American Airlines Group Inc. (NASDAQ:AAL) Q2 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

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Robert Isom: So, hi Ali, and I have David Seymour here to help me. Look, the heat that we’re facing this year in the country, I mean, these are records, and it is something that impacts certainly, the aircraft, any machinery, they’re more like they’re great and run harder and longer. And it’s also really hard on our people. Fortunately, we have great experience in dealing with hot weather hubs, places like Phoenix in Miami and even DFW and Charlotte as well. So we’re employing all those practices that we put in place. We’re just having to use them more often and longer throughout the year. I’ll give just a couple of examples of things that we’ve done on a precautionary basis just because of the trends that we’ve seen. We put a heck of lot more work into making sure that we’re prepared for the summer on things like conditioned air at our jet bridges.

So as soon as an aircraft pulls up to a gate, we want to make sure that we can get air to those aircraft to keep them as cool as possible. Our APUs, those little engines that are able to power all the systems when the big engines are off. Those are things that are prone to break during times like right now, but we’re seeing really good results because of the preventative work that our maintenance team has done. And you’ll see us as well, whether it’s making sure that we only board when aircraft are have air conditioning that is appropriate or out on the ramp with our team members, making sure that they get a break from the sun and the heat that there are things like ice carts and electrolyte drinks available to our team members, we’re really taking this seriously, and we’re going to have to as we go forward.

Alison Sider: Thank you.

Operator: Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Mary Schlangenstein of Bloomberg News. Your question please, Mary?

Mary Schlangenstein: Hi. Good morning. I had just two quick questions. Vasu, on the LaGuardia slots, are you prohibited from leasing those slots to JetBlue for just their own use for their own flight? So do you have to take those slots back? You can’t lease them to them under any circumstances. And my second question is on the pilot talks, are you reopening the whole contract to discussion? Or are you limiting it to changes in pay?

Vasu Raja: So I’ll handle the — I can handle both. First off, in regard to anything that relates to slots or gates or routes or things like that. Look, we’re going to figure that out over time. So I’ll leave it at that. And then in regard to our pilots, as I mentioned, we’re sitting down with our pilots. We have a real interest in making sure that they’re taking care of. That’s been how we viewed all discussions. And so, we’ll see how that goes. My hope is that we can get something done pretty quickly. And no matter what, over the long run, we’re going to make sure that our pilots are taking care of.

Mary Schlangenstein: Thank you.

Operator: Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Leslie Josephs of CNBC. Please go ahead, Leslie.

Leslie Josephs: Hi, everyone. Thanks for taking my question. Just on the pilot contract. I just want to make sure that I understand correctly, you are committing to matching the United rates. I just want to make sure we’re clear on that. And then just a second question on buy-ups to premium cabins. We didn’t hear a ton of that from you guys. And just kind of curious what you’re seeing, especially for premium leisure and international — are you seeing higher paid loads in premium economy and then in business class. Thank you

Robert Isom: I’ll handle the first one, Leslie, and Vasu can handle the second one. Just, look, again, in regard to your question, we’re working with the APA and our pilots — our intent is to match the wages that we’re aware of in the tentative agreement that United has signed.

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