Another small victory for DL...Airtran leaves GSO

[Ty Webb]

Ty,

Hey man. Aren't you about to graduate from that "flap operator" position of your'n into a "flap director's" job?

Hope things are holding up well for you. See ya around. Take care and keep 'em all straight.

http://www.weebls-stuff.com/testy/cowbell.swf

Thanks for the link . . . . one of my favorite episodes.

Some of my classmates were awarded CA737 but I am holding out for 717. Probably wait until after the holidays . . . . enjoying life too much to be bothered with reserve.

If you're in the area, just stop by the Florabama . . . . .

 

[Ty Webb]

Are you still trying to peddle this bs? Wichita and Tallahassee are both subsidized by taxpayers.

More squawking from the peenotz gallery. Why don't you post some information to support your allegation? Otherwise, it's just more noise.

PS., are you guys still selling tickets from DFW to FL via MSY to get around the law in DFW?

Squawk, Squawk, Thump.

 

[Joe Peeoznotz]

More squawking from the peenotz gallery. Why don't you post some information to support your allegation? Otherwise, it's just more noise.

.

Here you go pinhead.

http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/news/3812530.htm

 

[Citrusflyer]

Travel Banks are not a profit making enterprise. The "bank" is set up by the COC and local business to bring us to a break-even point only. If the locals don't use us as they agreed to when we agreed to start service they have to pony up the $$ to the break even point NOT FOR A PROFIT!


Travel banks wouldn't even be necessary it the COC and Mayor thought they were getting fair ticket pricing. They courted Airtran, jetblue, and <yes> SWA for service, each receiving varying offers. I don't know why some on this board feel they can run Wichita (or Toledo, etc) better than those elected and those living there, but if you can maybe you should go into politics and leave the flying to others.

 

[FDJ2]

The city offered to cover AirTran's for losses of up to $3 million in the first 12 months of business and an additional $1.5 million in the second year.

And the city is providing AirTran up $600,000 in marketing.


Wow. It must be nice to be subsidized by a city. If the subsidies go, will Airtran pull out?

 

[FLB717]

We will stay for as long as Delta continues to screw to public, ask TLH how the fares have changed after our departure has been anounced.

 

[Ty Webb]

We're not in the business of operating at "break-even". The guarantee, or "travel bank" only guarantees break even . . . . . . if all we are doing is "break-even" then we wouldn;t be there.


As for Pete Austin . . . err, excuse me, Joe Peenotz- that article was from 2002. Is that the best you can do?

I sure hope that you aren't slamming us on this message board and then riding us to get to work. I have met a few SWA guys who commute on us from ICT and MCI, and I sure hope you weren't one of those guys that shakes my hand, accepts a seat in business class, and then slams us on a message board.

I do a couple of MCI and ICT overnights next month, so I'll be sure to ask any SWA commuters if they feel like you do.

Suawk, Squawk, Thump.

 

[BLUE BAYOU]

I guess I was right about some of the subsides, but hey, more power to AAI for coming up with what is soundly a cool way to do business and help communities out that could use a break. When a city ponies up 3 million bucks so that their citizens can save 60 million in travel fares, I think I'd want to move to Wichita, too!!! Good on them.

 

[Ty Webb]

I think that to really understand the whole travel bank thing, one needs to review what happened in MOB (Mobile, AL).

Mobile is 302 NM from ATL, but had astronomical fares and spotty service to ATL, as Delta was the only game in town. AirTran started service to MOB, and Delta immediately matched the low fares. Mobilians were delighted at the sudden benevolance of Delta . . . fares cut in half, more service . . . . what's not to like?

Meanwhile, AirTran was finding it hard to fill up their airplanes. After all, at the same price, which would you have chosen- Delta, with frequent flyer points, nicer airplanes, more frequent service, or AIrTran, with ratty old DC9's, less frequent service, and a fledgling FF program?

AirTran, with low ridership, started warning Mobilians that if they didn;t use the service, they would pull out . . . to no avail. Eventually, they did just that. Delta raised their rates right back to where they had been previously, and the people of Mobile wandered around in a daze, wondering what had happened.

In the end, it was a losing propsition for both- Airtran had lost money on the experiment, and Mobile had lost the opportunity to have lower fares.

Since then, AirTran has learned to get the community involved, in the form of a ticket bank. If the people fail to utilize our service, the travel bank keeps us from losing money. It takes over half a million dollars to open a new station, so the advertising dollars helpd mitigate that cost. The business community has a stake in promoting the new service, and it lowers our exposure.

In the end, if these communities were being chargeD a fair price to begin with, they wouldn;t have a desire to bring us there in the first place.

 

[FLB717]

On a different note. Congrats to MUSIC on his passing the B737 Captain upgrade, well done.

 

[Mugs]

Mugs, if you want a straight answer, ask a straight question. If you just want to throw mud, find someone else to play with.

If you really feel a huge, honking need to blame someone, though, the blame really belongs at the feet of the legacy carriers.

We came into towns with high fares. We offered to provide service at lower, yet profitable rates. Legacy responds by dumping another three, four or five more flights a day into said market, at prices they can;t make money at. Yields plummet. Sometimes, we stay and sometimes we go.

Oh come on Ty. You have thrown your share of mud pies around this sandbox since your FCharter days. Besides, I didn't throw any anyway. What I was simply getting at is an issue with the growth of LCC's and contraction (domestic) of large hub and spoke carriers. It will be interesting to see how the smaller communities do as this shakes out. The fact that companies like yours may not stay in a marginal market indicates that in the future, many markets that still have service today might be left with none tomorrow.