AA pulls out of BHX for now.

[tom775257]

According to BBC news, American Airlines is to stop the Birmingham to Chicago flight AA23/24 until at least April 2002....

[160to4DME]

...And as I've posted elsewhere, it's believed CO are about to pull all 757 transatlantics for the 01/02 winter, including BHX.
Does this leave BHX with any other scheduled transatlantics other than Uzbek to JFK and PIA to YYZ ?

[R308R]

This does not suprise me. I was told several weeks ago (from a reliable sorce) that the route was not performing as well as expected.

[PC12]

Don't jump to conclusions that CO will suspend their BHX operation just because AA is stopping for six months. They may well keep flying to EWR.

[160to4DME]

PC12

Welcome to PPRUNE and your first post.

No conclusions were jumped to; infact it came from the operator themself that all 757 transatlantics were a likely target in the cost cutting programme.

I sincerely hope for the sake of all airlines, their staff and both GB and USA plc, that these scale backs are a temporary measure.

Regards

One Sixty

[BRUpax]

The problem with BHX transatlantic operations has always been attracting sufficient high yield clients. That was why BA pulled out a few years back. Now that Business Class travel is on a down curve AAL & COA won't get sufficient yield to sustain operations throughout the winter months. Hopefully it will only be a temporary absence.

[Warwick Hunt]

Interesting as whenever I have used the service to Chicago, the flight has been nearly full and always full at the front!

[The Guvnor]

I understand that AA is ending LGW-DFW for a while as well.

AA78/79 will not fly until November, AA50/51 will not fly until April.

ORD-STO and San Jose-Taipei are suspended indefinitely. ORD-BHX until April. Some Miami - Latin America frequencies will be suspened until April too.

[Night Rider]

Hi all,

I read with interest the effects the events in the USA are having on travel from BHX across the pond. I'm meant to be flying with CONTINENTAL from BHX to EWR in mid October - do you think the service will still be operating then?

Thanks for any info

[The Guvnor]

Nope - I understand that they are dropping all UK narrowbody services, which includes STN, GLA, EDI (which was due to start in October), MAN and BHX.

If you want to fly CO, you'll have to go from LGW!

[tom775257]

It sucks that AA have pulled out. If CO pull out, personally it will be pretty harsh...being an american living in brum, with family in the US this is pretty bad; although in a different league to those who have lost relatives in the WTC, and those who have lost jobs....a good flight link to the U.S. is ..well...nice from BHX for someone in brum. AT 6'5" AA's extra legroom in economy is so appreciated.
Good luck to those out there in aviation.

[Mr A Tis]

Guv,
The MAN CO service to EWR has been a B777 for yonks - not a narrowbody service.
As far as I know, there are NO plans to dropt it. There was talk of replacing the B777 with twice daily 764s, but I guess that will be scuppered completely.

[BRUpax]

WARWICK HUNT, don't be deceived by what you see. It is not uncommon for a significant percentage of the pax in Business Class to be a mix of nonrev and Economy upgrades. They don't bring in the required revenue!

[Deeko01]

Heres an extract from CO's website which tells you what services are stopping, hope this helps :

This page will inform you about our service changes. See the tables below for details. We hope to see you on a Continental Airlines flight soon.

If you were booked on a flight in a market where service is discontinued or temporarily suspended, please contact our reservations office.

Discontinued Service
Date Market Frequency Equipment
Oct. 1, 2001 Abilene, TX (ABI) to Houston, TX (IAH) three daily flights Embraer 120 Brasilia
Sept. 18, 2001 Albany, NY (ALB) to Atlantic City, NJ (ACY). Continental Connection operated by CommutAir. two daily flights Beech 1900
Sept. 17, 2001 Atlantic City, NJ (ACY) to Cleveland, OH (CLE) three daily flights Embraer RJ-145 (ERJ)
Sept. 17, 2001 Daytona Beach, FL (DAB) to New York, NY (EWR) one daily flight Boeing 737-500 (735)
Oct. 1, 2001 Dusseldorf, Germany (DUS) to New York, NY (EWR) one daily flight Boeing 757-200ER (757)
Sept. 17, 2001 Houston/ Hobby, TX (HOU) to New York, NY (EWR) three daily flights Boeing 737-500 (735)
Oct. 1, 2001 London-Stansted, England (STN) to New York, NY (EWR) one daily flight Boeing 757-200 (757)
Sept. 17, 2001 Melbourne, FL (MLB) to New York, NY (EWR) one daily flight Boeing 737-500 (735)
Oct. 1, 2001 Montego Bay/ Kingston, Jamaica (MBJ/KIN) to New York, NY (EWR).
Note: This market was scheduled to begin on Dec. 13, 2001. one daily flight - wrap flight Boeing 737-800 (738)
Oct. 1, 2001 San Angelo, TX (SJT) to Houston, TX (IAH) three daily flights Embraer 120 Brasilia
Oct. 1, 2001 Tyler, TX (TYR) to Houston, TX (IAH) three daily flights Embraer 120 Brasilia
Oct. 1, 2001 Waco, TX (ACT) to Houston, TX (IAH) three daily flights Embraer 120 Brasilia

