Here we go again- DAL

[8vATE]

HAHAHAHA. There you go again. You are soooo jealous it is ridiculous. You were turned down, no doubt there.


Bye Bye--General Lee

Nope..

you are wrong again douchebag....


But I'm so happy for you!

You reap what you sow..
And you guys were greedy and arrogant for a LONG time...

Welcome to reality...

And don't blame me for your plight!

 

[General Lee]

Nope..

you are wrong again douchebag....


But I'm so happy for you!

You reap what you sow..
And you guys were greedy and arrogant for a LONG time...

Welcome to reality...

And don't blame me for your plight!

No I am not.

So glad you are happy for me.

Reap what we sow? We raised the bar, unlike Jetblue and the 100 seat rates

Reality? We have learned from this, and we now have solid management that will help us get out of this. They have a plan, and you and I aren't privy to it.

I don't blame you for our plight. I can see, though, that you blame us for your unhappiness. That really is sad. Jealousy $ucks for you. We will be fine in the end.


Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[General Lee]

Hmmm, now why would you do that??

Why? I wisely checked the date afterwards. It was a tad bit outdated. It is great that you like to show us our problems, and that is fine. We have had tons of press as of late, and not a lot of it was good, but we still have evaded Chap 11 and we are finding ways to try to turn this thing around. We finally have management that cares, and they are finding ways to solve our problems. You can agree or disagree with that, but I am sure that as we eventually get healthier, the worse off your airline will be. We are trying to cut $5 billion a year out of our costs, and if we do we will be a much stronger competitor.


Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[Dizel8]

Oh I get it, you can post bad articles about jetblue, but you get upset when others point out the problems in Gritsville.

Strangely onesided if you ask me, particularily since you did not get upset, when it was posted on the regional board!

 

[General Lee]

Oh I get it, you can post bad articles about jetblue, but you get upset when others point out the problems in Gritsville.

Strangely onesided if you ask me, particularily since you did not get upset, when it was posted on the regional board!

No, I was waiting for you to post on the Majors. I wasn't dissappointed. That's fine, everyone has an opinion and I respect that. Post away. I have never posted anything bad about the pilots themselves (unlike that jerk 8vate), but I too will post news.


Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[Dizel8]

"but I too will post news."

Then since it was DAL news, how come you did not post it on the majors board?

 

[General Lee]

"but I too will post news."

Then since it was DAL news, how come you did not post it on the majors board?

I had just gotten up and I saw the "DAL asking for more" on the regionals board, so I went there first and read the article. Then I went to the majors board and saw you put it there too. I also took a great dump just after I got up. What else do you want to know? (I do take my fiber pills)


Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[Dizel8]

Well, I am sure Misses Lee appreciates that, otherwise you'd probably be grumpy!

 

[General Lee]

Well, I am sure Misses Lee appreciates that, otherwise you'd probably be grumpy!

That is the KEY to a good marriage---SEPERATE BATHROOMS. Tell your friends that one----no krap---litterally and figuratively.


Here is some more from Grinstein today:

But Grinstein on Wednesday said the new fare schedule is part of a plan to cut $5 billion in annual costs. The simplified fares draw more customers to Delta's Web site, which is the cheapest place for Delta to peddle tickets. Plus, the simplified fares make life easier for reservations agents, boosting productivity and allowing Delta to close two reservations centers, he said.

Despite the airline's liquidity problems, Grinstein will boost capacity this year by 8% and is even considering an expansion of service on low-cost unit Song.

The capacity boost is due to a revamping of the Atlanta hub and increasing airplane utilization. That process has boosted airplane utilization so much, it's as if Delta has 19 new airplanes, Grinstein said.

As for Song, Grinstein has already said he will allocate 12 more Boeing 757s to the unit, which operates point-to-point trips to leisure destinations. And Wednesday Grinstein said Song "may grow somewhat" beyond the current plans - this from the guy who considered scrapping Song altogether when he took the reins of the airline two years ago.

"I think Song is performing well," Grinstein said. "It has held market share in markets we would not have otherwise been able to hold."

Meanwhile, Grinstein is making plans to cut some airplane types from Delta's fleet. He will first drop the Boeing 737-200s and some 737-300s, and is also considering dropping the Boeing 767-200s. Grinstein aims to cut the number of aircraft types in Delta's fleet to four in the next five or six years from the current 11.

Eventually, he wants to trim the number to two: a widebody and a narrowbody.

"Delta could manage all of its flying with two aircraft types," he said. " That's the direction we have to head, but it's going to take us quite a while to get there."

-By Elizabeth Souder, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-4148; elizabeth.souder@ dowjones.com


From what I have heard and read, those narrowbodies will probably be in the 737 family (700,800,900) and the widebody would be the 787 or 777. (as said on Dalpa forum....from whom I don't remember) I guess Song would have 739's?


Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[Dizel8]

"It has held market share in markets we would not have otherwise been able to hold."


Marketshare vs profits perhaps.

Yes, yes, I know, Song is profitable because GG said so, SOX etc.

