American Airlines (AA, Dallas/Fort Worth) could receive regulatory approval for plans to consolidate its operations under a single operating certificate in the second quarter of next year COO Robert Isom has disclosed.
Speaking to FlightGlobal, Isom said his airline's operational integration with US Airways (Phoenix Sky Harbor) is being undertaken in a series of 'cycles' of which there are a total of nine to complete.
“I can actually see pieces of the plan all the way up to the ninth revision cycle that are already at work,” Isom said. “We want to have everyone trained up on both sides of the house so that our operating policies, procedures, everything that involves operating an aircraft safely are all identical, mirror images at the time of single operating certificate.”
The CCO went on to add that American, while “firmly” in the fourth cycle, has already begun to partially implement aspects of the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth cycles.
Other significant steps that will also come are the move to a single reservations system - expected later in 2015 - after which US Airways flight numbers will disappear though some flights may continue to be “operated by US Airways”. Thereafter, in the third quarter of next year, the carrier’s two operations teams will be consolidated into a new integrated operations centre in Fort Worth.
American Airlines Group was born in late 2013 after AMR's American Airlines exited bankruptcy and merged with US Airways Group. The airline groups together will form the world's largest airline operating more than 6'700 daily flights to 336 locations in 56 countries worldwide, with about USD40billion in operating revenue. It will also employ over 100,000 employees, with plans to take delivery of 607 new aircraft.
