Rumor Mill: Skywest buying Eagle

[zawillif]

Heard it from a guy who knows a guy. Says there would be a 20 year CPA with the purchase. Asking price would be in the high hundreds of millions. Anyone else hear this?

 

[ROSWELL41]

Nope. I haven't heard this one before.

 

[chignutsak]

High hundreds? Hahahahahaha

 

[AntiJedi]

High hundreds? Hahahahahaha

Yeah, I was thinking to myself that there was no way that SkyWest was going to leverage its entire cash balance on a company that might envertiably put them out of business.

 

[Metro752]

Never going to happen. It doesn't make sense. If Skywest buys Eagle it probably means AMR is done with regional feed.

CAL & UAL scope is going to make Skywest a lot different than we know it to be today.

 

[WWEfan]

Never going to happen. It doesn't make sense. If Skywest buys Eagle it probably means AMR is done with regional feed.

CAL & UAL scope is going to make Skywest a lot different than we know it to be today.

I think it could happen. Skywest wants to diversify its feed and add American as a partner. Right now there is too much competition in the regional market to have any pricing power. Jerry wants to change that.

CAL & UAL scope is going to make Skywest a lot different than we know it today. I forsee bigger airplanes, code share agreements and international bases.

 

[79%N1]

Yeah, I was thinking to myself that there was no way that SkyWest was going to leverage its entire cash balance on a company that might envertiably put them out of business.

Like they did with ExpressJet??

 

[rjacobs]

Like they did with ExpressJet??

I hardly think they leveraged much on us. They got us for a song. I think our assets alone(hard assets plus cash in the bank) were worth more than what they paid for us.

 

[cybourg10]

Like they did with ExpressJet??

I can't believe the SKW BOD didn't consult with you before purchasing XJT. Your posts clearly show that you know more than they do.

 

[Metro752]

I think it could happen. Skywest wants to diversify its feed and add American as a partner. Right now there is too much competition in the regional market to have any pricing power. Jerry wants to change that.

CAL & UAL scope is going to make Skywest a lot different than we know it today. I forsee bigger airplanes, code share agreements and international bases.

Are you an advocate of B scale, or even C scale wages?

Come on!

I doub't AMR cares about what Skywest wants to do. Why would they give up so much control? Skywest couldn't possibly do it any cheaper than Eagle already does. The only thing AMR would gain is less liability it would seem, and maybe selling off Eagle to finance a bankruptcy or avoid one all together.

Just a guess, and I'm not an expert.

 

[Flyerdan]

A purchase of Eagle seems way too big right now. It feels like Skywest Inc. is focused on keeping the wheels from coming off while they finish integrating XJT & ASA.

The stronger rumor seems to be that we enter the Q400 market with the purchase of Horizon and perhaps the Lynx aircraft to expand our relationship with Alaska airlines.

 

[XPOO]

Until Erlanger says it true, I will continue to consider this a made-up fantasy

 

[damnflyboy]

I think it could happen. Skywest wants to diversify its feed and add American as a partner. Right now there is too much competition in the regional market to have any pricing power. Jerry wants to change that.

CAL & UAL scope is going to make Skywest a lot different than we know it today. I forsee bigger airplanes, code share agreements and international bases.

I guess we will see with the coming "new identity" for ASA/ExpressJet. But if they think "economy of scale" is going to fill me with enthusiasm and convince me to be happy with paycheck stagnation while the company grows around me, they're dead wrong.

 

[SpaceShipEarth]

If you think they care what you think, you are dead wrong.

 

[WWEfan]

AMR is going to do what they need to do to stay in business. Just like DAL needed to raise cash by selling ASA, American may need to do the same thing. Jerry has the cash. For the right deal I could see it happening. He doesn't even have to merge it with ASA/XJT...at least not until that fiasco of a merger is over.

But I have no idea what the price tag would be. How many airplanes does Eagle own? How many are on lease? How long of a CPA could AMR guarantee? Lots of questions I don't know the answer to.

 

[damnflyboy]

If you think they care what you think, you are dead wrong.

Tattoo worthy right here.

 

[NWaviator]

Until Erlanger says it true, I will continue to consider this a made-up fantasy

This guy has been quite right over time and has Horizon guys shaking in their boots.

 

[Jon Rivoli]

The stronger rumor seems to be that we enter the Q400 market with the purchase of Horizon and perhaps the Lynx aircraft to expand our relationship with Alaska airlines.

Not Horizon, their cost structure is way too high and trying to merge seniority lists would resemble the Airways mess. Pilot wages aren't the only thing making them expensive, it has been a career company for all employee groups for a long time. I've been Portland based for week now and it's a dream job, had I been hired a Horizon 12 years ago I would have stayed. There is a reason the Horizon brand is going away and the planes are being painted in Alaska colors. Anyone can fly "Alaska Air Express". Not good for the good people at Horizon.

Lynx on the other hand is a bite sized morsel. I've heard that the cost of adding a new aircraft type to a certificate can run upwards of $20 million and the asking price for Lynx is in the neighborhood of $5 million. Four airplanes and maybe fifty pilots could easily be swallowed and five million out of a stash of almost is billion is an easy check to write.

 

[IBNAV8R]

Anything Jerry signs onto is not going to be "bite-size" or short-term. It would take a lot more than 4 or 5 airframes of a "new" type to make a competitive economy of scale. I'm guessing he's looking at 50+ and a ten-year commitment to make it worthwhile.

 

[Jon Rivoli]

It's a start, get the cert. and the FOM then put in a big order with Bombardier.