TMA News?

[Stanky]

I'm not sure if this is the right place to start this thread but, I figure that a lot of ex-major guys are working for TMA so I thougt I'd give it a shot.

Anyone know what's going on there lately? I was just talking to a friend of mine from Orlando and she told me that she heard that they weren't going to operate tomorrow or perhaps ever. I sure hope that's not true. I know there were some money troubles of late, but they're keeping a lot of good guys off the street.

Best of luck, I'll cross my fingers for ya'll.

 

[magrs]

I asked the very same question a few weeks ago, but it was lost in the shuffle. I have heard they are skating on very, very thin ice with their investors, and with little time to play around, the board just may decide to get what they can.

The pilots are ALWAYS the last to know.

 

[rvsm410]

Strange, yesterday, I got a read receipt from an email I had sent the SOC manager at the time, Ed R. regarding a dispatch position.....I guess it's never to late to read your emails....My email was dated Feb 4 2004!!!!...

I have not heard mush good coming out ot Georgia about TMA...I wish you guys the best...

 

[magrs]

Has there been any rumor/discussion about possible entities interested in buying them? Sort of a World/North American deal?

 

[Jeff Helgeson]

SFB @ 2200 on 9/29/05

TMA has shut down and the last flight from SFB was allowed to leave with PAXs. I don't know the details, but just talk to some of the personnel in the office and they are shut down.

I hate to see this sort of thing. I know there are a number of former TWA and other pilots from other majors on furlough working there as well.

I wish them all the best!

 

[NTS ALL 4]

Has there been any rumor/discussion about possible entities interested in buying them? Sort of a World/North American deal?

Yes...anything is possible in aviation these days.

 

[Stanky]

Well.....

That sucks.

I would imagine that somebody would be grabbing the Vacation Express contract that TMA had in SFB. Hopefully the employees can jump onboard with whoever that is.

Good luck everybody.

 

[Pilotbob3]

how many planes/pilots did TMA have? heard 6 are interviewing at North American on Oct. 5th.

 

[billjohnson321]

its true its over,almost 1 year from southeast.must be a flawed business plan.

 

[bobs98tlr]

Very sad, i work with TMA at RFD and know a lot of the ground workers/pilots/FA's/and MX people. It sucks bad, there are at lot of Ex TWA guys there that i feel really bad for, well i feel bad for them all but you get what im sayin. I recieved a fax that there contracting fueling company has cancelled all fueling rights to them. Im great friends the the mx guys their and its sad to see them without work. I believe they had 5 or 6 757's and about the same amount of MD-80's.

 

[mdanno808]

Best of luck guys.

 

[magrs]

Does anybody have a link to the press release?

TIA

Best of luck to all my buddies!

 

[mdanno808]

TransMeridian Airlines GroundedSeptember 30, 2005 - The last flight into Toledo was Thursday night, and now travelers are scrambling to find new flights.After two years providing service to and from Toledo Express Airport, TransMeridian Airlines has shut down completely. The entire airline stopped its flights at midnight, according to Brian Schwartz, public affairs director for the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority. Schwartz did not know why the airline was shutting down, but noticed high fuel prices have affected smaller carriers. TransMeridian began offering flights in and out of Toledo in September, 2003. It did end flights to Las Vegas back in January, but had continued to offer daily flights between Toledo and Orlando. Its departure follows ATA's decision to pull out in January. Toledo Express is now left with five carriers. "Hopefully we'll get someone in here soon to fill that hole because Orlando's a very popular destination from Toledo and TransMeridian was filling its planes, so there is an opportunity for an airline to fill that service right away if we can get them to get here," Schwartz said. TransMeridian had a 7:55 a.m. flight scheduled for Friday morning, and a number of passengers on that flight showed up at the airport, not knowing it had been cancelled. Passengers holding TransMeridian tickets can call the airline at (866) 435-9862.
http://abclocal.go.com/wtvg/story?section=local&id=3491532

 

[Bandit60]

i flew on TMA as a passenger once. It was one of the best airline experiences I have had in years. I was so impressed. It makes me sad to see this airline shut down.

The interesting thing is that alot of you have said that alot of the EX TWA guys were working for TMA. It really showed by the excellent service that TMA gave to their passengers. (just like TWA did).

GOOD LUCK TO ALL

 

[NoahWerka]

Pace Airlines is jumping through hoops to operate the Vacation Express flights. They are already going to operate them out of Louisville and Cincinatti starting in Dec. Pace is based in Winston-Salem, NC and owned by Hooters of America.

http://flypace.com/

http://www.hootersair.com/

 

[rvsm410]

I heard NAA / World Airways Inc is looking at picking up the slack as they already do some of this work....Strange...several of the 757's TMA had were former National Airlines (LAS) acft they were former TWA acft...

I wish the group the best of luck, It would be a real plus for them to get on with the World Airways Family.......

 

[OviedoBob]

2 hours ago on the Orlando News:

Transmeridian has stopped all service out of Orlando Sanford airport.

It appears they have ceased and have stranded all pax that held tickets.

 

[Alcatraz]

I'm sorry. This sucks for those folks! I knew a few that had gone there after getting furloughed earlier this year from ATA. Two furloughs in a career are enough, let alone two in a year...

From TMA's website:


TransMeridian Airlines Shuts down All Operations and will File for Protection Under Section 7 of the US Bankruptcy Code

Lithia Springs , GA. , September 29, 2005 - Today TransMeridian Airlines announced the shut down of all flight operations effective immediately. The Atlanta based supplemental carrier was unsuccessful in negotiations to restructure its debt.

All flight operations have been terminated. Passengers who purchased tickets on cancelled flights should contact their travel agent or credit card company.

