AirTran's Business is Deteriorating

[USARET]

Not True

They have: Lil Bow Wow, Bobby Brown, and MARTA just to name a few!

And with spring break right around the corner lets not forget Freaknik!

 

[maxblast72]

"To further compound the problem, AirTran has committed to purchasing an
additional 60 planes with no clearly articulated strategic plan to
deploy and utilize these planes on a profitable basis."


I am not a business major so maybe someone can explain this to me. How is having 60 airplanes bought in 2003 somewhere in the mid 30 millions range a bad thing when the airplanes are now going for 5 to 10 million more in the world market (and maybe more with Southwest driving the demand up). I believe we have already sold 2 to a Nigerian airline for a decent profit.

Having the ability to grow if the markets are there or having to the ability to sell planes for a profit seems like a good spot to be in to me.

 

[Flyer1015]

Airtran is still trying to buy Midwest out? Why not just drop it? The "merger mania" frenzy the media portrayed is over, due largely to US Airways bid failing to merge with Delta. We probably won't see a merger mania until the next aviation downturn.

What the heck do I know? My crystal ball keeps telling me to "Get off Flightinfo now!"

 

[XRMEFLYER]

And with spring break right around the corner lets not forget Freaknik!

Yeah boyyyyy!

 

[Citrusflyer]

This letter contains forward-looking statements about the results expected under the company's strategic plan and that otherwise may state the company's or management's intentions, hopes, beliefs, expectations or predictions for the future. Words such as "projecting," "expect," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "goal," "plan," "objective" or similar words are intended to identify forward-looking statements. It is important to note that the company's actual results could differ materially from the projected results contained in these forward-looking statements. Factors that may cause such a difference to occur include, but are not limited to, fees and expenses incurred in connection with AirTran's unsolicited exchange offer and the risk factors described in "Item 1A. Risk Factors" in the company's "Annual Report on Form 10-K" for the year ended December 31, 2006.

In other words......Tim and the BOD are blowing smoke out their collective @$$...........!

BTW, the MEH BOD is responding to an SEC Filing from Airtran. The penalty of which (to Airtran) for filing false information is nothing short of disasterous for the company's finances. So between the two documents who has the incentive to tell the truth.....or lie?!?

 

[twepilot]

nothing good out of the A-T-L????WTF, dude, there's 85, 75, 20, 400...

RV

 

[Lear70]

Jeez, and your profile says B-717. I wonder who you fly for? Actually, numbers don't lie. I don't think it's the airlines fault however. Nothing good ever comes out of Atlanta. Nothing.

Then who are you trying to blame it on? The crews?

All that really says is that you can make numbers tell any story that you can want to tell. Nice try Mr Hoeksema. The companies would be better off merged into one.

I, for one, don't want them merged. I do, however, believe they'd be a better combined airline from a financial standpoint with AirTran's growth schedule combined with Midwest's Customer Service.

However, we have also been confronted by many false and misleading claims made by AirTran about its offer and Midwest's business -- comments we believe are designed to divert attention from AirTran's deteriorating performance, lack of planning, and absence of a credible and profitable growth plan for its future. It is time to set the record straight.
AirTran's Business is Deteriorating

That's partially true, partially untrue. Loads are down. RASM is down. That's not hugely surprising given our entrance into several markets that have no idea who we are. You have to develop a customer base; it doesn't just happen overnight.

To say our "Business is deteriorating" is a huge spin that borders on an outright falsehood. Our loads on our established routes are doing just fine and are NOT deteriorating.

-- AirTran's load factors are on a downward track. AirTran's load factor declined 0.7 percentage points in 2006 and declined again in January
2007, down 1.6 percentage points... AirTran's declining load factors reflect a pattern of excessive capacity expansion leading directly to lower unit revenue, lower profits and lower value for AirTran shareholders.

No sh*t, sherlock.

That's a fancy way of making people think it's a long-term problem when, in actuality, it's the short-term cost of doing business in a new market. Lower unit revenue is a direct result of flying with lots of empty seats in the back given that our CASM hasn't gone up. Marketing in new cities will bring the loads up which will bring RASM back up.

That is, however, one of our biggest problems. Our marketing sucks.

-- AirTran appears to be focused on adding capacity, not profits. In the last half of 2006, Midwest's revenue per available seat mile (RASM) was
12.40 cents -- a 12.1% improvement from the last half of 2005.
AirTran's RASM was 9.54 cents in the last half of 2006 -- down 2.1%
from the same period of 2005.

Again, thanks for the rocket science analysis, Mr. Mensa. Of course Midwest's RASM has gone up. They haven't appreciably grown. They haven't appreciably expanded. They have, however, put more "meat in the seats". Good for them, but much more easily done on an established route and/or higher ticket prices which, because of their market presence, they can get away with once the public knows what and who they are, especially with Midwest's excellent product.

AirTran's deteriorating RASM performance underscores its inability to efficiently utilize its existing capacity. To further compound the problem, AirTran has committed to purchasing an additional 60 planes with no clearly articulated strategic plan to deploy and utilize these planes on a profitable basis.

Again, a hugely misleading statement. "No clearly ARTICULATED strategic plan..." That means we're not telling you what, where, and how we plan to deploy our new aircraft so you can move to screw us.

That's called Business 101.

The article is a huge slander piece that accentuates EPS (most investors make money off the margin, not the EPS although that goes into how well a stock might increase in value over time), and maximizes AirTran's decreasing RASM without acknowledging that all growth comes at some cost.

Southwest has been doing this for decades; their initial cities often operate with low load factors until everyone finds out there's new service. They have the benefit of being a household name world-wide. THAT'S what AirTran needs to work on, as well as improved Customer Service.

Get the name out there with a good product and the RASM will come.

 

[SkiFishFly]

I just finished a 4 day with every flight full...
Seems like loads might be beginning to pick up again.
I think the MEH management is pulling out all the stops to try and make AAI look bad. They want to keep their jobs.

 

[doh]

Not True

They have: Lil Bow Wow, Bobby Brown, and MARTA just to name a few!

OMFG, you just made Cool Hand's case!

 

[Citrus531]

I just finished a 4 day with every flight full...
Seems like loads might be beginning to pick up again.
I think the MEH management is pulling out all the stops to try and make AAI look bad. They want to keep their jobs.

I have the load factors emailed to me once a week from pax movement; they're right back where they need to be from now through mid-march(that's as far as it goes for now)...I agree 100%...Timmy and MEH KNOW it makes sense but they don't want to lose their jobs. Load factors system wide and in ATL are high 80's and low 90's

You can't GET tickets on us to BOS, LGA, MCO, FLL, MIA, MDW, LAS, LAX, SFO, CAK, FNT in the next several weeks...I went to list myself on PHX and LGA flights that are a month away and they're already oversold or right at capacity.

Florida is FULL..New York is FULL...Cali is FULL...Spring break is here