ACA to go it alone!

[acaTerry]

Released at 10:15am eastern time:

www.newsflashbs.com

Following an ACA announcement to start a low cost carrier out of IAD, the Mesa Air Group announced plans to compete with ACA.
"This is a terrific opportunity for Mesa" said Jerry Ornstien, CEO of Mesa. "As soon as ACA states their cost, we will be sure to undercut them with our flying, at the expense of our pilots"

ACA's Tom Moore replied "It does not matter. We will simply give our pilots another pay cut to meet the challenge". He was not available for further comment due to a house purchase he had to make.

Bain consulting recommended UAL purchase ACA and use the new operation to whipsaw mainline into further cuts.

 

[ArcticFlier]

LMAO

Released at 10:15am eastern time:

www.newsflashbs.com

Following an ACA announcement to start a low cost carrier out of IAD, the Mesa Air Group announced plans to compete with ACA.
"This is a terrific opportunity for Mesa" said Jerry Ornstien, CEO of Mesa. "As soon as ACA states their cost, we will be sure to undercut them with our flying, at the expense of our pilots"

ACA's Tom Moore replied "It does not matter. We will simply give our pilots another pay cut to meet the challenge". He was not available for further comment due to a house purchase he had to make.

Bain consulting recommended UAL purchase ACA and use the new operation to whipsaw mainline into further cuts.

 

[Intruder One]

Good luck..........your going to need it.The first regional to break away,hope you make it.This indudtry could get real interesting.

 

[poydras]

Good luck to ya 'll

If I could I' d like to open up my own airline down in Nawlins.
that will include a swamp tour and a pot of gumbo for the passengers

Best wishes to ya' ll at ACA

 

[the turtle]

When I was first told of this news "Midway" came to mind.

Secondly, when ACA's pilot group negotiates rates for these "larger aircraft", and if these rates are 10-20% lower than industry average, won't that make you (gulp) MESA?!

Good luck to you guys

 

[Flack]

Just what the industry needs. Another wannabee Low Cost Carrier. Only this time we get to witness the advent of Boeing or Airbus aircraft being flown at turboprop rates + 2%. Don't kid yourself fellas, the writing is on the wall.

PS- This industry needs an enema and some re-regulation before these airline executives destoy our profession. When will the madness end?

 

[climbhappy]

congrats to ACA

its' perfect timing and its' further proof of the downward pressure on ticket prices exacerbated by southwest from the beginning.

ACA will position itself perfectly for the recovery.

remember, Airtran started with a bunch of ol worn out dc-9s

to the mesa bashers,

isn't it clear the enemy is southwest . they have spawned airtran, jetblue, ATA, frontier, america west, spirit, song, valujet, and soon to be :

Atlantica

not to mention the the bankruptsies of united and us air.

no, aside from the sarcasm, people , including myself always want to get the most for the least. it's called the power of the consumer.

 

[KingAirer]

What does ACAs new airline have to offer that is not already there? There is going to be alot of competition. JetBlue already serves IAD, Airtran and Southwest have a good hold in BWI, and USAirways has a descent amount of service to all three DC airports. Not to mention that UAL is going to be replacing ACA on the routes they used to serve. Its going to be a tough road in my opinion, and i doubt they can profitbaly serve enough cities in the near future to use all of their current fleet.

 

[wackford]

What does ACAs new airline have to offer that is not already there? There is going to be alot of competition. JetBlue already serves IAD, Airtran and Southwest have a good hold in BWI, and USAirways has a descent amount of service to all three DC airports. Not to mention that UAL is going to be replacing ACA on the routes they used to serve. Its going to be a tough road in my opinion, and i doubt they can profitbaly serve enough cities in the near future to use all of their current fleet.

This reply is from an ametuer who can only make conjecture with the rest of you.

"There is going to be alot of competition"

There was “a lot of competition” when AirTran and JetBlue started up.

“JetBlue already serves IAD.”

Who cares, so does Northwest, Delta, Continental, and lots of other airlines…………
ACA plans to be the dominant LCC in IAD and dominate the D.C. area as “the” low cost carrier in the area.

