Musings from Brian J. Noggle: American Airlines Extorts, Wheedles

American Airlines Extorts, Wheedles

It was bad enough I had to suffer through the American Airlines CEO's column in the September in-flight house organ, but now the company has commissioned a study to indicate that if it loses its government-enforced monopoly in Dallas, everyone will pay:

A push by Southwest Airlines to increase flights from Dallas Love Field could trigger a reduction of service by American Airlines to Lambert Field and a number of smaller cities in Missouri and Illinois, according to a study made public on Monday.

The study labeled Lambert as at "moderate risk" to lose a small number of American flights.

However, Gerard Slay, deputy director at Lambert, said he doesn't expect any impact, describing the study's discussion of St. Louis as a "what-if scenario."

American commissioned the study by Eclat Consulting Inc., an aviation-consulting firm in Reston, Va., in what has become a bruising battle over a federal law that limits direct flights by Southwest from Love Field to most of the country.

Here's how American will put the hurt on our particular region:

If American's hub at Dallas/Fort Worth were to shrink, however, there would be fewer connecting flights, resulting in reduced service to smaller communities that rely on the airline's extensive network as their link to the world.

Such a development, the study said, would hurt towns such as Kirksville, Mo., and Quincy, Ill. These towns rely on federally subsidized service provided by American affiliates that fly under the banner of AmericanConnection, the Eclat study said.

"Hub degradation would take place, making marginal routes unprofitable," said Eclat's president, William S. Swelbar. "Inevitably, those routes would be eliminated."

Of the 11 daily flights between Lambert Field and Dallas/Fort Worth, five could be lost, Swelbar said. While three of those five flights could be shifted to Love Field, travelers would see a reduction in the number of connection flights, he said.

So that's the loss of a government-enforced monopoly, increased competition, and a reduction in government-subsidized flights? ~~American~~ The impartial third party Eclat presents this as a nightmare scenario, but to me it looks like a dream come true. Now if the bloated, incapable-of-adapting carrier collapses before sucking off any more government "loans" and without pushing its employee liabilities off on taxpayers, I will awaken disappointed.

UPDATE As Mr. Hill notes in the comments, the threat or promise has been heard elsewhere. Google News helps prove the "reduced flights" extortion has been targeted to:

Flood the zone, AA, flood the zone.

- posted by Brian J. @ 10:23 PM