American Airlines is ending the carry-on bag fee for customers of its “basic economy” discount fare, caving in to pressure from competitors’ more generous policies. The change, which applies to domestic and short-haul international flights, takes effect Sept. 5, American said Thursday as it announced Q2 financial results. “It got to the point we weren’t competitive,” American CEO Doug Parker said. “When you get yourself in a position where a price-sensitive customer finds lower fares on truly competitive airlines, we have to take that under consideration. I think the right thing to do is get in line with the competition.” Delta’s version of basic economy allows a carry-on bag that fits in the overhead bin for no charge, in addition to a personal item that fits under the aircraft seat. Southwest lets passengers check two pieces of luggage with no fee, in addition to carrying on a personal item and one other bag. Airlines value the basic economy offering because many passengers who consider the fare end up buying a higher-price ticket. “The scope wasn’t as large as we had originally anticipated,” said Don Casey, American’s senior VP for revenue management. <br/>
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American Airlines is delaying the delivery of 22 Airbus A321neo aircraft to at least 2024, citing high fuel prices and a weak revenue environment for the move. The carrier moved the 22 aircraft deliveries from 2019-2021 – five in 2019, 10 in 2020 and seven in 2021 – to 2024 and beyond as a result of the "environment", said CE Doug Parker. "This is the result of, given the existing environment, making sure that we actually want to take airplanes in those times and we've come to the conclusion that we don’t." American saw mainline fuel expenses jump $700m year-over-year in Q2. At the same time, its headline revenue growth slowed by 2.2 percentage points to a 3.7% increase during the period when compared to the growth during Q1. As a result of these lacklustre results, the airline cut its full year capacity growth forecast by half a percentage point to a 2.2% increase in 2018. The A321neo deferral will ostensibly save American $1.2b in aircraft capital expenditures through 2021, said CFO Derek Kerr. However, both his numbers and those in a quarterly financial filing show a net savings of less than $900m over the period due to an order for 30 large regional jets in May.<br/>