“Airtran and Southwest have a good hold in BWI”

BWI is not IAD. It’s a long drive from Washington D.C., Arlington, and Fairfax. etc…………up to BWI.

“USAirways has a descent amount of service to all three DC airports”

US Airways is not a “low cost carrier.” I'm sure "descent" service was available in NY before JetBlue arrived.

“Not to mention that UAL is going to be replacing ACA on the routes they used to serve”

UAL is not a LCC and the new operation is not restricted to the routes that have been flown for UAL by ACA.

 

[tarp]

Wow!

I have sorely underestimated Tom and Kerry. They deserve a round of applause just for sheer chutzpa ("balls"). I can never talk trash about them again - they are "big dogs".

Now, just some thoughts.

My biggest fear is just name recognition. On this board, we all know ACA. But going to friends parties, wedding receptions and civic outings I get the usual "Where do you work?"
Me: "I'm a pilot for Atlantic Coast Airlines."
They: "Who?"
Me: (exasperated) "United Express out of Dulles."
They: "Oh, United. How's the bankruptcy thing going?"
Me: "I don't work for United, we're contractors to United."
They: "Oh." (walking away, going for another drink)

If we have to pack airplanes to make this thing work, we need a better name than ACA. (sorry, but it's true) If we could buy an old brand name, we would score much bigger points - my mind goes to the perfect fits for our market - Alleghany and Piedmont, followed by a luxury name like PanAm or TWA.

All those New Englanders could have flash backs to good old Agony Airlines(Alleghany). The Nascar circuit followers of the South would fly a plane with a big "Piedmont" logo on just to show that the "south will rise again." But ACA, Atlantic Coast, that "swirl" thing logo we've been promoting in "A" terminal for about a month. Marketing and sales are going to be key. As an unknown, we're going to have to offer "low,low fares" to entice travellers to try a new carrier. We don't have JetBlue's entertainment systems, we don't have happy SWA people running around our concourses, we are offering what Agony and Piedmont of the old days offered - a cramped cabin running to smaller market cities with nothing but a soda and bag of chips thrown at us.

I wish ACA all the best, but this is one tough road they've picked and we have not seen anything like the concessions they are going to have to ask for down the road.

My other thought is that I've got a trip through Albany this week. The United folks there are downright unfriendly to us on a good day. Do I need a flak jacket for work this week?

Gosh and I just had another good thought - if we're severing ties with United, does this mean we can dump those lousy Pepsi's and get CocaCola again? Ah, real Coke, real Sprite. A 717 parked at the hangar is nice, but Coke - now there's an incentive.

 

[KingAirer]

In response to Wackford.

Who knows that ACA is a low cost carrier? SW has spent years claiming the identity that they are "THE low fare airline". ACA is going to have to spend a lot of money on advertising to get people to look to them for the low fares.

Yes there was competition when Jetblue started, but they, Jetblue, offered something different than the competition. In-flight entertainment for all passengers, new planes, great service, and low fares. Can ACA do that?

USAirways and UAL arent LCC, you're right, but you can bet they will match prices on these routes, plus they have the customer bennies like freq flyer miles.

I hope this works for you guys! I really do, itll be interesting to watch.

 

[Av8tor]

ACA is planning on spending lots of $money$ to get the word out to everyone about the new operation!!

 

[KingAirer]

Great, thats exactly what its going to take. Not just US Today stuff, but TELEVISION!, something that other carrier (except SW) have all but abandoned. The new logo looks sharp!

 

[wackford]

Tarp,

Who ever heard of JetBlue before...............??????????????


Nobody............. it was a new company. JetBlue, what the heck is that............

That's what ACA will be creating. A new company with a new name. Of course nobody heard of ACA before. We flew for UAl as United Express just like those other carriers.

ACA management/ownership has stated they will spend a huge amount of money on advertising this "new" airline.

 

[j41driver]

I hope you shorted ACA, because if you're expecting ACA stock to skyrocket after this announcement, you'll be disappointed.

Good luck to all at ACA. I quit two weeks ago, so I'll be watching this one from the sidelines.

Don't forget that you do have 30 days to come back with no change in seniority if you want to.