SkyWest Annual Report - CRJ900 Orders

[khsgt]

Mesa Again

If my knowledge is correct, Mesa has first options on EVERY SINGLE 900 that comes off the production line between now and December 2007...Hence Go Jets isn't getting the 900 contract that they underbid us on with USAirways.....they can't get any airplanes. Just Food for thought.

 

[79%N1]

You will be liquidated too if we are. And, I won't vote for a TA that would allow you to fly larger RJs. Nope. But, I really would like you to try to interview here someday if we still have an airline---I would love to be a part of that interview. It would be hillarious. Oh wait, you no longer drink the kool-aid. Oh well, next....... How many more planes do you think you will get? Shuttle America would probably get more 70 seaters----they have a better product.


Bye Bye--General Lee

So General...............If the "TA" involves Delta pilots saving their jobs, getting to keep some money and other contract goodies but includes scope relief for DCI to fly larger aircraft, you (and 50.1% of your buddies) wont vote for that????? COme on! Are you just that spiteful of DCI and lowly 'Regional' Pilots..................or are you just stupid???? Obviously, Delta will trade you boys something you want for scope relief! Is that the hill you choose to die on???

 

[theo]

You will be liquidated too if we are. And, I won't vote for a TA that would allow you to fly larger RJs. Nope. But, I really would like you to try to interview here someday if we still have an airline---I would love to be a part of that interview. It would be hillarious. Oh wait, you no longer drink the kool-aid. Oh well, next....... How many more planes do you think you will get? Shuttle America would probably get more 70 seaters----they have a better product.


Bye Bye--General Lee

General,
I think your posts are usually well thought out. But I think your wrong about what will happen to Skywest/ASA and others if Delta liquidates. The demand from ATL will not dry up and Skywest and or others will move fast to fill in as much as possible the markets where demand exists. They can do it. Fifty seat airplanes will work when there is traffic aplenty and a smaller number of seats. The ninety seaters will follow behind. New mainline flights will start filling in and new code share relationships will bloom. Believe me, I do not want to see anything bad happen to Delta as the folks there have always been great to me. But you are wrong to think that the Regionals disappear if Delta liquidates. It wont happen. It really just becomes another opportunity. Any way good luck in the fight. I think you will need it.

 

[79%N1]

100% sure, eh? Riiiiiight. I guess they will have only 70 seats---with lie flat sleeper seats to Valdosta. Awesome. Our Medallion flyers will love a lie-flat seat for a 30 minute nap to Valdosta or maybe Knoxville.


Bye Bye--General Lee+

Or....................and hear me out on this one...............how about JFK, DCA, LGA, Turks, Nassau, St Croix, San Jaun, Jamaica, and other Carribean destinations THAT WE ALREADY FLY TO!!! Maybe those medallion flyers would be comfortable on those routes too. See, the problem with the mainline ego is you still think ASA only flies to Valdosta, Columbus, Augusta and Dothan. No, wait, I got it. You think that is where we SHOULD only fly to.

 

[FDJ2]

Cant we fly them for someone else or do we still fall under that "cant have anything greater than 70 seats for any carrier if we fly for Delta" rule?

I believe DCI can contract with carriers that operate aircraft with up to 97 seats, so long as they don't fly DL code in them. So to answer your question, yes, if ASA were to fly the CRJ900, even at max seating capacity, it would still be consistent with the DAL PWA as long as you weren't doing the flying for DCI.

 

[General Lee]

General,
I think your posts are usually well thought out. But I think your wrong about what will happen to Skywest/ASA and others if Delta liquidates. The demand from ATL will not dry up and Skywest and or others will move fast to fill in as much as possible the markets where demand exists. They can do it. Fifty seat airplanes will work when there is traffic aplenty and a smaller number of seats. The ninety seaters will follow behind. New mainline flights will start filling in and new code share relationships will bloom. Believe me, I do not want to see anything bad happen to Delta as the folks there have always been great to me. But you are wrong to think that the Regionals disappear if Delta liquidates. It wont happen. It really just becomes another opportunity. Any way good luck in the fight. I think you will need it.

