F9 - Any truth to this rumor?

[D-Bo]

Just curious if there is any truth to a rumor that I saw on another board. Well, it wasn't posted as a rumor, but a fact. I haven't heard this anywhere else and just wanted to see what the real deal is.


>>>>>They just announced they're parking 4 planes because heavy checks are too expensive. Furloughing flight attendants. More flying to Horizon. This is where the TA bites. The writing was on the walls, but it passes anyway. Most of the guys there have been corporate vs. airline, and haven't taken it from mgt when it comes to contracts... Looks like the beginning of SWA breaking out the hammer, its what they've been waiting for... an opportunity.<<<<<<<

 

[clickclickboom]

Dont know about the rumor but I can tell you they are hiring fo's and in addition why would they have to park the planes when they could sell the old airframes at a market premium due to new aircraft delivery delays and surging world demand for airbus?

Plus they just posted a solid quarter

Of course the rumor could be true because there has been some hush hush talk around the halls at jetblue that a merger is possible and that the 320 is preferred....

 

[c9skytrain]

I hope it is not true. F9 seems like it would be a nice place. They are in a tough place what with SWA expanding in Den and UAL fighting back.

You always hear stories how Airbuses are bought cheap, but in the long-run expensive to operate.

Good luck to all F9 guys.

 

[amt]

Just another rumor....the word floating around is that they want to park 2 airplanes for a short period of time and roll the heavy maintenance expenses to the next quarter. No pilots or FA to be furloughed. Pilto hiring will slow down next year though. We still gonna receive five 320's in 2008. The new CEO is basicly readjusting mainline flying to more profitable/higher demand markets and shifting the lighter ones to JetExpress. By the way, Horizon is going away next month living Republic (E170) and Lynx (Q400) as the regional carriers.
Morale still great and future still bright...
Happy Holidays

 

[climb2slow]

The runmor is partially true. It has been said that if Oil was to remain at or near the 100 mark, that we might park up to 4 planes that are due expensive checks...also there has been some talk of deferring some of the aircraft scheduled to arrive in february until later in the year. We have been told that hiring will continue for the foreseeable future though, and that there would be no negative impact to flight crews if the planes were parked for a short term.

 

[ultrarunner]

Hire till you furlough, furlough till you hire. History repeats itself.

Current hiring trends, plane deliveries, etc..mean nothing.

 

[HalinTexas]

Is there an attrition problem?

 

[climb2slow]

I wouldn't describe the attrition as a problem, but we do have some pilots taking other jobs...this past year most who left went back to UAL or Usairways...But lets keep in mind that one class of 10-12 in a month is normal hiring here...and usually no classes are run approx 3 months out of the year.

 

[SpiderMan]

Nice tits.

 

[USMC319]

New $25 million hangar in COS is being built for heavy checks. Don't know the status of the current Continental Hangar at DIA, maybe waiting for alternate arrangements for heavy checks??

Some attrition due to recalls, many rejected recalls and are staying at F9. No furloughs...bad rumor.

Fuel is hurting all airlines. Everyone should be concerned, even SWA isn't hedged as well as they have been in the past and need to raise their fares.

 

[ThisistheDream]

Did F9 require pilots from previous airlines like UAL USAirwys etc. to resign seniority when they got hired? if so are the ones getting recalled back to UAL, USAirwys going back as new hires then? or did they resign there seniority to make F9 happy only to know that there letters where thrown into the trash and that they would still be able to get recalled?

 

[Bako Cap]

New $25 million hangar in COS is being built for heavy checks.

Being built with taxpayers money and leased for 30 years by F9. Not a bad deal for F9. No wonder DEN lost the MX hangar deal.

 

[USMC319]

Being built with taxpayers money and leased for 30 years by F9. Not a bad deal for F9. No wonder DEN lost the MX hangar deal.

Yes it was a good deal, at least slightly better than the other bidders that responded to the RFP. Not uncommon by any means for these kind of projects.

As far as recalls, I believe Frontier asked if furloughed pilot candidates would resign their seniority numbers but I doubt they actually required proof. Most USAir furloughees stayed, and probably more than half of the UAL furloughees stayed. I think most if not all of the CAL guys stayed. The AA furloughees have a few more years to make the decision. I would say most of the attrition at F9 is from the junior FO ranks that thought they would upgrade in 3 or 4 years and have been hit with reality of airline growth in the $90bbl oil era.

 

[Trogdor]

What about the cancelled upgrade class and postponed new-hire ground? Truth or fiction?

 

[amt]

Up grade was postponed until january (for holidays). Still planning class of 10.

 

[Cardinal]

Announced yesterday (12/5) that 10% of non-operational headquarters staff are being laid off, same as Delta.

 

[StaySeated]

The dreaded "right-sizing" memo.

Right sizing is another way to say that we are going to replace "mainline" flying with a lot of RJ's. Back when RJ's were first developed, it made sense to replace a 150 seat 737 with a 50 seat RJ in some markets. Grand Rapids and similar size cities went from 737's and dc9s to crjs and erjs almost overnight in the late 90's.

When you start replacing a 114 seat 318 with a 80 seat EMB 175 you are not "right-sizing", you are "right-laboring".

This isn't a dig on the current scope language. Scope has never and will never work. Show me one airline that has iron clad scope. Not possible, no such thing exists. The last airline to sell their souls for scope protection was Trans World Airlines. I guess you can say they effectively prevented rj's from taking their flying.

The economy along with some poor direction is driving some big changes at Frontier. If you think this quarter is going to be bad, wait until the first quarter of 2008 ( our fiscal calendar 4th quarter 2008) when our hedges are at zero!

Merger rumors have been around for years, but I would be amazed if we were still a "whole different animal" by summer of 2008. Really great people and a great place to work compared to others in this industry, but economy of scale will force a merger or worse.

Thankfully, (sarcasm intended) our debt position has increased so horribly that we are no longer an ideal candidate to be purchased and split into pieces.

Hopefully I am wrong and we have some master plan to survive the highest oil in decades combined with an insane airport fee structure (DIA) and intense competition from a legacy exiting BK and a little airline from texas with a billion dollars in the bank.

Add in the fact that we have a young, sharp CEO that took a paycut to come here. Then take a look at how the "leaders" and BOD of MEH or other recently merged airlines made insane windfalls after their mergers. MEH execs will make more after their payout than they have in the last five to ten years combined, depending on the idiot, I mean individual.

Execs, creditors, shareholders, labor. That is the hierarchy and that is the hierarchy that drives the decisions in this and most industries.

 

[FBN0223]

Frontier is a great company. Unfortunately, because it is a relatively small airline lacking a domestic route structure beyond Denver with virtually no international presence it will be forced into the consolidation game as many of the legacy carriers are soon to be. Many will make lots of money on Denver's premiere airline. Would be nice, for a change, if it were to be the F9 employees but that's probably not going to be the case.

 

[metroplex]

Heard that Midwest might be furloughing ,17 pilots....

 

[D-Bo]

When you start replacing a 114 seat 318 with a 80 seat EMB 175 you are not "right-sizing", you are "right-laboring".

You get it. Doesn't seem like too many others there do unfortunately. Good luck.