Now Northwest Targets Independence Air in HUGE Lansing-IAD Market...

[NWA]

Go Indy, I wish more Regionals had the balls, and leave their master and go it alone. Indy will be in good shape in a few years.

 

[flap operator]

Yup... I can see Mesaba telling NW to go fuc$k themselves... we'll take our lav carts, bag carts and catering trucks and our indentured servitude and uh... oh... that's right... you've got us by the balls and WE CAN'T ESCAPE!!

The moral of the story is that it isn't as easy for all airlines to break away from their mother hen.
Best of luck Indy... you guys have some cool stuff!

FO

 

[Beerme]

Go Indy, I wish more Regionals had the balls, and leave their master and go it alone. Indy will be in good shape in a few years.

I wish you guys would go it alone...then we could stop guaranteeing you a profit...you could start paying for your own fuel...aircraft...landing fees...gates...catering...ticketing...advertising...etc.

It won't take Independence long to miss the warm, cozy nest they left under mother hen United.

 

[Flyforyou]

Actually Beerme, I think most of us are quite happy to be out of "the nest". It's much better than the alternative, being slowly strangled by the "mother hen".

Fly

 

[Indypilot]

hey beerme, that warm cozy nest isn't so warm anymore and isn't so cozy anymore. Watch the skywest numbers this year and see what kind of profit margin they are running. It sure isn't 15% anymore. Keep in mind they were trying to get us to sign a contract that would allow them to replace a large chunk of our flying in a heartbeat, I would sure love to park 40 RJ's overnight and furlough half the pilots if we stayed in the nest. Let me ask you this, IF united is turned down for the ATSB loan, there will be more cost cutting right. Unfortunatly that means everything is back on the table, and I can guarantee you that they will come after the express carriers for more. Being on our own might not be the warm cozy nest it was, but that nest no longer exists in this world.

 

[GogglesPisano]

Fortune favors the bold

 

[Simon Says]

I wish you guys would go it alone...then we could stop guaranteeing you a profit...you could start paying for your own fuel...aircraft...landing fees...gates...catering...ticketing...advertising...etc.

It won't take Independence long to miss the warm, cozy nest they left under mother hen United.

Beerme,
NOOO! Dont cut us loose now. We don't have a Senior Leadership Team that can find their way out of a paper bag. I would take those chances if we had a whole new shift of management or at least a shift of philosophy of running an airline and not a slush fund.

Go Independence Air!!!!

 

[JohnDoe]

quote from George Zip:
"....but I think the revenue we provide FAR exceeds what NWA is spending on us."


From Northwest's 10Q for the quarter ending March 31, 2004:

Regional Carrier Revenues: $217
Regional Carrier Expenses: $256

Equals: $39 (mill.) loss

 

[Indypilot]

quote from George Zip:
"....but I think the revenue we provide FAR exceeds what NWA is spending on us."


From Northwest's 10Q for the quarter ending March 31, 2004:

Regional Carrier Revenues: $217
Regional Carrier Expenses: $256

Equals: $39 (mill.) loss

It's not that simple. Accounting rules stipulate that all revenue on northwest airplanes will be given to northwest, paying no attention to where those passengers came from. The express revenue might be $217M, but that a whole crapload of passengers at the hub that are now increasing revenue on NWA mainline flights. If they had to pay the express carriers more than what that feed was worth, they wouldn't have express carriers.

 

[JohnDoe]

I understand that Northwest gets revenue from those passengers that connect to, and continue on, a mainline flight. But to go back to what "Beerme" said, get rid of all the "subsidies" (sp) that NW pays for (ie, get rid of that 39 mil loss), and let the regionals pay for their own expenses while feeding NW. Let them pay for their own gates, ramp operations in certain cities, ticketing, marketing, the fuel price "gurantee" on the avro's (and the avros themselves), etc.. NW pays them "fee for departure" or whatever the case may be, and it is now up to the regionals to get a profit on their own.

 

[Mel Sharples]

Say what?!?

get rid of all the "subsidies" (sp) that NW pays for (ie, get rid of that 39 mil loss), and let the regionals pay for their own expenses while feeding NW.

That is total CRAP.

I have many friends that are furloughed from Northwest who would love to come back and work. Are they blaming the regionals for losing money that Northwest shouldn't have to pay??? No. Because most of them came from those same regionals and they know how this game is played.

The reason they aren't getting called back quickly is because Northwest is giving their flying TO THE REGIONALS. How are routes like Lansing-Dulles, Minneapolis-Jacksonville, and Minneapolis-Tulsa considered "regional feed"?

Listen to your own company. Northwest wants to expand their regional jet market. Almost everyday there are new cities for Pinnacle to fly and many are not regional feed.

I'm sure you guys are pissed about the status of Northwest and the fact that you have to take concessions... errr... "investment opportunities." You can blame the regional airlines for taking flying from you, but you sure as hell can't blame the regionals for bleeding Northwest dry. They are one of the few things that are keeping Northwest afloat. Losing $39 million??? You should no better than to look at that stat and think you are getting the whole story.

Go ahead and set us all free. I bet we could run an airline a hell of a lot better than the douchebags at Northwest.

P.S. Good luck, Indy Air. About time a good regional airline with GREAT people got sick and tired of being bullied!



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