AQ hiring & stuff

[islandhopper]

Good news! According to the recent new hire class, they were told the plan is to continue adding at least 3 new 737-700 every year until they reach the 20 in the ATSB plan.

There is an April class already on the calendar, and classes should be scheduled for May & June. After that it's a bit foggy.

New destinations are anybody's guess. But probably more US mainland and less international and South Pacific stuff.

As of now the word is an all 737-700 fleet by sometime in 06. They will use the airplanes on both inter-island runs and trans pac stuff.

If the island air sale goes through they will most likely (try to) grow inter- island with turboprops and shrink the jet flying to something less than what it is today.

Any comments? additions? Corrections?

 

[English]

Comments? Thanks for the update!

How are we going to do cargo in the -700? Seems the -200 is a great airplane for those runs.

 

[islandhopper]

Comments? Thanks for the update!

How are we going to do cargo in the -700? Seems the -200 is a great airplane for those runs.

That's the big question. It was explained to me that they could keep some 200's for cargo ops if they needed to but we are looking for a new airplane.

 

[English]

Six Southern California Members of Congress Urge Sec. Mineta to Approve Aloha Slot from DCA to John Wayne

WASHINGTON (Friday, March 5, 2004) —Stepping up the campaign for Aloha Airlines to make its first-ever flights to the East Coast, the entire bipartisan Orange County congressional delegation has written to Transportation Secretary Norm Mineta urging that DOT grant Aloha’s application to fly nonstop between Washington Reagan National (DCA) and John Wayne Airport (SNA).

The delegation includes four House chairmen, as well as a member of the House Leadership. In addition to the letter, Members have weighed in personally with both Secretary Mineta and Assistant Secretary for Aviation, Karan Bhatia.

Aloha would be the only completely new entrant among all applicants for the DCA slots, given that it has no current operations on the U.S. East Coast. The Aloha application is viewed as extremely strong for this reason.

Aloha’s plan to offer direct flights between Orange County and DCA will provide the only nonstop connection between Orange County and the Washington-Baltimore area--two regions that are home to a combined 11 million people. And with roundtrip fares starting as low as $278, Aloha’s service out of DCA will introduce more competition to the DC area, and reduce fares for travel between the Washington area and Southern California.

The following is the text of the letter sent to Secretary Mineta from Homeland Security Committee Chairman and House Policy Committee Chairman Chris Cox (R-CA); Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee Chairman Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA); Africa Subcommittee Chairman Ed Royce; Water and Power Subcommittee Chairman Ken Calvert (R-CA); Transportation & Infrastructure Committee member Gary Miller (R-CA); and Border Control and Infrastructure Protection Subcommittee Ranking Member Loretta Sanchez (D-CA).

TEXT OF LETTER TO SEC. MINETA

Dear Secretary Mineta:

As elected officials representing Orange County, California, we are writing to express our strong support for Aloha Airlines’ request for four slot exemptions at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) in order to provide two daily nonstop flights between DCA and John Wayne Airport in Orange County, California (SNA).

Aloha’s plan to offer direct flights between Orange County and DCA promises to deliver significant benefits for air travelers. It will provide the only nonstop connection between Orange County and the Washington-Baltimore area--two regions that are home to a combined 11 million people. And it will reduce by 30%--from seven hours to five hours--the time it takes to travel between these two populous regions.

With three million residents and a booming economy, Orange County is a major destination for travelers, and our tourist attractions--including Disneyland and our world-famous beaches--make it a magnet for travelers from the Washington-Baltimore area as well as from all over the globe. Furthermore, because the Washington area is one of the largest sources of East Coast traffic to Hawaii, Aloha’s continuing single-plane service through SNA to Honolulu provides yet another benefit.

Aloha’s application also promises to introduce more competition to the DC area. Of all the other current carriers who have applied for beyond-perimeter slot exemptions, Aloha is the only one that would be a true new entrant to the Washington-Baltimore marketplace. And with roundtrip fares as low as $278, Aloha’s service out of DCA can also help reduce fares for travel between the Washington-Baltimore region and Southern California.

For all these reasons, we are confident that Aloha Airlines’ service between Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and Orange County will provide the traveling public with tremendous new benefits, and we urge favorable consideration of Aloha’s application.

Thank you for your careful review of Aloha’s application, and for your commitment to promoting greater competition in air travel. Please feel free to contact us if we may provide you with any additional information.

