AirTran-Midwest deal is 'doomed,' analyst says

[airline#5]

To all those Airtran fo's anticipating upgrade, you better hope the Midwast deal goes through. There is no way we will be getting all the 737's (listed in an earlier post) with no logical place to put them. These will be sold and growth/upgrades will stop. Anyway, this is the crap mngmt is throwing at us. Unfortunately, it does make sense in order to maintain profitability. Continuing to add west coast citys will be a recipe for disaster with rising gas prices and without an additional more centralized hub.

 

[FIREMAN]

To all those Airtran fo's anticipating upgrade, you better hope the Midwast deal goes through. There is no way we will be getting all the 737's (listed in an earlier post) with no logical place to put them. These will be sold and growth/upgrades will stop. Anyway, this is the crap mngmt is throwing at us. Unfortunately, it does make sense in order to maintain profitability. Continuing to add west coast citys will be a recipe for disaster with rising gas prices and without an additional more centralized hub.

Where did you get your MBA and how meany airlines have brought back from the brink of shutting down?

 

[180ToTheMarker]

To all those Airtran fo's anticipating upgrade, you better hope the Midwast deal goes through. There is no way we will be getting all the 737's (listed in an earlier post) with no logical place to put them. These will be sold and growth/upgrades will stop. Anyway, this is the crap mngmt is throwing at us. Unfortunately, it does make sense in order to maintain profitability. Continuing to add west coast citys will be a recipe for disaster with rising gas prices and without an additional more centralized hub.

Maybe....but I have heard that we will have 4 gates with an option for 4 more at the new terminal in IND. Could that be the midwest hub if the MidEx deal falls thru?

 

[RIDETHELIGHTING]

i have heard that there is a plan in place if the MDX deal does fall through. I was IND they said we are getting more gates too. We are also picking up more gates out of MCO, we will be changing terminal though.

 

[Lear70]

To all those Airtran fo's anticipating upgrade, you better hope the Midwast deal goes through. There is no way we will be getting all the 737's (listed in an earlier post) with no logical place to put them. These will be sold and growth/upgrades will stop. Anyway, this is the crap mngmt is throwing at us. Unfortunately, it does make sense in order to maintain profitability. Continuing to add west coast citys will be a recipe for disaster with rising gas prices and without an additional more centralized hub.

Somehow, management has always had a "plan B" in place for nearly everything they've done that hasn't worked out.

Additionally, they've remained profitable year after year, albeit marginally some years, but profitable is profitable.

Midwest Acquisition or no Midwest acquisition, we're going to be just fine. Maybe DEFER a couple aircraft, but certainly not SELL the slots completely, we got them WAY to cheap to give them up.

I'll take that bet. How much you wanna put on it?

 

[Sunking]

"Baker revised his full-year 2007 profit projection for AirTran from 55 cents a share to 90 cents a share, noting that AirTran plans to temporarily halt aircraft delieveries this summer."
Question, has anyone heard this in recurrent. Does anyone know the number airplanes AirTran plans to take this year, if this article is true? Just curious how this will affect upgrades this year.

According to J. Trimble in planning , that's it for the upgrades this year. He said all the upgrades are already in the training pipe.

 

[gt1900]

Airline #5... Not to bash, but, if your really on airline #5, why should we listen to a thing you have to say? Hell, if its taken you 5 airlines to find 1 that may stay in business, whats that say about you??? Boys, if you haven't figured this out yet, things can change overnight. I talked to SG about 2 months ago and she said around 180 new hires for the year.. Now I'm hearing 280... I'm guessing upgrades will start again early summer... Even if the midwest deal falls through (and I still give it 50%) you can bet JL and the boys have back up plans.. And you can believe they will have spots for those 73's as well..

 

[RIDETHELIGHTING]

10 this year, 15 2008

 

[Eagle757shark]

Airline #5... Not to bash, but, if your really on airline #5, why should we listen to a thing you have to say? Hell, if its taken you 5 airlines to find 1 that may stay in business, whats that say about you??? Boys, if you haven't figured this out yet, things can change overnight. I talked to SG about 2 months ago and she said around 180 new hires for the year.. Now I'm hearing 280... I'm guessing upgrades will start again early summer... Even if the midwest deal falls through (and I still give it 50%) you can bet JL and the boys have back up plans.. And you can believe they will have spots for those 73's as well..

Whoa gt1900, I think you need to step back a moment. If you take a look around, there are many guys at AirTran, Jetblue, Southwest that are on their 5th, 6th and so on airline. This doesn't make airline #5 any less knowledgable! If you have been fortunate enough to be at AirTran for the last 5 to 7 years, you've seen some profitable times and that is a blessing. Doesn't mean you are a business whiz kid! Just means you were at the right place at the right time. Do you really think that airline #5 chose his airlines for employment with some vision he'd be jumping around? Furloughs happen, and I for one had NO SAY in any of the ones that I experienced. It was just the luck and bad timing of the industry. So gt1900, the fortunes for AirTran pilots have been good the last few years. But be humble! This industry can turn on a DIME for anyone!! I will say, for airline #5 to go to 5 airlines and stay in this crazy industry and not give up says alot about this man. It sounds like he loves what he is doing and that is flying airplanes. That is what it says about him. gt1900, deflate the chest and lower the nose, and you may begin to really see the real airline world!

 

[Lear70]

No, Eagle, he's got it right.

From my perspective in my career...

Airline #1 was a great "good old boys" airline until senior management came in, completely axed middle management, and started implementing policies that were simply unacceptable to live by.

If I had been intelligent THEN, I'd have seen the writing on the wall with the hiring curves (funny, they don't teach that stuff in college - wonder why), and would have immediately gone back to that full-ride law scholarship I passed up which was still available.

But no, I move on to Airline #2 which, promptly after upgrading to Captain, dies a painfully short, horrible death, leaving me on the street again.

At this point, I had what was probably my last option for a STABLE career, an offer from Netjets, but I was too stupid to take it,,, or to get out of aviation for something more stable, and chose to go to a Regional named Express Airlines I.

No one ever told me that the I stood for the first level of Hell in my Airline Choice #3.

5 very ANGRY years later, I finally make it out. This whole last year has been 20 day off averages just to "decompress" from 5 mostly-bad years of flying.

So now I'm on airline #4. And I feel pretty stupid for not making some different decisions along the way.

Additionally, I'm evidently going to be stupid enough to ride this one in as well. I'm sure at some point I'll kick myself for not accepting Netjets for the 2nd time, turning down the jetBlue blue dart, and turning down Cathay Pacific as well (all happened about the same time I got hired at airTran).

Hopefully I won't have to, but having been through multiple airlines definitely means you are hopefully at least well-educated on the sometimes-rediculously stupid ideas management has made at those carriers enough to recognize it when you see it now (like the TSA thing).

I haven't seen any real bone-headed moves since the Christmas fiasco, so I'm not too terribly worried yet.

Then again, I've been wrong before.

On the other hand, confucious say he who keeps resume updated, interview suit pressed and ready, and other airline contacts fresh is certainly someone who might be employed quickly elsewhere if things went south fast. THAT'S what I Primarily learned from all this.

I personally think Airline #5 was just in a bad mood and needed a little "venting". Go easy on the guy.