Theo,

First of all, thanks for the good luck. You may need it too. All of the 50 seaters and the Brasilias based in SLC will most likely be parked for good if we liquidate. No doubt there. Indy Air proved 50 seaters on their own will not work, and the SLC Brasilias will go away, since UAL probably doesn't need anymore. The ATL hub for ASA would grind to a stop also. No other legacies have the money to quickly expand into ATL thanks to the high gas prices that have plagued all of us (your "insulation" pact for fuel at one price would go away too, causing Ron Reber to cry profusely), and the LCCs will not pick the feed opportunities up. Airtran already did it once, and probably will not do it again. SkyWest operating on it's own will have a slew of operational problems, mainly with infrastructure. Right now you have NO reservations system of your own, which would take up time setting up. Most of the larger cities you might want to resume service to are DL stations, and most people would leave, along with the ground equipment being sold to the highest bidder, while waiting for a resumption of service (could take months in the liquidation process--determining who owns what--which creditor will get what....etc...it takes time). In the meantime, Southwest would probably start more service to SLC, and may try to start service to ATL, and your planes would sit idle. It would be chaos to say the least. Your SLC hub would stop, and ATL would stop. JA may try to scramble to find more opportunities by lowering prices, but the other airlines out there would follow suit. Mesa would transfer planes to the USAir ops in CLT, and all of those towns once ruled by ASA and partially covered by USAir Express---would turn all USAir Express. ASA would go away. SkyWest would go Chap 11 to contain costs. Sad, but true. I hope this works out for everyone.


Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[General Lee]

Or....................and hear me out on this one...............how about JFK, DCA, LGA, Turks, Nassau, St Croix, San Jaun, Jamaica, and other Carribean destinations THAT WE ALREADY FLY TO!!! Maybe those medallion flyers would be comfortable on those routes too. See, the problem with the mainline ego is you still think ASA only flies to Valdosta, Columbus, Augusta and Dothan. No, wait, I got it. You think that is where we SHOULD only fly to.

90 seaters with 70 allotted seats. That will be great to see. Atleast the bags will make it, with all of the extra room. Maybe next you will fly them to Europe too. Can't wait.....you sound so excited.

Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[BID]

You really think it is a mainline ego issue? Delta Airlines found the paying passengers and the General works for, guess who? Delta Airlines. He is going to protect his job and his future by keeping the flying within his company and not within a contract carrier.

If Delta managment could find a way to send the jobs to China, they would, but instead they have to settle for companies like SkyWest Airlines. So you do what you have to and let the General do what he needs to. Which is fight to keep the flying of 70 or larger seats at Delta Airlines.

It's not going to be an easy fight but kieping as many jobs as possible "in house" instead of outsourced to contract pilots has nothing to do with ego.

Good luck General and all you Delta Pilots!

 

[General Lee]

You really think it is a mainline ego issue? Delta Airlines found the paying passengers and the General works for, guess who? Delta Airlines. He is going to protect his job and his future by keeping the flying within his company and not within a contract carrier.

If Delta managment could find a way to send the jobs to China, they would, but instead they have to settle for companies like SkyWest Airlines. So you do what you have to and let the General do what he needs to. Which is fight to keep the flying of 70 or larger seats at Delta Airlines.

It's not going to be an easy fight but kieping as many jobs as possible "in house" instead of outsourced to contract pilots has nothing to do with ego.

Good luck General and all you Delta Pilots!

Thank you.


Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[FanSpinner]

Alzheimers?

Theo,

First of all, thanks for the good luck. You may need it too. All of the 50 seaters and the Brasilias based in SLC will most likely be parked for good if we liquidate. No doubt there. Indy Air proved 50 seaters on their own will not work, and the SLC Brasilias will go away, since UAL probably doesn't need anymore. The ATL hub for ASA would grind to a stop also. No other legacies have the money to quickly expand into ATL thanks to the high gas prices that have plagued all of us (your "insulation" pact for fuel at one price would go away too, causing Ron Reber to cry profusely), and the LCCs will not pick the feed opportunities up. Airtran already did it once, and probably will not do it again. SkyWest operating on it's own will have a slew of operational problems, mainly with infrastructure. Right now you have NO reservations system of your own, which would take up time setting up. Most of the larger cities you might want to resume service to are DL stations, and most people would leave, along with the ground equipment being sold to the highest bidder, while waiting for a resumption of service (could take months in the liquidation process--determining who owns what--which creditor will get what....etc...it takes time). In the meantime, Southwest would probably start more service to SLC, and may try to start service to ATL, and your planes would sit idle. It would be chaos to say the least. Your SLC hub would stop, and ATL would stop. JA may try to scramble to find more opportunities by lowering prices, but the other airlines out there would follow suit. Mesa would transfer planes to the USAir ops in CLT, and all of those towns once ruled by ASA and partially covered by USAir Express---would turn all USAir Express. ASA would go away. SkyWest would go Chap 11 to contain costs. Sad, but true. I hope this works out for everyone.