Sincerely,

Rep. Christopher Cox Rep. Dana Rohrabacher Rep. Ed Royce Rep. Ken Calvert Rep. Loretta Sanchez Rep. Gary Miller

 

[Hugh Jorgan]

That's the big question. It was explained to me that they could keep some 200's for cargo ops if they needed to but we are looking for a new airplane.

I wonder how the ferry will affect AQ cargo.

 

[islandhopper]

I wonder how the ferry will affect AQ cargo.

There's already over water cargo in full swing at Young Brothers. If the new ferry operators intend to pay back the investors for those nice new boats they probably won't start a price war upon entry. Being able to drive-on & drive-off with a vehicle will be interesting. That's going to bring some changes to our state for sure.

 

[Hugh Jorgan]

I was just thinking the speed at which the ferries will operate will create not competition with Young Bros., but competition with AQ. Heck, they could charge a lot more than the Young Bros and less than AQ and have the bread make it there in not much more time from dropoff to delivery than having it flown over the way they currently do it. I really don't get the feeling that the barges currently in place will feel much of the effect of this....except for car shipments. I'd expect they will decline.

 

[islandhopper]

I was just thinking the speed at which the ferries will operate will create not competition with Young Bros., but competition with AQ. Heck, they could charge a lot more than the Young Bros and less than AQ and have the bread make it there in not much more time from dropoff to delivery than having it flown over the way they currently do it. I really don't get the feeling that the barges currently in place will feel much of the effect of this....except for car shipments. I'd expect they will decline.

They wont be able to offer frequency and our biggest customers, the bread, the fish, the mail all require frequency. How many boats will they have? one? Ultimately how many? 3 or 4? It may be cheap but it still wont be fast or frequent enough for the bulk of our big customers.

 

[islandhopper]

The bread comes in all night long truckloads at a time. It leaves the bakery and needs to be on the shelves outer island all in the same AM. You'll see soon enough as soon as your done with consolidation!

 

[Hugh Jorgan]

You'll see soon enough as soon as your done with consolidation!

Yeah...can't wait

 

[dash8driver]

islandhopper,

speaking of hughs consolidation. are they gonna go with the 3 legged goat, chicken feathers and ping pong balls this time or are they going to do it with the one armed monkey, used kitty litter and the jar of pickles? i assume the everythine else will remain the same.

 

[English]

...I vote for the kitty litter....

 

[Hugh Jorgan]

The one-armed monkey...I thought that was... Oh, never mind.

 

[AQ PILOT]

great info!

All 700 fleet kinda kills movement....no more 70 hour lines in the 700 base either. I'll miss that...

Personally, I don't see the ferry hurting us all that bad. Going to be awfully hard in terms of frequency to do any real damage.

Heard the same thing about the cargo birds....they have quite a bit of life left in them.

Anyone been called from last week's interviews yet?

 

[islandhopper]

islandhopper,

speaking of hughs consolidation. are they gonna go with the 3 legged goat, chicken feathers and ping pong balls this time or are they going to do it with the one armed monkey, used kitty litter and the jar of pickles? i assume the everythine else will remain the same.

private joke or did another one go over my head? It took me over a year to figure out Hugh Jorgan.

 

[English]

Does anyone know what the breakdown is of the class that started this week, in terms of background and experience levels of new hires?

 

[Hugh Jorgan]

I know three of them were from Island Air. Of those three, one was a former navy P-3 guy, the other a C-130 guard cat and the other was all civilian with I think right around the minimums as far as experience.

 

[islandhopper]

I know three of them were from Island Air. Of those three, one was a former navy P-3 guy, the other a C-130 guard cat and the other was all civilian with I think right around the minimums as far as experience.

Yes, one of the other guys is a low timer (right about 2000 hrs TT) but almost all his time is in turbine twins, minus about his first 250 hours.

I hear there's also another furloughed AA gal, a Trans Air guy, and an Air Ambulance driver all in there.

 

[Freight Dog]

The Navy operates cargo -700's. But.... check what Alaska is doing with their QC operation.

As for -700's flying interisland AND mainland?! I heard rumors of such, but..... who knows.

I gotta agree with AQ... 20 airplanes does not pose a growth if the -200's are gone and not replaced. All it is is a fleet modernization...

As for ferry.... it's been tried before. I highly doubt it's gonna be THAT much different this time.

 

[Hugh Jorgan]

Actually, I think they've finally cracked the code on the ferry thing. High-speed and smoother ride might just be the ticket. Still can't see it affecting interisland flying all that much...Maybe the replacement props will feel it a bit, but who knows!