What's wrong with American Airlines, part 1/x

In this episode of The Air Show, Jon Ostrower, Brett Snyder, and Brian Sumers analyze the issues facing American Airlines, focusing on fleet and network strategies. They debate whether American's focus on Sun Belt hubs like DFW and Charlotte, while neglecting major cities like LA, Chicago, and New York, is a strength or a weakness. The discussion covers American's loyalty program, fleet performance, and the impact of retiring aircraft during COVID. They also explore the airline's wide-body fleet strategy, cabin configurations, and the need for smaller narrow-body aircraft to serve smaller markets and maintain competitiveness. The hosts disagree on certain points, such as the experience on American's high-density 737s, but agree that American is behind competitors like Delta and United in adapting to changes in the airline industry.