Dallas Morning News: American Airlines considering closing one maintenance base

[marmar]

American Airlines considering closing one maintenance base

10:23 PM CDT on Tuesday, March 10, 2009
By TERRY MAXON [e-mail]


American Airlines Inc. is taking a look at closing one of its three major maintenance bases as its fleet and operations shrink, chief financial officer Tom Horton said Tuesday.

"We'll be thinking about right-sizing all of our assets," Horton said at a J.P. Morgan transportation conference in New York City.

"For example, we've got three maintenance bases today. We've got one in Fort Worth, one in Tulsa and one in Kansas City that we acquired as part of the TWA acquisition.

"Well, with our fleet the size it is today, we may not need three maintenance bases. So there is the potential for a step change in costs there," he said.

The Fort Worth-based carrier discussed closing one of the bases last year, but instead it redistributed work among the three bases.

Horton's comments indicated the issue is still on the table.

Transport Workers Union official Robert Gless said closing a base "would be extremely short-sighted." ...........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/stories/031109dnbusamericanbase.3b1e4a2.html

[KharmaTrain]

1. Yet Another Reason Not To Fly American

Weren't they the ones who had to ground hundreds of planes for a day to do required maintenance? Yep, more shortcuts on maintenance and safety is sure going to be worth the savings. :sarcasm:

Flying has become an expensive pain...between the draconian TSA games (anyone explode a shoe lately??) and the poor customer service, it's overcrowded flights that either take off late or arrive late or both (so much more fun now thanks to the large number of connecting flights people have to take) along with surcharges for almost everything on the plane (I'm surprised AA hasn't begun charging to use the potty).

Next to the banks, airline "deregulation" has been a joke. It drove out competition and we now have two airlines "too big to fail".

[DemoTex]

2. My guess is Kansas City will get the shaft .. they always do (Braniff, TWA, etc).

And my guess is also that offshore maintenance will be increased somewhat to balance the closure. I love the idea of an engine facility in Guatemala overhauling the turbine and compressor sections of the CFM-56s of the Boeing 737 I am flying ( :sarcasm: ).

[cpamomfromtexas]

3. Well they won't close Tulsa, too many crimes at the base there. Stay tuned, it will go public