Interesting Article about SWA from Motley Fool....

[General Lee]

General,

You getting more like Bagdad Bob everyday.

Cash Generator? Where do you get this crap?

You guys still have BILLIONS in debt and massive pension obligations. The same as GM when they IPO'd again. Definitely not a 'clean' IPO with great books coming out.

So, paying down $3 billion in debt in 18 months isn't a revenue generator? How about making $2.5 billion in ancillary revenue last year alone? You still don't see it? You may need to hit the Walmart vision center next time you have a pm layover in LBB, get those eyes checked..... Making that much per year while paying billions for a new JFK terminal and LGA expansion means revenue generation. You might actually need LASIK surgery apparently.



Bye Bye---General Lee

 

[FlyinGuy]

It is easy to pay down debt when you had the courts throw out your prior obligations!!! I say nice work on paying some down, but let's not forget about all that debt that was tossed out on that magical day before the new laws came into effect.

 

[redflyer65]

General,

What happened to all those DL Captains that hit age 60 during Oct and Nov 2005? I've heard some pretty bad stories about how they walked away with basically nothing, right between the bankruptcy being announced and age 65 kicking in just in December (too little too late).

 

[General Lee]

General,

What happened to all those DL Captains that hit age 60 during Oct and Nov 2005? I've heard some pretty bad stories about how they walked away with basically nothing, right between the bankruptcy being announced and age 65 kicking in just in December (too little too late).

If they didn't take the lump sum option before the BK, then they didn't do very well. If they were close to 60 at that time, they should have taken it. I don't think 65 was a sure thing just before the BK.


Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[fr8doggie]

Age 65 didn't happen until December of 2007.

 

[pilotyip]

Never confuse FI w/ reality-

we agree on something

 

[redflyer65]

Age 65 didn't happen until December of 2007.

That's true FR8. Sorry I got that wrong. I guess I was focusing on those months, but DL was in bankruptcy for awhile so it would have been another two years to get the extra 5 years of age 65.

Just had a friend tell me a story of a DL Captain having a long, long career there and only left with a PBC payout. I guess he wishes he would have taken the buyout.

 

[canyonblue]

Who wrote that part above? Herb Kelleher?


Bye Bye---General Lee

No, but Herb has been quoted before:

One report said that the company founder of Southwest Airlines, Herb Kelleher was pretty upset about the bankruptcies…Herb calls bankruptcy a health spa for Airlines.

 

[HighSpeedClimb]

What's the alternative to no BK's... Closing the doors and flooding the market with more pilots. I'm thankful we have this option cause one day MAYBE we may need it too!!

 

[Data]

So, paying down $3 billion in debt in 18 months isn't a revenue generator? How about making $2.5 billion in ancillary revenue last year alone? You still don't see it? You may need to hit the Walmart vision center next time you have a pm layover in LBB, get those eyes checked..... Making that much per year while paying billions for a new JFK terminal and LGA expansion means revenue generation. You might actually need LASIK surgery apparently.



Bye Bye---General Lee

Here is someone shorting DAL...it isn't all roses!

http://blog.newconstructs.com/2012/06/05/why-is-sp-raising-its-outlook-on-delta-dal/

"...footnotes of DAL’s latest 10-K report, I find that the growth of the company’s off-balance-sheet liabilities is larger than the reduction in the company’s on-balance-sheet debt."

 

[General Lee]

Here is someone shorting DAL...it isn't all roses!

http://blog.newconstructs.com/2012/06/05/why-is-sp-raising-its-outlook-on-delta-dal/

There are also some big wigs on the "inside" buying up stocks. Here's an article about UAL, but notice the DAL part. Data, you really aren't ever leaving your sad situation. Ever.


United Continental Execs Agree: Buy

By Meena Krishnamsetty - August 24, 2012| Tickers: Meena is a member of The Motley Fool Blog Network -- entries represent the personal opinions of our bloggers and are not formally edited.

Insider Monkey tracks insider purchases because they are statistically associated withhigher returns. We are seeing multiple insiders at the same company buying in. This is because while company insiders might have many reasons to sell stock, there is really only one reason to buy: they are so confident in the company’s prospects that they ignore the benefits of diversification and tie their wealth even more tightly to the same company responsible for their income. This consensus of insider buying is what we have just seen this month at United five company officers each reported direct acquisitions of 13,500 shares at prices generally between $18 and $18.30, and CEO Jeffery Smisek bought 55,600 shares at an average price of $18.00. Seeing how earlier this month the CFO of Delta made a large insider buy as well, we can conclude that the remarkably low earnings multiples the market is assigning to many major airlines are undervaluing the stocks.



Bye DATA!



Bye Bye---General Lee

 

[Data]

There are also some big wigs on the "inside" buying up stocks. Here's an article about UAL, but notice the DAL part. Data, you really aren't ever leaving your sad situation. Ever.


United Continental Execs Agree: Buy

By Meena Krishnamsetty - August 24, 2012| Tickers: Meena is a member of The Motley Fool Blog Network -- entries represent the personal opinions of our bloggers and are not formally edited.

Insider Monkey tracks insider purchases because they are statistically associated withhigher returns. We are seeing multiple insiders at the same company buying in. This is because while company insiders might have many reasons to sell stock, there is really only one reason to buy: they are so confident in the company’s prospects that they ignore the benefits of diversification and tie their wealth even more tightly to the same company responsible for their income. This consensus of insider buying is what we have just seen this month at United five company officers each reported direct acquisitions of 13,500 shares at prices generally between $18 and $18.30, and CEO Jeffery Smisek bought 55,600 shares at an average price of $18.00. Seeing how earlier this month the CFO of Delta made a large insider buy as well, we can conclude that the remarkably low earnings multiples the market is assigning to many major airlines are undervaluing the stocks.



Bye DATA!



Bye Bye---General Lee

That's a great response that only looks to the short term, if I was concerned about the long term, ie my pension, I would look a little further down the road. As the blog mentions, DAL will need 10-13 years of the same performance to meet its...your pension obligations. If the past decade is in any way an indicator of what can happen, I'd say you're screwed. I hope your retirement doesn't turn into a 'sad' situation. It would actually be pretty humorous to the majority on here that think you're a d!ckweed.

 

[redflyer65]

He won't be screwed, it will be the original Northwest guys. In the end, General will treat them like dirt by flushing the pensions they thought they kept!

Full Steam Ahead General/OYS.

 

[Scoot 11]

That's true FR8. Sorry I got that wrong. I guess I was focusing on those months, but DL was in bankruptcy for awhile so it would have been another two years to get the extra 5 years of age 65.

Just had a friend tell me a story of a DL Captain having a long, long career there and only left with a PBC payout. I guess he wishes he would have taken the buyout.

Ok, I'll bite. What's a PBC payout? I know what a PBGC is. Or maybe your friend is as full of ******************** as you!

 

[redflyer65]

Ok, I'll bite. What's a PBC payout? I know what a PBGC is. Or maybe your friend is as full of ******************** as you!

40 thousand a year I believe, for 30 years of service at Mother D.


Pretty painful.