Bye Bye--General Lee

General,
I'm glad that you've had a chance to share your thoughts and arguments. But you seem to have a problem with repeating yourself. Over and over. And over. It's rather annoying. Chill out.

 

[n25na]

Sorry guys cats outta the bag. Resistance is futile. I don't care about planes being at mainline anymore. I no longer drink the mainline koolaid. The more planes that come our way the better. More planes = more upgrades = movement = more money = Better QOL. Im through caring about what happens at mainline. They certainly don't care about us.

Whether you're drinkin' the koolaid or not, you're still flyin em' for 50 seat rates. I don't see how that is better and by doin' so you are settin' the precedent that every other management group is gonna drool over.

 

[79%N1]

90 seaters with 70 allotted seats. That will be great to see. Atleast the bags will make it, with all of the extra room. Maybe next you will fly them to Europe too. Can't wait.....you sound so excited.

Bye Bye--General Lee

Hmmmmm. Europe!!! Yes, that does indeed sound exciting! Count me in. I'm getting bored with OMA overnights anyway. I've never been to Prague. That sounds cool.

Oh yea, another nice jab at RJ's and RJ pilots. Why would I expect any less of you. You are a real crescent wrench. I honestly hope the majority of Delta pilots are not like you, or you all are the biggest buch of c(dont want to get banned again) 's in the world.

 

[79%N1]

General,
I'm glad that you've had a chance to share your thoughts and arguments. But you seem to have a problem with repeating yourself. Over and over. And over. It's rather annoying. Chill out.

And over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over......................ad nauseum!

 

[Ralgha]

Theo,

First of all, thanks for the good luck. You may need it too. All of the 50 seaters and the Brasilias based in SLC will most likely be parked for good if we liquidate. No doubt there. Indy Air proved 50 seaters on their own will not work, and the SLC Brasilias will go away, since UAL probably doesn't need anymore. The ATL hub for ASA would grind to a stop also. No other legacies have the money to quickly expand into ATL thanks to the high gas prices that have plagued all of us (your "insulation" pact for fuel at one price would go away too, causing Ron Reber to cry profusely), and the LCCs will not pick the feed opportunities up. Airtran already did it once, and probably will not do it again. SkyWest operating on it's own will have a slew of operational problems, mainly with infrastructure. Right now you have NO reservations system of your own, which would take up time setting up. Most of the larger cities you might want to resume service to are DL stations, and most people would leave, along with the ground equipment being sold to the highest bidder, while waiting for a resumption of service (could take months in the liquidation process--determining who owns what--which creditor will get what....etc...it takes time). In the meantime, Southwest would probably start more service to SLC, and may try to start service to ATL, and your planes would sit idle. It would be chaos to say the least. Your SLC hub would stop, and ATL would stop. JA may try to scramble to find more opportunities by lowering prices, but the other airlines out there would follow suit. Mesa would transfer planes to the USAir ops in CLT, and all of those towns once ruled by ASA and partially covered by USAir Express---would turn all USAir Express. ASA would go away. SkyWest would go Chap 11 to contain costs. Sad, but true. I hope this works out for everyone.


Bye Bye--General Lee

The main flaw in part of your reasoning is that you think airlines need money to fill the potential void. That's what creditors are for, and they'll be falling over themselves to help existing legacys jump on the chance.

 

[General Lee]

The main flaw in part of your reasoning is that you think airlines need money to fill the potential void. That's what creditors are for, and they'll be falling over themselves to help existing legacys jump on the chance.

Can creitors just give money to airlines? Oh, they will just give them very very cheap lease rates maybe on airplanes. Well, it would take MONTHS to train enough people to fill the void. Months of idle airplanes at ASA and SkyWest waiting, waiting for someone to come in. It won't happen. Can you give me an example of a creditor just "giving" an airline a fast track to building a hub where an airline went under? How long would that take? And, all of the Major airlines out there are hurting financially due to fuel. That is where your logic has a major gap.


Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[General Lee]

And over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over......................ad nauseum!

The truth hurts, even ad nauseum.


Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[General Lee]

Hmmmmm. Europe!!! Yes, that does indeed sound exciting! Count me in. I'm getting bored with OMA overnights anyway. I've never been to Prague. That sounds cool.

Oh yea, another nice jab at RJ's and RJ pilots. Why would I expect any less of you. You are a real crescent wrench. I honestly hope the majority of Delta pilots are not like you, or you all are the biggest buch of c(dont want to get banned again) 's in the world.