Temporarily Suspended Service
Date Market Frequency Equipment
Oct. 1, 2001 London-Gatwick, England to Cleveland, OH (CLE) one daily flight Boeing 757-200ER (757)
Oct. 1, 2001 New York, NY (EWR) to Rio de Janeiro (GIG).
Note: connecting service is available via Sao Paolo, Brazil (GRU). one daily flight Boeing 767-200ER (762)

New Service
Date Market Frequency Equipment
May 1, 2002 Houston, TX (IAH) to Amsterdam, The Netherlands (AMS) * one daily flight Boeing 767-400ER (764)
Dec. 22, 2001 Houston, TX (IAH) to Nassau, Bahamas (NAS) Saturdays only (seasonal) Boeing 737-500 (735)
Dec. 22, 2001 Cleveland, OH (CLE) to Nassau, Bahamas (NAS) Saturdays only (seasonal) Boeing 737-500 (735)
Dec. 13, 2001 Houston, TX (IAH) to Eagle, CO (EGE) one daily flight (seasonal) Boeing 757-200 (757)
Dec. 13, 2001 Houston, TX (IAH) to Hayden, CO (HDN) Saturdays only (seasonal) Boeing 737-700 (73G)
Dec. 13, 2001 New York, NY (EWR) to Hayden, CO (HDN) one flight Sundays through Fridays, and two flights on Saturdays (seasonal) Boeing 737-700 (73G)
Dec. 13, 2001 New York, NY (EWR) to Montrose, CO (MTJ) Saturdays only Boeing 737-500 (735)
Dec. 13, 2001 New York, NY (EWR) to Eagle, CO (EGE) Saturdays only Boeing 757-200 (757)
Dec. 13, 2001 Houston, TX (IAH) to Durango, CO (DRO) one daily flight Embraer RJ-145 (ERJ)
Nov. 1, 2001 New York, NY (LGA) to Lexington, KY (LEX) two daily flights Embraer RJ-135 (SRJ)
Nov. 1, 2001 New York, NY (LGA) to Knoxville, TN (TYS) two daily flights Embraer RJ-135 (SRJ)
Oct. 1, 2001 Houston, TX (IAH) to Lexington, KY (LEX) two daily flights Embraer RJ-145 (ERJ)
July 2, 2001 Asheville, NC (AVL) to New York, NY (EWR) two daily flights Embraer RJ-145 (ERJ)
June 14, 2001 Anchorage, AK (ANC) to New York, NY (EWR) one daily flight (seasonal) Boeing 757-200 (757)
June 14, 2001 Anchorage, AK (ANC) to Houston, TX (UAH) one daily flight (seasonal) Boeing 757-200 (757)
June 14, 2001 Martha's Vineyard/ Nantucket, MA (MVY) to New York, NY (EWR) three daily - wrap flights (seasonal) ATR-42 (ATR)
June 14, 2001 Seattle, WA (SEA) to Cleveland, OH (CLE) one daily flight Boeing 737-300 (733)
June 14, 2001 Greenville, SC (GSP) to Cleveland, OH (CLE) two daily flights Embraer RJ-145 (ERJ)

" * " - Subject to Government Approval

wrap flight - same flight number to/ from a city

[PC12]

BRUpax.....actually the main reason BA pulled off the JFK route was that they weren't flying to a hub which they could fly on from within the States (bi-laterals and all that). BA coudln't compete with AA and CO who have the whole of their US network to feed their BHX services. The vast majority of passengers flying from BHX to the States is to fly on, not to go point-to-point.

Only time will tell as to whether CO will come off but I'd put my money on them holding on.

[BRUpax]

PC12, yes, I appreciate your point that AA and CO have (had) an advantage with their U.S. hubs. However, if my poor old memory serves me right, BA never actually competed head-to-head with either of them out of Brum; they had already pulled out of their JFK/YYZ service before AA started their ORD and CO their EWR flights. But, hubs or no hubs, if they were filling their Business Class cabins full of 'C' class revenue pax, they wouldn't be pulling out. Had the U.S. tragedies not taken place I'm pretty sure that they would have pulled out temporarily anyway - until the American economy improved again. That may now take longer to happen.

[Hand Solo]

Remember pax aren't everything. When BA were operating 767s BHX-JFK the holds were full with very lucrative cargo and the route was profitable. The problems started when they switched to a 757 with less cargo capability. Throw in some internal BA politics and the route was doomed.

[HOVIS]

The CO MAN-NWK service is to change to a 767, probably a 200 series, in October. Job cuts in the UK have already been announced. Good luck to all of you it was nice working with you.

[160to4DME]

HOVIS

and your source is..??

200 or 400 ??

For how long ??

[Curious Pax]

Continental's website shows MAN flights changing to a 767-200 from 2nd to 28th October, then back to a 777.