Trouble ahead for Low Cost Carriers???

[Andy]

Re: UAIR CASH

http://www.usairways.com/about/press/nw_03_1021.htm


From paragraph 10:

US Airways Group ended the quarter with total restricted and unrestricted cash of approximately $1.94 billion, including $1.38 billion in unrestricted cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments.


Those are end 3Q 2003, press release 20 Oct 03.

 

[Ty Webb]

Originally posted by Andy

I grew up in a house where my dad was an airline exec. I remember going on vacation to airline conferences in the Canary Islands and Barbados in my teens. Ever wonder what those airline execs discussed? Yes, there was competition among them, but there was also cooperation on mutual goals.

Hey, Andy, that's pretty interesting . . . would have loved to have been a fly on the wall in some of those meetings back then. Is your Dad still alive? I would be curious to know how someone form the "golden age" of the airline industry would feel now, and what their career advice would be.

Thanks for writing.

 

[Andy]

Hey, Andy, that's pretty interesting . . . would have loved to have been a fly on the wall in some of those meetings back then. Is your Dad still alive? I would be curious to know how someone form the "golden age" of the airline industry would feel now, and what their career advice would be.

Thanks for writing.

Ty, my dad's been dead for more than a decade now. He got into airline management in the early 60s.
He (and most other execs) hated deregulation, and said that if there was any way that they could go back to regulation, they would. But he realized that the genie was out of the bottle.
Many of those meetings were hosted by Air Transport Association, a legal/lobbying/marketing/jack-of-all-trades organization sponsored by a consortium of airlines. My dad never said what went on at those meetings, but I was always under the impression that it was more like a meeting of all the mafia families where the don decided who would have which territory and who would have a contract put out on their head. He never outright stated that the airlines had become self-regulating, but it was implied in conversations.

 

[Boeingman]

My dad never said what went on at those meetings, but I was always under the impression that it was more like a meeting of all the mafia families where the don decided who would have which territory and who would have a contract put out on their head.

The rumor that went around for years was those exec. strategy meetings always took place in a private hunting lodge near Jackson Hole.

 

[Andy]

The rumor that went around for years was those exec. strategy meetings always took place in a private hunting lodge near Jackson Hole.

I can't speak for the COB/CEO/COO level. The meetings that my dad attended were president and VP level.

 

[Andy]

Don't tell us, are you the test tube baby son of Frank lorenzo and Bob crandell.

LOL!

What are you doing using a cap in uncle frank's name?
I'm looking forward to the day he dies; I'll be standing in line to piss on his grave. All ex-Eastern employees can cut in line in front of me.

Crandall may also be a b*st*rd, but he was freaking smart. He got the senior pilots at AMR to buy into the B scale for new hires in exchange for growth and better career potential for the senior ones. I don't blame him; it's the APA that bought his pitch. And honestly, Crandall's a big reason why AMR's been as successful as it's been.

 

[Mugs]

I'm off flying. I'm careful not to casually say where I'm going because I don't want another lecture from that whiner Mugs.

Merry Christmas Boeingman. Will you tell us about all your new toys for the new year? I'll just whine because I already know I'm not getting anything.

 

[B6Busdriver]

Andy,
Sorry for my slow response but I've been working. Thanks for the great post. I'm furloughed from another carrier and doubt they will even be in business in five years. We shall see. My job at jetBlue is at least a thousand times better than any other job I have had before. No I don't drink KoolAid or blue juice either. I liked my previous job but the company sucked. At jetBlue the job is great and so is the company.
I think lumping us into the same category as WestPac,Winair,etc isn't quite a fair comparison. JetBlue has been profitable, something those companies never achieved. The true test is coming over the next few years as the majors get strong again. Obviously I hope we don't fold our tent but then again you never know. Best of luck and I hope you get recalled soon.

 

[skykid]

B6Busdriver, you are exactly right - comparing JB, Airtran, SW, and Frontier to LCCs that failed is about as stupid as comparing American, United, and Delta to Eastern and Pan Am. It is fairly obvoius that the LCCs I mentioned have learned a lesson or two from the failures of the past. I am convinced the domestic travel in this country has changed and will never be the same. We are going to see a lot more business travel if the economy keeps ramping up, but they will stay price sensitive. The big boys either have to compete domestically, or die.