 

[General Lee]

"It has held market share in markets we would not have otherwise been able to hold."


Marketshare vs profits perhaps.

Yes, yes, I know, Song is profitable because GG said so, SOX etc.

Well, he SAID it again, and he could be held accountable I guess..? At least YOU are coming around and seeing the light........Have a good one bud.


Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[MedFlyer]

Well, he SAID it again, and he could be held accountable I guess..? At least YOU are coming around and seeing the light........Have a good one bud.

Bye Bye--General Lee

No, he didn't. In fact, Song's president was recently interviewed and she publicly stated that while Song was occasionally profitable in certain months, consistent profitability was years away.

 

[Dizel8]

Uhoh, incoming!

 

[On Your Six]

No, he didn't. In fact, Song's president was recently interviewed and she publicly stated that while Song was occasionally profitable in certain months, consistent profitability was years away.

Do you have a link to that interview? This business is cyclical ain't it - certainly the Fall season is probably a lot less profitable than the Summer or Spring Break seasons... That's not a big surprise. High fuel prices make all months less profitable - but that isn't Delta's fault.

 

[MedFlyer]

Do you have a link to that interview? This business is cyclical ain't it - certainly the Fall season is probably a lot less profitable than the Summer or Spring Break seasons... That's not a big surprise. High fuel prices make all months less profitable - but that isn't Delta's fault.

Although Delta does not break out revenue or load factors for Song, Delta CEO Jerry Grinstein has said that the carrier has been profitable in certain months. Smith said the carrier likely will reach sustainable profitability "within a couple years, maybe on the short side of that."

http://atlanta.bizjournals.com/atlanta/stories/2005/02/28/story2.html

 

[General Lee]

Well, there you go. I know September usually is not profitable because of the Summer drop off, but that is probably true for most years. Spring Break months and Summer months are probably great, and holidays too. They are trying to sustain continuous profits, and I can see it being like a cycle throughout the year. That is something that is being worked on obviously. At least it is not UNPROFITABLE ALL YEAR LONG. It is probably a break even type operation used to combat jetblue----and without it Jetblue would be even more profitable. She never said it was an unprofitable entity. But, Grinstein seems to like it, and he is in charge.


Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[Dizel8]

"It is probably a break even type operation"

But I thought it was profitable, didn't GG say that, or did he say breakeven. Could this mean that he is in trouble, you know SOX and all.

The problem is, that with an airline within an airline, where is operting cost delegated. Who pays for all the facilities Song use, who pays for MX, reservations, fuel, crews, planes etc. As it has been mentioned before, if Song only pays for the cost of fuel and crews, with the airplanes, being "given" free and clear from DAL, then yes, it should be wildly profitable.

But that is similar to, when you have the argument with DCI, that they are only profitable because of DAL paying the cost for the operation and the airplanes.

 

[General Lee]

"It is probably a break even type operation"

But I thought it was profitable, didn't GG say that, or did he say breakeven. Could this mean that he is in trouble, you know SOX and all.

The problem is, that with an airline within an airline, where is operting cost delegated. Who pays for all the facilities Song use, who pays for MX, reservations, fuel, crews, planes etc. As it has been mentioned before, if Song only pays for the cost of fuel and crews, with the airplanes, being "given" free and clear from DAL, then yes, it should be wildly profitable.

But that is similar to, when you have the argument with DCI, that they are only profitable because of DAL paying the cost for the operation and the airplanes.

You really are milking this. The fact is that you and I do not know what Song does or makes. And, you are right, Song is placed on routes just like DCI, and that can make or break them. As far as Song using mainline equipment, that is true, but they also have their own workers (gate agents, flight attendants) that are paid less than their mainline counterparts, kind of like DL Express Pilots were way back when. So, Song has less costs in certain areas and is trying to be a Jetblue inside a Delta. It seems to be doing well enough to be getting more planes---and that speaks a lot about how well our management people think it is doing.


Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[canyonblue]

and is trying to be a Jetblue inside a Delta.

Bye Bye--General Lee

Why would people fly a copy when they can fly the original?

 

[Dizel8]

General,

Don't get me wrong, I think Song was a brilliant strategic move on DAL part. Just like the move AA made against Legend and against Vanguard.
I think DAL was smart in throwing capacity into ATL-LAX, just like AAI was smart in contracting Ryan to do the same, when jetblue stuck their toe in there.

I do not for a minute doubt, that jetblue wishes Song was not, nor do I doubt that DAL is willing to lose money on Song to compete with jetblue. It makes sense to try and stop a competitors advance. Almost every time jetblue announces a new route, Song announces the same shortly there after. That is simply how the cookie crumbles.

So as I said, I think Song is a wise move, but I do not think, the true intent was to make money nor do I believe, that Song does, provided all the true cost was to be borne by itself.

"It seems to be doing well enough to be getting more planes---and that speaks a lot about how well our management people think it is doing."

Fair enough, just don't confuse competetive response and profitability, often they are not one and same.

As for milking SOX, you are the one holding it as the holy grail