Since its founding in 1995, TransMeridian has carried more than a million passengers to more than 150 destinations within the United States , Mexico , South America and the Caribbean . The management of TransMeridian would like to thank all of its customers for their patronage and continued support over the years.

The airline is now working on efforts to assist employees affected by the shutdown. Airline officials expressed their sincere gratitude to their hundreds of dedicated workers who served the charter airline.

Passengers seeking more information can contact the company by email at [email protected]
For media requests, contact:
Frank Fraboni
Communications Director
TransMeridian Airlines
404-915-9967

 

[magrs]

From Transmeridian's website, they will be filing for Chapter 7 in the next few days.

Does anybody know the process, as in, does it go straight through the courts or are outside entities allowed to bid on the assets?

 

[say again]

I'm sorry ALL!!!!! Best of luck to each and everyone of you!!!!

 

[climbhappy]

I work for Pace and we did have all their flying added to our routing sheet as of this morning. Their boss called our office last night and told us.

I offer regrets for all the guy/gals affected. TMA underbid the VE contract at a rate of $2000.00 per flight hour last fall. We had been losing money on the deal all along. These package deals are underpriced by about $300.00 dollars per in my view. How do these geniuses in MGT get to where they are. We should absorb all their flying as we did today.

To the guy who asked about BK. The court appoints a trustee who oversees all the goings on. Their are two kinds of creditors. UNSECURED AND SECURED. Companies that own planes and lease them to airlines are secured. Billy bob's in flight catering is not. Nor is the city of Sanford. Southeast stuck the SFB airport for about 600,000 in fees last fall.

Creditors or parties can file "Motions" stating their intent or "offer" to the trustee. This is reviewed by the BK judge. If the trustee signs off, the judge usually does . That's BK basics.

 

[magrs]

Thanks for the info. I'm curious what an operating certificate will fetch these days? I know EOS and Maxjet both spent roughly $16 million to get theirs. If they had only wited a few weeks!

 

[climbhappy]

Trustees are eager to reign in any money they can. if there aren't many assets, the cert could be worth something. Look at what Mesa did on the Midway BK. If ,of course, nobody steps forward, the Fed could and would most likely reclaim their property.

 

[b757driver]

Alcatraz:
Of course it's always sad when an airline goes down but that is a fact of life for the past decade or more. Two layoffs in a year? I've had SIX in almost as many years, so you can imagine how I felt. Luckily, I had a way out and now fly for an overseas carrier which is stable than than the top 5 US carriers put together. Aviation in the US sucks the big wang, no doubt about it. Job security, what's that?

 

[singlespeed]

TMA guys/gals. For what it's worth, Allegiant may hire more before the end of the year. It's not everything for everyone but if you live in the Orlando area it may work for you. Good luck.

 

[Sonny Crockett]

That really sucks! Good luck to all the TMA guys and gals...I know they had a lot of ex-TWA, UAL and Southeast furloughed bubba's

 

[Lear70]

To all my Express One friends over at TMA and everyone else, sad to hear about this, it really sucks. Let me know if there's anything I can do to help, rec letters for those of you I flew with, whatever. Wish we were hiring instead of parking 15 aircraft too...

Two years ago they offered a 727 CA slot, boy am I glad I didn't take it... *whew*

 

[Sonny Crockett]

The CEO wrote this two days ago..

THIS IS FROM A FURLOUGHED BUBBA....IT IS WRITTEN BY THE TMA CEO A FEW DAYS BEFORE THE CHAP7 SHUTDOWN. ANOTHER FRANK LORENZO!


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

I want to report to you that your senior management team, working as a team, is on the verge of successfully consummating such a partnership. Within a few days we expect to sign a Letter of Intent with a new investor with wherewithal and vision. The result will be the infusion of much need capital. Equally important, the new team member will compliment our present team with new energy, new ideas and a renewed commitment to excellence.

If, as we believe, our negotiations are headed for success, our new partnership will transform TMA into a vital competitor with an expanded business model and the financial backing to transform our vision of being the dominant U.S. charter airline into reality.

I know the cutbacks in personnel and services these past months have left many of you feeling anxious. Fundamental changes in the travel habits of passengers, in the business models of our traditional customers, in competitive responses of other airlines and in the price of fuel have combined to our recent cost cutting measures necessary.

These forces, as I has outlined above, have been building for several decades, and they have come to a head necessitating that we refine the Company’s capital structure and expand the business model. Frankly, the changes we are now making are a good thing and will make TMA fundamentally stronger.

I ask all of you to continue giving your tremendous talents to the cause of our enterprise, and I promise that your senior management team and I will continue to do everything possible to grow, develop and enrich our enterprise and every team member.

But remember! Our new lease on life is not a panacea. We will have a tremendous new partner, almost unimaginable new opportunities, and we will have the financial resources to regain our footing. However, success will continue to require everyone’s creativity and dedication. We will be muscular, but we must remain lean.

My heartfelt thanks to all of you for your service and your loyalty during the tough times. Your hard work is about to pay off.

John Affeltranger .

 

[magrs]

Well it sounds like the CEO was even blindsided!

 

[b757driver]

Boy, does that CEO spiel sound familiar. I've heard it at least twice in my career and it is ALWAYS a death knell!
When they exude so much confidence of a turnaround after the troops have already sacrificed a lot in terms of furloughs/layoffs/sizeable pay cuts, all to "save" the company, isn't it amazing that you don't really save the company and the inevitable happens - you lose your job, you never get back the money you sacrificed and you may lose a whole lot more.
If I ever hear those kinds of words again, I'd run a mile.
Moral of the story: don't believe a word, it's all spin and what it really means is that you will shortly be out on the streets!!!