Former American Airlines CEO Invokes 9/11 To Revive Campaign To Shut Down Competitor JSX

JSX is a small carrier based on Dallas that offers all first class service out of private terminals. Drinks, bags, snacks and wi-fi are included. And it can be priced competitively with Southwest, or at least less than first class on American. Naturally, American and Southwest which are both based on Dallas don’t like it. They teamed up in a lobbying campaign, along with the major pilots union, to get the federal government to put them out of business, claiming it was ‘unfair competition’. American Airlines CEO Robert Isom explained in a closed meeting, though his comments leaked, that this was entirely a commercial dispute for which they enlisted the government to block a competitor. (Emphasis mine.) If you don’t have to deal with the same DOT provisions, the same FAA provisions, the same security TSA provisions that’s not fair…. I’m quite certain that the FAA, the DOT, and TSA will take a look at what’s going on and make sure that no one is advantaged.. Former American Airlines CEO Doug Parker revealed that he and Southwest Airlines Chief Operating Officer Andrew Watterson buttonholed TSA Administrator David Pekoske at a conference trying to get him to institute a crackdown. That effort might have failed during the Biden administration. The FAA Administrator was sympathetic, but the crackdown would have stifled the electric aircraft industry which was an administration priority at the time. The Trump administration withdrew the effort. Parker is back, though, using the specter of 9/11 to argue that the JSX model using private terminals is unsafe and shouldn’t be permitted. On the new Airlines Confidential Parker co-hosted and made this claim: And then we look, we have scheduled airlines flying around without full TSA-level security. Things like credential authorization technology, which is just a must-have for scheduled airlines to make sure that the people that are flying are who they say they are, isn’t done at all scheduled airlines. I mean, it just never would have happened in the 10 years following 9/11. And they use it to market themselves as, you know, “We’re easier to get through security.” And some airlines don’t seem to care because they have some sort of marketing relationship with these smaller scheduled airlines. So, I don’t know. We need to always remember, and this is a good time to reflect back upon that and make sure that we’re doing—I think we have an obligation to our people and to do everything we can. And again, that’s encouragement, not negativity. It’s positivity. 9/11 taught us so many great things that I think we need to always remember, and those are the things I remember. He says his “comments have nothing to do with individual airlines” but he’s obviously attacking JSX again, and by extension United (“some airlines don’t seem to care because they have some sort of marketing relationship with these smaller scheduled airlines”) which (1) has a frequent flyer partnership with JSX and (2) has previously been identified as holding an ownership stake in JSX. An airline partnering with JSX doesn’t demonstrate indifference to security. And his former employer’s commercial interest in restricting JSX deserves the same scrutiny he applies to United – even more because they’ve literally said why they were pushing the case. In any case, Parker’s position is absurd. JSX participates in Secure Flight, and does weapons detection and explosives screening. Different screening doesn’t establish weaker security. Parker never even suggests an actual vulnerability or why JSX’s procedures fail to address it. “No TSA-staffed checkpoint” doesn’t mean “no security.” Former TSA Administrator Pekoske, whom Parker lobbied to impose restrictions on JSX, actually made clear in the JSX case – on Airlines Confidential! – that addressing security vulnerabilities doesn’t necessarily require government screeners. Aircraft size, passenger volume, access controls and separation from commercial terminals mean different risks and different useful security requirements. I wonder if Doug Parker knows that American Airlines operates charter flights away from commercial terminals without traditional TSA? They literally advertise “private handling and screening as well.” Indeed, we received non-standard security from a private hangar just last week for the American Airlines media flight to show off its newly refurbished Boeing 777-300ER. Invoking 9/11 doesn’t mean there’s an active threat or that more TSA would prevent an attack. It’s beyond cynical to use the emotional force of the anniversary for such cynical purposes. Notice that he doesn’t argue that millions of private jet departures each year in the United States should have TSA. There are fewer than 50,000 JSX flights annually. Topics on this page