re based in Los Angeles.
- There will still be certain long-haul destinations with less rivalry, such as Sydney, London Heathrow, and Tokyo Haneda (and joint venture partner hubs).
- They’ll concentrate on its Airbus A321T cross-country flights from LA, which is a lucrative domestic hub. Domestic flights will take the place of foreign flights, with the airline’s total size staying about the same.
- Their “more prominent Asian gateway” will be Seattle.
LAX is served by American Airlines.
Here’s a lengthier version of Znotin’s explanation:
For many years, LA has been a difficult destination for us in Asia. We’ve run into financial difficulties since every Asian airline feels compelled to service LA, despite the fact that we were already servicing Hong Kong, Beijing, and Shanghai prior to the epidemic. Because every other Asian airline serviced those routes, they all underperformed for us. In addition, the Los Angeles market had much too much capacity.
Normally, American Airlines generates money by differentiating itself via various schedules, such as being the sole non-stop or one of a few non-stops, but in this instance, we were one of dozens of non-stops.
As a result, we’ve chosen to reduce our LA widebody flights. Shanghai is relocating to Seattle… Beijing will place a greater emphasis on Dallas. Hong Kong will also place a greater emphasis on Dallas. The Sydneys and Heathrows, on the other hand, will stay in LA since they aren’t Asian markets that are overserved.
Then, on the narrowbody side, we’ll keep focusing on the 321T flying transcons, and we’ve added a number of minor [regional jet] routes out of LA to help sustain the hub because, although LA is a great domestic hub, it’s not so great for us as an Asian hub. So we concentrated on the lucrative portion of mainline narrowbody and regional flights, with some long-haul flights like Sydney and Heathrow thrown in for good measure, plus two visits to Tokyo Haneda after the epidemic is over.
Then, moving ahead, we believe that’s the run rate size, and we’ll concentrate on Alaska with our Seattle partner, adding long-haul routes like Bangalore and Shanghai from Seattle once the Chinese bilateral comes up, which is a whole ‘nother ball of wax. And, rather than LA, it will be our primary Asian gateway in the future.
To put it bluntly, [South American] routes were also underperforming. You’re simply in the incorrect area of the country to service South America there; from Buenos Aires, you’re not connecting any passengers from across the country, so concentrating on DFW and Miami to our Latin American destinations is a better emphasis. For us, it’s a competitive problem in Asia and a geographic one in Latin America.
Isom emphasized that American is making significant financial expenditures at the airport to emphasize that they aren’t decreasing their commitment to flying from Los Angeles in general. However, since “they don’t create additional real estate in LA…there are no new runways, and if gates are rebuilt, it’s for the sake of replacement,” that presence will not expand. The airline will make use of “every possible asset” at its disposal.
More From the Wing’s Perspective
American Airlines has announced that they will be moving their hubs from LAX to the new Asia Gateway Airport, which is set to open in 2020. Reference: american airlines hubs.
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