JO Decides Code-Shares Are Better Than Flying Empty in HI

[DashCojones]

I wouldn't worry about that either if I were you. UAL had a much better product with ACA and AWAC than they ever did/will with Mesa and you see how much they cared about that.

...proof?

 

[Soverytired]

How long has UPS been w/o a contract? . . . .

4 years? 2007 is just 259 days away.

I seriously dobut contract talks are going to last a week once they begin. I think the timeline will be something like:

1 year - (g or t): Talks begin.

2 years - 3 years: Rhetoric ratchets up on both sides.

3-4 years: Strike authority sought, cooling off periods ensue, strike (? big "maybe" here, and I'm pretty ambvilent on this point), mediation, new contract.

 

[Soverytired]

Those in glass houses . . . .

I wouldn't worry about that either if I were you. UAL had a much better product with ACA and AWAC than they ever did/will with Mesa and you see how much they cared about that.

Meanwhile, AWAC had such a "superior product" that they only had to pay USAir $250 MILLION (or, 1/4 of a BILLION) dollars for the privledge of flying for them.

 

[j41driver]

...proof?

History. UAL dropped Mesa once for poor performance. The only reason they brought them back is because they would do the flying cheaper than the encumbent UEx carriers.

 

[AerroMatt]

Uh, lots of airlines have a fee associated with applications. But Mesa uses "AirlineApps.com" (as does Continental, Frontier, Spirit, Go! (heh)), which I believe is free.

Helps keep the non-serious candidates from applying for the heck of it (and swamping the airline with applicants who have no intent of either interviewing or accepting a job offer)

First time you've ever applied for an airline job?

No, and as a former airline Chief Pilot, I will never stoop that low. I'm very happy where I am now as a Part 91 Flight Dept Manager. Besides, Mesa pay scale couldn't even begin to close on my current salary.

If you would have read my post a little closer, you would see that I was quoting their HR interviewer re: $50 application fee. If you seriously want to pay to fly, this is defineately the way to go bottom feeders!

 

[Soverytired]

Looks like it's not 737's after all . . . .

See the attached article. Mesa is close to finalizing a deal for E-195's initially for the GO! operation. But anyone who's been following the trend of the regionals knows that this will also perfectly position Mesa for additional business with code-share partners in the US who might want a regional to fly this highly sought after aircraft.

JO might not be the best boss in the world, but he's f'ing brilliant.

http://www.flightglobal.com/Articles/2006/04/18/Navigation/177/205991/Mesa+close+to+finalising+E-195+fleet+deal+for+Go.html

Mesa Air Group chairman Jonathan Ornstein is close to finalising a deal that will introduce Embraer’s 195 to the operator’s fleet.
The 95-seat aircraft will be assigned to Mesa’s Hawaii start-up Go, which will be launched on 9 June with five or six Bombardier CRJ200s. Ornstein says the decision to deviate from the larger Bombardier regional jets now employed in Mesa’s fleet will give him more leverage with new and existing feeder contracts, as well as aid his Hawaii expansion.
“It will be good to have certification across all these aircraft types,” says Ornstein. “Our [Mesa Air Group] fleet will soon be running short as some 50-seater jet leases expire. Once I have [E-195] certification I will have a better opportunity to approach the [mainline] airlines with options to upgrade to larger aircraft.”
Go’s initial fleet will contain at least five and possibly as many as eight CRJ200s, says Ornstein. Of these aircraft, talks are “at a very late stage” for short-term leases on five or six ex-Independence Air Bombardier 50-seat jets held by Export Development Canada (EDC), a government agency.
EDC confirms Mesa is one of “a few” airlines in talks to lease about a dozen of the 27 Independence Air and 15 Northwest Airlines Bombardier regional jets currently owned by the Canadian government agency as part of a lease guarantee deal with Bombardier customers.
At the end of 2005 Mesa Air Group operated 92 50-seat regional jets (27 of which are Embraer ERJ-145LRs, the rest a mixture of CRJ100s and CRJ200s), 15 CRJ701ERs, and 39 CRJ900s as well Beechcraft and Bombardier turboprops

 

[cfdoubleeye]

HI A/C Ferry ops

Guys, I have no doubt that the aircraft can make the haul to Hawaii. Cessna 172's and our own Piper Turbo Seminole made it. The key is favorable winds (tailwinds blow about 300 days of the year.... called "tradewinds" in the islands.)

There are a handful of ferry operation companies who hold the proper certificates for the mod to install ferry tanks in ATR's, CRJ's, King Air's, Cirrus SR22's and even grandma's Cessna 172.

It's not a trip I would want to make, but even when the ferry pilots do go swimming, the fatality rate is extremely low.

 

[Junkflyer]

Yes there's a tailwind most of the time, but it helps going to the mainland not coming back.

 

[islandhopper]

See the attached article. Mesa is close to finalizing a deal for E-195's initially for the GO! operation. But anyone who's been following the trend of the regionals knows that this will also perfectly position Mesa for additional business with code-share partners in the US who might want a regional to fly this highly sought after aircraft.

JO might not be the best boss in the world, but he's f'ing brilliant.

The only way he will fly 195's in Hawaii is IF / after he gains significant market share. He is going to wait a long time to buy these airplanes from a Jet Blue 363 asset sale.


Pay full price for new airplanes? Not without a guarantee revenue setup in effect. His stock price is going down today after this announcement. Bragging that you will lose money for 5 years while re-fleeting with an unproven airplane doesnt sit well with wall street.

 

[Soverytired]

Actually, I think your avatar is pretty funny . . . !

The only way he will fly 195's in Hawaii is IF / after he gains significant market share. He is going to wait a long time to buy these airplanes from a Jet Blue 363 asset sale.


Pay full price for new airplanes? Not without a guarantee revenue setup in effect. His stock price is going down today after this announcement. Bragging that you will lose money for 5 years while re-fleeting with an unproven airplane doesnt sit well with wall street.

Why not buy new a/c? Jet Blue has slowed down delivery of this mx queen, so there are some discounts to be had. Plus, we're only talking a couple. Ultimately , I don't think this is so much about Hawaii/Go as it is about getting E170/190's on the property so Mesa can eventually fly them for a code-share in the states in the not-to-distant future.

It's pretty clear that one reason CHQ got the COEX flying because they can fly E175's via the Republic certificate . . . and they'll fly them for United as well. Mesa needs to position itself to get on this gravy train, because the 50-seat market is drying up fast.

The whole point of the "Go!" startup is to get away from guarnteed revenue contract flying. The whole fee-for-departure model seems to cause alot of agnst amongst alot of flightinfo fans, but when Mesa finally tries to actually be a REAL AIRLINE, now they're the bad guy. I'm not aware of any other big regional player that's even attempting it right now, so it's a pretty gutsy move.

(and yah, it sucks for Hawaii/Aloha to have a new competitor, but we ain't in the worker's paradise yet, comrade )

Mesa stock has been a pump-and-dump for the last decade(Buy at $5, sell at $12-$15, repeat.) I wouldn't read alot into this.