AA making another bid for Beijing route
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Thursday, June 28, 2007
AA making another bid for Beijing route
By TERRY MAXON / The Dallas Morning News
American Airlines Inc., which lost its chance for a route between Dallas/Fort Worth and Beijing last year, will instead ask for a Chicago-Beijing route in a new round of applications, the carrier said Thursday.
American spokesman Tim Smith said the airline considered applying for service from D/FW, Chicago and Los Angeles for a new route that can begin in 2009. It chose Chicago because that gateway seemed to offer the highest financial return, he said.
"The economic considerations and the financial forecasts that we envision in 2009 favor Chicago at that time," he said.
Mr. Smith said American will take a new look at a D/FW route to China when the U.S. Department of Transportation asks for applications for routes that would begin in 2010, 2011 or 2012.
When American applied for a Beijing route from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport in 2006, it touted the fact that it would provide the most direct and convenient service for cities in the Southeast and the southern half of the United States.
However, Transportation Department officials awarded the route in January to United Airlines Inc., which launched Beijing service in March from Washington, D.C., a city that is more southern than the other current U.S. gateways to China.
In addition, Delta Air Lines Inc. is considered the frontrunner for a route to be awarded this year, with service from Atlanta to Beijing.
Mr. Smith said the carrier weighed the increased service from southern cities, in place and projected, when it decided to apply for a Chicago gateway to Beijing.
"Based on growth projections and so forth, we feel that the upper Midwest and the Northeast will play significant roles in the feed part of the flight at that time," as well as manufacturing facilities in the Midwest, Mr. Smith said.
�All those things came together to point to Chicago for 2009,� he said.
American plans to use a 245-seat Boeing 777 to fly the route.
American had been rumored to be in line to win the D/FW-Beijing route last year. However, it tried to amend its application in December after it was unable to get an agreement with its pilot union to permit the ultra-long flights.
The carrier's contract with the Allied Pilots Association limits flight lengths to 16 hours, and the flight from D/FW to Beijing would have been slightly over that limit. The union asked for some items in exchange for giving its permission, but the airline did not accept the offer.
In December, as the Transportation Department was preparing to make a decision, American asked for permission to amend its application to allow a stop in Chicago on the way to Beijing. The department denied the request, allowed American to withdraw its application and awarded the route to United.
In its announcement Thursday, American listed the scheduled times at 13 hours and 35 minutes from Chicago to Beijing and 12 hours and 55 minutes on the return. United, which already flies that route, lists a flying time 20 minutes shorter to Beijing and the same time as American on the return.
American and United both have large connecting hubs at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport.