FLYI - Going Out In A Blaze Of Glory????

[storminpilot]

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050207/dcm014_1.html

Press ReleaseSource: Independence Air


Independence Air Announces Major West Coast Expansion: Low-Fare Service Between Washington Dulles and FIVE New Cities; Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Seattle and San Jose to Premiere with Introductory Fares as Low as $84 Non-Stop and $114 From Connecting Cities
Monday February 7, 6:00 am ET

DULLES, Va., Feb. 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Low-fare airline Independence Air (Nasdaq: FLYi - News) announced today it will expand its service by adding five major West Coast destinations in the coming months -- all with non-stop flights from its hub at Washington Dulles International Airport, and easy connecting service from over 35 other Independence Air destinations in the East, Southeast and Midwest. <LI>(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20031119/DCW018LOGO-a )

Flights to San Diego International Airport (SAN) will begin on April 14th with one daily roundtrip. Service to San Francisco International Airport (SFO), Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) and Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport (SJC) will begin on May 1st. The San Francisco schedule includes two daily roundtrips, with one daily roundtrip each to Los Angeles, Seattle and San Jose.

Seats to all five cities are on sale now. As a way to celebrate this major West Coast expansion, Independence Air is offering special introductory fares of $84 one-way to the five new destinations on non-stop flights from Washington Dulles with connecting fares of $114 one-way from other Independence Air cities for tickets purchased by February 18, 2005 at FLYi.com or through travel agencies. The full schedule as well as introductory fare details and restrictions are seen below.

All of Independence Air's West Coast flights will be operated with the company's brand new 132-passenger Airbus A319 aircraft. The five new destinations will join Las Vegas (LAS) as part of Independence Air's low-fare network to the West. Las Vegas flights begin March 1st. Also, as previously announced, service from Washington to Fort Myers, FL starts February 17th.

Independence Air currently serves a total of 39 destinations. The airline's hub at Washington Dulles is the largest low-fare hub in America in terms of total departures. For more information about FLYi, Inc. and Independence Air, please visit our website at FLYi.com.

Independence Air is the low-fare airline that makes travel fast and easy for its customers with a customer-first attitude, innovative thinking and a willingness to challenge the status quo.

INDEPENDENCE AIR FLIGHT SCHEDULE
Effective April 14, 2005
Washington to San Diego San Diego to Washington
DepartsArrives Departs Arrives
9:15a 11:35a 12:35p 8:30p

Effective May 1, 2005
Washington to San Francisco San Francisco to Washington
Departs Arrives Departs Arrives
9:00a 11:40a 6:15a*2:21p
6:45p 9:25p 12:35p 8:30p *flight begins 5/2/05

Washington to Los Angeles Los Angeles to Washington
Departs Arrives Departs Arrives
9:15p 11:35p 12:35a* 8:15a *flight begins 5/2/05

Washington to Seattle Seattle to Washington
Departs Arrives Departs Arrives
6:45p 9:45p 11:59p 7:40a

Washington to San Jose San Jose to Washington
Departs Arrives Departs Arrives
6:45p 9:30p 11:00p 7:05a

Independence Air introductory fare rules:

The introductory fare is one-way and must be purchased by 2/18/05 for travel completed by 6/30/05. Introductory fares are limited and may not be available on all flights or all days and are not available on 5/27/05 and 5/30/05. Travel purchased by calling 800-FLY-FLYi is $5.00 higher per person. Fares are non-refundable and non-transferable but reservations may be changed prior to departure for a $25 fee plus any applicable difference in fare. One- way fares do not include segment fees of up to $6.40 (a segment is one takeoff and one landing), the September 11th Security Fee of up to $5.00 and Passenger Facility Charges of up to $9.00. Fares are subject to change without notice.

Independence Air, the "i" logo mark, FLYi.com and Go Your Own Way are service marks of Independence Air, Inc.




Source: Independence Air

 

[General Lee]

The problem here is that Indy will be flying their Arbi over long flights (over 5 hours Westbound) carrying low fare paying passengers, and not getting efficiency out of their planes. They will maybe get 4 landings a day for each---or 4 legs crossing the country---and the fares start at $89 each way. Well, they could have flown those those same planes 6 times up and down the East Coast, and charged the same fares and maybe made more revenue. Instead, they will burn more gas and bring in less revenue. And, TED will go up against them and offer twice as many flights at the same price. Indy just doesn't have enough A319s.....



Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[NuGuy]

Hey General,

I guess they're thinking "might as well, we don't want to leave any money for those pesky creditors".

Nu

 

[SWABound]

I think you have missed the point, like many United employees. People are sick of being treated like trash when they pay $1000 for a flight to anywhere. They hate United and Ted is just a bad apple dressed like an orange.

They can get a great fare and service on Independence. West Coast is just to get people to realize Government subsized airlines are not the only choice. It's bold and just puts another thorn in United's bleeding mismanaged airline.

 

[furlough-boy]

It's bold and just puts another thorn in United's bleeding mismanaged airline.

Maybe Independence should concentrate more on making money instead of trying to put thorns into UAL.

 

[General Lee]

I think you have missed the point, like many United employees. People are sick of being treated like trash when they pay $1000 for a flight to anywhere. They hate United and Ted is just a bad apple dressed like an orange.

They can get a great fare and service on Independence. West Coast is just to get people to realize Government subsized airlines are not the only choice. It's bold and just puts another thorn in United's bleeding mismanaged airline.

Great. But they don't have enough A319s to compete and they could be making more money flying the plane a few extra legs a day to FLA and back. They would probably be asking the same fare amount--around $89 each way, and could fly the planes more----rather than have them fly 6 hour legs westbound in the Winter and full of passengers all paying low fares. They aren't being very smart on where they utilize their current assets---which is small compared to United and Ted. (# of Airbi) United and TED will advertise the same fares, but have 3 times the flights, and that will offer more CHOICE to passengers. That is the key.


Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[Propsync]

That's the same thinking I have, General. Makes me wonder how AirTran will do flying longer stages with the 73's.

 

[P38JLightning]

89 dollar fares

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't the press release say "as low as" 89 each way? Even then it included a but load of tag on fees, plus tax, etc so you will be looking at 300 R/T minimum, which isn't unreasonable if that's just for a few promotional seats, or for a brief introductory rate.

This reminds me of people accusing Delta of slashing all their fares by half, because their new system lowers some fares by as much as half. Indy does have major competition, namely "on the Dole" United and mighty SWA out of BWI. I'm not sure what's better for most washington travelers, IAD or BWI, so Indy may be able to stay away from the 800lb gorilla's food dish for a while, not sure.

As for AirTran, that's a different story. West coast to ATL (a major market BTW) is for all intents and purposes a monopoly with Delta, that is until now. Does anyone know how AirTran's loads (*huh, huh*) have been on these new 737 routes? If they are doing well then that could be a positive sign for Indy. It would disprove the myth that if a legacy carrier simply matches fares with higher frequency they will get all the pax. If that were true, AirTran's west coast flights (some as infrequent as once a day) should be empty. Are they?

 

[zoohead]

General I reckon you're spot on with some of your comments, but you really havent looked too closely at the schedule.

For example:

IAD-SAN first run @0915 finishes @2030. Plenty of time to run a flight at 2130 and be back in IAD by 0815. Matches the LAX one, so you're correct there.

LAX Goes out of IAD @2115 and back in @0815...13hrs spare to SAN

SFO sort of the same thing.

SEA 11hrs spare to work during daylight hours.

SJC Nearly 12hrs spare to work during daylight hours.

Look closely, most of it is back-of-the-clock type work, using the aircraft "as much as they possibly can", I'm sure those same aircraft would be doing the FL runs during the day and doing more legs.

 

[The_Russian]

300 dollars or 84 dollars, what does it matter? We all know that it can't work in the books. These radical quick-buck new managment teams are puting even corporate America to shame. It is sad our brothers and sisters are losing jobs over it.

 

[GogglesPisano]

I'd say most of the analysts agree with you guys. Indy was fun while it lasted, but it's time to look for a new job.

Never ever drink the Kool-Aid!




From USAToday Travel:

Chaos on the transcons
Whether talking about the Golden Triangle of New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco or slightly less glamorous coast-to-coast routes like Seattle-Boston or Washington-Long Beach, transcontinental flying remains the place where the airlines try to make their bones.
With all due respect to hardworking business travelers in fly-over parts of the country, it's all about the transcons.

It's about the power. (Or so they say.) The privilege. (Or so they claim.) The perks. (At least what's left of them.) The prestige. (Whatever that means in the airline business.) And, for the last couple of years, the utter madness of it all.

Whether driven by market share or macho silliness, airlines can't resist the siren's song of the transcons. Which explains why they are the bloodiest financial killing fields in the domestic marketplace. Fares have plummeted: Walk-up flights that once commanded $1,200 one-way sell for less than $200 now. Almost no one is making money.

All the carriers flying transcons —and every airline except Northwest and Spirit have tried them in the past year — have been bruised and battered. Some have pulled out. Others are maniacally fiddling with pricing, products, fleets and capacity. Business travelers don't know from one day to the next who flies what routes at what prices.

Last year at this time, for example, the astonishing fare war slashed some advance-purchase transcon prices to $79 one-way. Also astonishing was the traveling public's response: Even at 80 bucks a pop, transcontinental seats were going empty.

Now it's all about the frenzy. Who's coming, who's going and who seems to be coming and going at the same time.

Here are a few highlights from the past month:

•America West said it would all but abandon its 18-month quest to crack the transcon market. It is dropping non-stops from San Francisco to Boston and New York/Kennedy and scuttling its Washington/Dulles-LAX non-stops. For the moment, at least, it will continue the Kennedy-LAX and Boston-LAX routes.

•Delta Air Lines announced it is pulling its traditional two-class service off four JFK transcon routes: Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle and San Diego. Three routes — Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle — will get all-coach Delta Song service beginning May 1. The Kennedy-San Diego route, launched only last year, is being dropped altogether.

•United Airlines is nearing completion of its risky effort to slash capacity by 35% on its JFK-SFO and JFK-LAX routes. The 168-passenger Boeing 767s are replaced with 110-seat Boeing 757s configured with United's unique p.s. service.

•Jet Blue Airways will launch two transcon routes on May 3: Boston-San Jose and Dulles-San Diego. Existing transcon routes from Dulles and Boston will get more flights, too. JetBlue also will add still more service between its Kennedy hub and five California cities this spring.

That's just a few days worth of transcon news. Want some other recent tidbits?

• American Airlines surrendered to JetBlue by dropping its JFK-Long Beach service in October

• ATA Airlines dumped its short-lived San Francisco-Newark flights.

• Newark-based Continental \ added a $499 one-way, advance-purchase first-class fare on its transcons to Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego.

• Frontier abandons its Los Angeles-Philadelphia route next month

(there's more but it won't fit)

 

[smellthejeta]

300 dollars or 84 dollars, what does it matter? We all know that it can't work in the books. These radical quick-buck new managment teams are puting even corporate America to shame. It is sad our brothers and sisters are losing jobs over it.

Maybe if they start charging the right seaters $30,000 for 200 hours of SIC time, they might be able to turn a profit?

 

[The_Russian]

Maybe if they start charging the right seaters $30,000 for 200 hours of SIC time, they might be able to turn a profit?

Why does it always come back to GIA???

Maybe if these companies passed their costs on to their customers, everything would be ok for us. We have a lot of pilots from Indy at GIA now. They are feeling the pain of being furloughed from 50-60K a year jobs and are back busting their a$$ in a 1900 so they can make more than a 20 dollar an hour as a CHQ whore.

HA! I passed the buck. Maybe I should have said MESA!!!
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooowwwwwwwwwwooooooohhhhhhh

 

[ASH]

Wait a minute Russian, you work for GIA, and you are bagging on CHQ????!!!!

We are not wh**%!! as you so nicely put. We come to work and yank the gear just like you do. For most guys, CHQ just happened to be the first one to call. We go out and serve our codeshares to the best of our abilities.

You are, dare I say, a GOOBER!

 

[The_Russian]

Oh no!

Don't get offended. God forbid anyone should talk trash about anyone besides Gulfstream!!! I have many friends at CHQ, so I only kid in response to smellthejeta's flame.

Goobers (TM) are good, by the way. You can get a double pack for 99c with Runts (TM).





TM = I don't want to get sued by Willy Wonka. He's a devilish fellow.

 

[smellthejeta]

Oh no!

Don't get offended. God forbid anyone should talk trash about anyone besides Gulfstream!!! I have many friends at CHQ, so I only kid in response to smellthejeta's flame.

What flame? Where did I mention GIA (previous quote from you saying I did)? I have to do this quick paper on "what you think the state of the industry will look like in 10 years" for a class I'm taking. Honestly, I think we'll have three strong LCC's serving a majority of the country. The most profitable LCC does one thing: Serves high density traffic routes. It's growth will have to stop some time, and when it does, it will probably serve a vast majority of the American public within a two hour drive of any of their cities. The regionals as we know it will have to feed those cities. However, the gravy fee-per-departures will disappear and will be replaced with a shared risk model. Faced with higher fares or a two hour drive, most people will drive two hours, driving up the fares of the regionals even more. The regionals will find that they just don't have enough revenue to stay in business.

There are parts of the country that are not within a two hour drive of a major city and need air service that cannot be supported in a free market. It's called EAS country. About the only carrier that serves a bunch of EAS markets has scaled back its operations and nobody seems to figure out how they're still operating.

At least one Part 121 operator has already figured out how to extract revenue from their SIC's, who are required crew members. In a cutthroat environment, what makes you think they will stop there? You have already endorsed their operational model. And yeah, I think this is how they're going to provide service to EAS markets if people will continue to support the GIA model of operation.

In response to the consumer paying more, well, I hate to tell you this, but I am the consumer. The airlines have created a catch-22 system that they can't get out of. If I'm going to pay more for flying on a legacy carrier, I expect more. What more am I getting? Frankly, I've never paid a fare that covers the airlines CSM cost for providing me that seat, and they kiss my butt and give me free upgrades for flying 5 to 10 times a year.