Airtran adding MKE-LAS

[CitationLover]

Does anyone think MIDEX stock price will hold for more than a week before tanking?

pre takeover it was around $9 per share, i would expect it to fall back to there.

pre takeover AAI was down 50% in six months, is that tanking to you?
LCC down almost $20 since Nov is that tanking?
JBLU off $6 since february is that tanking?
Delta/NWA in bankruptcy screwing shareholders, is that tanking?

 

[Lear70]

you roll your eyes, but is air tran in any position to lose money on any routes? we all can't be johnny o and start an unrealistic fare war. this route was more for pr in their takeover attempt to show their committment to milwaukee and in line with their leisure market strategy already in place in MKE (to the florida markets).

I roll my eyes because you don't understand the financial situation behind the scenes and are making an apples - to - oranges comparison.

I also roll my eyes because I've gone through this before about a month or so ago, but I guess you weren't on here then.

NWA didn't work in MKE because they made 3 critical errors.

1. They used the CRJ which is a MONEY LOSER for EVERY single carrier that operates it when looked at as a standalone product. CRJ's were designed to do ONE THING: bring international feed into the hub. Period. NWA loses money on them every time they lift off the ground (fee per departure basis).

2. They priced the product lower than their cost to produce the product. You just can't do that long-term and expect to have a viable operation.

3. They thought it was going to take a very short time to run Midwest out of business (which was the entire point at the time). Obviously this didn't happen.

AirTran wouldn't do any of the above. You ASSUME that AirTran will lose money on these routes. You assume WRONG. We operate MKE with very high load factors and our fares are comparable with what everyone else is running, not to mention comparable with the rest of our city pairings.

Seeing as we've been profitable for several YEARS now, I think we've got our pricing pretty well figured out to make money.

Not trying to be rude; it just amuses me when people make comparisons they don't understand.

 

[CitationLover]

I roll my eyes because you don't understand the financial situation behind the scenes and are making an apples - to - oranges comparison.

I also roll my eyes because I've gone through this before about a month or so ago, but I guess you weren't on here then.

NWA didn't work in MKE because they made 3 critical errors.

1. They used the CRJ which is a MONEY LOSER for EVERY single carrier that operates it when looked at as a standalone product. CRJ's were designed to do ONE THING: bring international feed into the hub. Period. NWA loses money on them every time they lift off the ground (fee per departure basis).

2. They priced the product lower than their cost to produce the product. You just can't do that long-term and expect to have a viable operation.

3. They thought it was going to take a very short time to run Midwest out of business (which was the entire point at the time). Obviously this didn't happen.

AirTran wouldn't do any of the above. You ASSUME that AirTran will lose money on these routes. You assume WRONG. We operate MKE with very high load factors and our fares are comparable with what everyone else is running, not to mention comparable with the rest of our city pairings.

Seeing as we've been profitable for several YEARS now, I think we've got our pricing pretty well figured out to make money.

Not trying to be rude; it just amuses me when people make comparisons they don't understand.

i was responding to this.

Like I said earlier...You only have to attack a few routes to really hurt Midex, and you can make money while doing it... Is this the beginning??? Time will tell..

looks to me like he is talking about running Midwest out of business, which is what i responded to. he is not following Lear's Airtran rule i guess. NWA did try to do this and I responded.

sure you have great load factors in most markets (incl MKE), EVERY airline has seen increased load factors in the last couple of years. if Air Tran undercuts MEH on certain routes (like the original poster suggested) then yes they may lose money as a fare war may ensue.

 

[Lear70]

looks to me like he is talking about running Midwest out of business, which is what i responded to. he is not following Lear's Airtran rule i guess. NWA did try to do this and I responded.

sure you have great load factors in most markets (incl MKE), EVERY airline has seen increased load factors in the last couple of years. if Air Tran undercuts MEH on certain routes (like the original poster suggested) then yes they may lose money as a fare war may ensue.

Non-sequitur, sir.

His quote:

Like I said earlier...You only have to attack a few routes to really hurt Midex, and you can make money while doing it... Is this the beginning??? Time will tell..

HE never said anything about losing money over it. He never said anything about lowering the price of the product below what it would cost to produce it.

You took one part of his statement and went off on a tangent.

In fact, our CEO and CFO have repeatedly argued against that kind of b.s. from the very beginning and have, to my knowledge, never engaged in any kind of "fare war".

I also don't support any kind of turf war, and have spoken against it several times. I'd simply prefer to expand elsewhere and let the Midwest pilots keep producing the excellent product they are so well-known for.

p.s. Citation, do you even WORK for Midwest or are you on the RJ?

 

[CitationLover]

Non-sequitur, sir.

His quote:
HE never said anything about losing money over it. He never said anything about lowering the price of the product below what it would cost to produce it.

You took one part of his statement and went off on a tangent.

In fact, our CEO and CFO have repeatedly argued against that kind of b.s. from the very beginning and have, to my knowledge, never engaged in any kind of "fare war".

I also don't support any kind of turf war, and have spoken against it several times. I'd simply prefer to expand elsewhere and let the Midwest pilots keep producing the excellent product they are so well-known for.

p.s. Citation, do you even WORK for Midwest or are you on the RJ?

you are correct i assumed on that, and for that i was in error (mad an a$$ of me as it states). i am happy to hear your ceo/cfo feel that way, i wish more felt like that. however, pricing pressure when competing directly with someone would cause yields to be lower than expected and as such they might not perhaps make money was all i was trying to express.

i am in a hiring pool at midwest and am at eagle now on the crj. finally a light at being treated like a professional from my employer and not a 3rd grader.