You really like putting yourself down. Don't do that. I have said all along, RJs have their place. They need to go to cities with very little LCC competition. Places like the Turks and Caicos are a good example. Good for you. We fly 757s in there on Saturdays, when loads are more full.

And, if we get out of this mess with a TA that protects scope, we supposedly will eventually fly to Prague, Bucharest, and Vienna again. (according to Jim Whitehurst). Maybe you can catch a jumpseat.


Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[rjcap]

The truth hurts, even ad nauseum.


Bye Bye--General Lee

What truth. Who's truth.

Have you even been remotely correct in your predictions ?

Weren't you the guy who said Delta would never file bankruptcy?

I don't believe Mainline will liquidate but if it did there would be a feeding frenzy to fill the void in ATL and SLC. Plans are being made as this entire drama plays out. The stakes are high and the rewards are even higher for those who capitalize on the stupidity of Delta mgmt.

General, you have a better then 50/50 chance that mainline will lose the 90 seat flying. It will all come down to the bare numbers as to what the value to mainline to fly these stretched "Barbie," jets. You know, those pesky RJ's that were not worthy of a mainline pilot to fly ?

G man, take a chill pill and walk away from your computer for a while.

Give it a rest.

 

[General Lee]

What truth. Who's truth.

Have you even been remotely correct in your predictions ?

Weren't you the guy who said Delta would never file bankruptcy?

I don't believe Mainline will liquidate but if it did there would be a feeding frenzy to fill the void in ATL and SLC. Plans are being made as this entire drama plays out. The stakes are high and the rewards are even higher for those who capitalize on the stupidity of Delta mgmt.

General, you have a better then 50/50 chance that mainline will lose the 90 seat flying. It will all come down to the bare numbers as to what the value to mainline to fly these stretched "Barbie," jets. You know, those pesky RJ's that were not worthy of a mainline pilot to fly ?

G man, take a chill pill and walk away from your computer for a while.

Give it a rest.

Did I say we would NEVER file Chap 11? Never? I doubt I stated that, but you might find something in the archives that stated that before it got really bad.

As far as a feeding frenzy in ATL, you may be right, but only LCCs have the funds and new airplanes to possibly fill that void, and small town flights to ABY, ILM, VLD, etc would never be flown again. Southwest and Jetblue would come in to compete with Airtran, and none of them want feed. None of the Majors have the ability to ramp up operations as fast as the LCCs, and the RJs would remain idle for months.

Lee Moak, our MEC chairman, told a large crowd about a week ago in Peachtree City that mainline will fly anything larger than 70 seats. Is he lying? He is the MEC chair, and probably can tell our negotiators NO if they bring him a substandard TA. We don't have the pension issue floating over our heads like the NW guys, which means we will decide on the RJ issue. Do we need 90 seaters when we have a 100 seat rate already? How about DCI gets some more 70 seaters, and then we get 100 seaters. That will be the ultimate plan. I know JA at SkyWest wants first class for ASA's 70 seaters. Great. They do it now at SkyWest on the United CR7s--with 66 total seats and 3 classes (first, econ plus, and coach). They can do that too with any new 70 seaters I bet. I won't vote for a TA that allows larger RJs at DCI, and as you could see with the Strike Authorization vote, we have many P.O.'d pilots that now won't have a pension. That is huge.



And, the wife is at work, and this is just getting good on this board.


Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[rjcap]

As far as a feeding frenzy in ATL, you may be right, but only LCCs have the funds and new airplanes to possibly fill that void, and small town flights to ABY, ILM, VLD, etc would never be flown again. Southwest and Jetblue would come in to compete with Airtran, and none of them want feed. None of the Majors have the ability to ramp up operations as fast as the LCCs, and the RJs would remain idle for months.

Bye Bye--General Lee

Millions and millions of dollars are waiting on the sidelines for the opportunity, should Delta shutdown, to grab market share in one of the largest hubs in the world. This is better then Vegas. The big money is hoping Delta shuts down because the rewards are tremendous.

Amex and the rest of the lenders have already hedged their bets. They win one way or the other. Its one thing to have non performing loans its another to grab a part of the cash cow that is the ATL airport whether it be Delta airlines or another carrier.

As far as Rj's parked for months. How about a week or so. Agreements between carriers and RJ operators would be drafted overnight if they aren't already. You guys would be a distant memory in a matter of 6 months.

Having said that, I still believe you should hold your ground and put an end to the race to the bottom. This is a worthwhile battle and ultimately there will be a negotiated settlement. The terms of that agreement are unpredictable at this time.