More RJ talk from Boyd......CASM

[General Lee]

Delta Air's Grinstein May Change Use of Small
Regional Jets

June 10 (Bloomberg) -- Delta Air Lines Inc. may
change the way it uses small jets under Chief
Executive Officer Gerald Grinstein, who in the past
said he doesn't like the planes for longer flights and
is reviewing all operations to stem losses.


With business travelers reluctant to pay higher fares,
the higher unit cost of flying the 50-seat jets is a less
profitable proposition, said Mike Boyd, a consultant
with the Evergreen, Colorado-based Boyd Group.

The cost for flying each seat a mile is between 25
cents and 30 cents on routes 200 miles or less and
falls to 12 cents on routes longer 900 miles, where
comfort becomes an issue, Boyd said.




Did he say 25-30 cents per seat mile on RJ flights less than 200 miles? I personally think we should get Dash-8-400s for all of the shorter--high density flights. So, which will it be? The CASM on a 50 seat RJ is better on longer flights (12 cents)---but Grinstein has said that he doesn't want them flying more than 2--2 1/2 hours---or about 900 nm. Hmmmmmm.

Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[rgd]

Easy, when DAL files this year, scope goes away and DCI gets E-jets. Solves all the problems. mmmmmmmmm

 

[FurloughedAgain]

Airbus 330 "RJ"?

Terrific plan rgd.

Then we can all plan for long and prosperous careers flying these magnificent E-jets and retiring with the pay, workrules, and retirement of a "regional" rather than the career that everyone signed on for.

If scope goes away -- truly disappears -- then with it goes the entire airline pilot profession.

There has got to be a better way then continuously striving for larger and larger airplanes for lesser and lesser pay. Just because a jet is labled "regional" does not mean that we should agree to be treated like cheap whores to fly it.

We dont need E-jets here. We dont need 90 seaters here. What we need is ownership of flying -- a signed agreement with Delta's MEC identifying what flying is ours (and ASAs) and pledging our mutual support to defend each others job security.

Scope is the guardian. Jobs are the key.

Just my opinion. (take it with a grain of salt. The wife says i'm "cranky" today)

-Mike (who thinks that if Mesa got an Airbus 330 "RJ" they'd find guys willing to fly it for $50/hr)

 

[JI Gone OH]

Cranky, huh..........

 

[General Lee]

RGD,


Let's try to remember what Grinstein (NOT your new alley like "RJ" Fred Reid) said at the SLC meeting about DCI flying any new 100 seaters....."I can't see them flying it." Sorry. And, as far as Delta going Chap 11----think of this please--the reason talks are going slow is because we need the creditors (like Boeing) to also give concessions--which they would do unless they want every lease($$$) to be cut in half. When they give, and then we give---the next day we will have better access to capital markets and new financing with cheaper money. Even Malone, our MEC Chair, knows this and he has said that he thinks a compromise is in sight. But, your 50 seat market is shrinking---and Mike Boyd really thinks so apparently---and all I did was post an article and ask some questions.

Furloughed again,

You Sir--are correct. There still are some markets I believe are right for RJs---and I am sure that Comair and ASA will eventually take control of certain areas(like DFW and SLC-replacing Skywest maybe) and will provide good feed to certain markets. I think Boyd is just pointing out some of the shortfalls--like RJs on shrter routes and the higher CASM associated with that. But, if you can fill them with higher paying passengers---then who cares? But, if you put them up against Airtran 717s on certain routes--then we could have a problem. I think it would be great if you got Dash 8-400s for the high density shorthall flights---but RGD didn't see that. I want this whole company to be healthy, and after we get our costs under control(pay cuts for us) and fuel prices decline--I think we will have a better chance to succeed against everyone.

Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[rgd]

It's not my plan. BTW, you will never see the career that you signed up for. The free enterprise market will make sure of that, and airlines are not immune to its ability to drive prices down by competition. AA and DAL no longer have the resources to price Airtran or SW out. The companies that provide service at the best price make it, those who don't, won't. (unless they are bailed out by the federal government) The belt will only get tighter as the need to slim down and be profitable so they can compete will effect their ability to pay. Bad for the workers, good for the consumers. The only way out of this is if some big airlines fail and supply comes back down to demand.

 

[rgd]

General, try to relax. Your buttons are to easy to push. Your like a little kid that has been picked on too much. Where did all the insecurity come from..? Everyone is entitled to his own opinion but not his own facts. The facts are you don't know whats gonna happen next more than anyone else in this industry, so quit trying to be Boyd jr.

 

[FurloughedAgain]

Greyhound

RGD,

You're telling ME that i'll never see the career I signed up for? No sh!t!!!

You see my name. I'd venture that I have a pretty good idea what this business is all about from being on the wrong end of it a few times. Dont you think?

You're right. It's a Wal-Mart society and we missed the good airline pilot jobs by a generation or so. Every generation is willing to do the job for less and less money. I'd say we were glorified bus drivers but Greyhound drivers get paid significantly more than I do.

That being said, i'd bet we'll see Comair sold-off or out-of-business before an E-jet finds its way onto our property.

PS - The wife says i'm still being cranky. Think i'll go sleep it off. Seeya

 

[General Lee]

RGD,


Please read this article from Businessweek online and see where I come up with some of my theories:



Delta Is Ready When The Pilots Sign

Delta Air Lines (DAL ), the third-largest U.S. carrier in terms of operating
revenues and passenger miles, is way down on the Street's favored list.
Delta faces a risk of bankruptcy, analysts say. Huge debt and soaring costs
for fuel and labor -- especially the high salaries of its pilots -- have put
Delta in a bind.


Nonetheless, some savvy investors have been buying shares, which have
dived from 15 on Sept. 8 to 6 on June 9. Among them is Vince Carrino,
president of Brookhaven Capital Management. He thinks Delta is "very
close to a deal, with the pilots agreeing to a 30% pay cut in exchange for
owning a 30% equity stake in the airline." The pilots have no choice, with
bankruptcy as the only other option, he adds. People close to the situation,
says Carrino, expect Delta will ink a pact with the pilots by the end of July.
The pay cut could amount to savings of about $1 billion a year, says
Carrino. Delta, he adds, aims to save an additional $500 million from debt
restructuring and cost-cutting elsewhere. That, he says, plus a drop in oil
prices should reenergize the stock, which Carrino figures will double in a
year. Gary Chase of Lehman Brothers (LEH ), who recently upgraded the
stock from "equal weight" to "overweight," says Delta could be in
bankruptcy court if it fails to win the pilots. A deal would open capital
markets to Delta again.





Now, a lot of this could be speculation---or this Carrino guy could be buying low, trying to generate some upward motion in the stock, and then selling it for a quick profit. But, overall, that is kinda the plan. Eventually everyone will give some sort of concessions and we will move forward again.

You think your comments push my buttons? Wrong. You just never back up your statements with any articles or any facts---you just make blind statements.

Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[bvt1151]

General, your articles are becoming more and more predictable.

RJ's bad...blah blah blah. CASM's too high, blah blah blah. End is near...you know the rest.

 

[General Lee]

BVT1151,


I can understand why you don't like the articles, and I can understand why you would not like Mike Boyd. He and Grinstein to a degree don't think 50 seat RJs will be as useful in the future---and that upsets you. These last 2-3 years at Mainline have been tough, and you guys have enjoyed huge growth. To see that slowly stop would make me upset too. Hey, I watched us park many planes and furlough a bunch--and that wasn't fun at all---but Mainline will grow again aftyer pay cuts---and it will be interesting to see what happens with the regionals. I don't know what will happen.

Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[sweptback]

Any short flight is going to have a high CASM. It doesn't matter what airplane you have on the route. Given that the airlines know this and still bought RJs to put on the shorter routes shows that they don't care much about the higher CASM. Think about it, if a person lives 200 nm from a major hub airport and decides to fly and connect instead of drive, it shows that they're not very money-conscious, right? If they were then they'd fall prey to the Southwest effect and drive to the hub airport for the lower fares. So, the airline can charge pretty much whatever they want on that route, recovering the CASM hit.

I'd rather take a long direct flight on a RJ and be slightly uncomfortable than fly on a 737, have to connect halfway there and end up arriving 2 hours later. But that's just me.

 

[wrigley23]

The numbers are still looking good!

http://news.delta.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=9332

 

[bvt1151]

Song is over!

Delta to Suspend Some Song Flights - WSJ
Tuesday June 15, 4:46 am ET NEW YORK (Reuters) - Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL - News), struggling to cut costs and avert filing for bankruptcy protection, plans to suspend nearly one third of the flights at its low-fare carrier Song in September, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday. The airline will drop 41 of Song's 140 daily flights in September, the newspaper said.

The newspaper quoted a Delta spokeswoman as saying the changes in Song's flight schedule were "nothing unusual" and the planes would undergo routine maintenance during September, considered a slow month for the airline industry.

Delta officials said they plan to restore the flights in October, the Journal reported.

Among the routes losing flights are Los Angeles to Tampa, Florida, and Los Angeles to Orlando, Florida, the newspaper said.

Atlanta-based Delta, the No. 3 U.S. airline, has warned it could seek bankruptcy protection if it cannot cut costs. Last year, it created the Song unit in an effort to fend off competition from discount rivals.

Delta was not immediately available for comment on the report to Reuters.



Song is dead! Song is dead! CASM's too high! Airframes too expensive...blah blah blah. Sound familiar?


See how you can find a detrimental article on anything, General? All you have to do is look hard enough and you'll find somebody saying something bad about any airline. Lucky for you, you've got a single source who generates all your articles for you. Boyd is on this anti-RJ crusade right now because he can't realize an RJ being used outside its current role.
The current 50-seater market is saturated. While you say it means the end of 50-seaters (won't happen) I say it means its time to move to a different market...the point to point market. RJ's are getting cheaper as they enter the used aircraft market. Someone's gonna buy those airframes and realize their true benefits. Then Boyd will say "the only thing that runs the RJ point to point market is the cheap airframes."


Like I said, blah blah blah.

 

[rgd]

General, go look in last week's USA today and see what Jamie Harper of J.P. Morgan says about DAL filing before the end of the year. How is that for an article. You have shown no facts and articles are speculations. Worse, you are only willing to post articles from your persective. Yeah, and we all believe that your buttons don't get pushed, thats why you relpy to every freakin' post on this board. What a life you lead. I hope you aren't wasting valuable family time so you can tell some regional pilot that you will never know that boyd says his 50 seater is going away. We have heard that from you already. You are like that pull string doll, the same crap comes out of your mouth everytime you pull that little string in your back.

 

[180ToTheMarker]

If scope goes away -- truly disappears -- then with it goes the entire airline pilot profession.

True words my friend. Try telling that to the RJDC and watch their head explode....quite fun!

 

[XRMEFLYER]

The RJDC does not propose the end of scope and in fact supports scope to the extent that it defines who owns what flying.

 

[bvt1151]

True words my friend. Try telling that to the RJDC and watch their head explode....quite fun!

You obviously haven't told that to an RJDC representative, because they would have agreed with you. RJDC is not for the elimination of scope, and they state that several times in their releases. The RJDC is fighting the unfair treatment by the union. Scope without any say from those being scoped...from the same union. Read up, you'll learn a lot (an no, flightinfo.com does not count as an "official" source).

I don't support the RJDC, but I do at least know their philosiphy.
Wow! Imagine that, an uninformed opinion. Whodathunkit?