US Airways media day tweets

[Rango]

Tweets from USAirways Media Day.

Tweets from USAirways Media Day.
Crankyflier Tweets:
US Airways CRJ-700/CRJ-900/EMB-170 will have 9 First and EMB-175 will have 8 First Class seats
All 70+ seaters will have First Class by January next year

CEO Doug Parker is up, and it's time to talk consolidation of course
Doug says "we want to control our own destiny" - if a final wave of consolidation comes, we could decide what we want to do
Doug says: would like to be in the position @Continental was with @UnitedAirlines - could have done something but didn't have to
Doug says "we're a hub and spoke carrier, we're never gonna be a low cost carrier" (don't tell the LCC ticker symbol that)
ops goals for 2011 - used to be "get a lot better" but now that things are good, need to "make safe, reliable travel who we are"
need to be competitive with food, seat pitch, etc, but we need to beat them in reliability, baggage, etc

President Scott Kirby is now up - talking about the modern history of @USAirways
Pounding in the message that @USAirways hubs generate less revenue than other network airlines and that means lower costs needed
If nothing else, they're very consistent and clear in explaining where they stand year after year
Charlotte has low local revenue but lots of small cities around that bump that up significantly to make it a good hub
"This is the first time oil has spiked $30 a barrel and it wasn't a crisis - testament to the restructuring of this industry"
@USAirways is a catalyst for consolidation - @Delta/Northwest prob wouldn't be with US hostile bid, US talks with UA led to CO

Robert Isom, COO is up now
says @USAirways 737 fleet is not affected by @SouthwestAir 737 problems - they've been doing the inspections since 2003
@USAirways is testing ground-based radar in Philly and Charlotte to notify of probs on ground long they become an issue
Working on a web ability to let people rebook when there's a weather waiver (no fee)
@USAirways wants real-time bag reporting this year - would allow them to tell customers there's a bag issue before they land
@USAirways insourcing all reservation work by the end 2011 - costs are kept lower by using tech to improve productivity

Now on to Derek Kerr, CFO at @USAirways
"The least expensive airline to run is a good operating airline" Amen
Industry fuel costs are predicted to be up $1.4 BILLION this year
key to dealing with fuel rise - keep capacity lower so that fares can increase to cover costs
@USAirways has lowest cash obligations of any network airline - gives a little breathing room
12 new airplanes this year and 12 next to replace older 737s

Steve Johnson is up - time for a labor update
biggest headline is no post-merger single agreement with pilots and flight attendants but in general relations are good
current flight attendant cost is $400m (proposed increase by $40m) and pilot is $700m per year (proposed increase by $120m)
pilots want industry standard contract, but if that means a Delta, United, American contract, it's not going to happen
@USAirways will be back at the table with flight attendants (with mediation) in early May
one big issue with flight attendants - east is scheduled with pilots while west is independent of pilots - company wants west
flight attendants propose $129m cost increase vs company's $40m - big gap
for pilots, they propose $600m cost increase while company proposes $120m - HUGE difference
on to government affairs - FAA bill is "generally a really good bill b/c it doesn't have new taxes, fees, or charges"
one thing that would be very good for @USAirways is the Washington/National perimeter rule relief
@USAIrways would like to see perimeter rule abolished so it could fly all over from DCA but that's not likely.

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[Rango]

lunch is over - time to talk about being green (not you, Kermit)
Green was boring, but now we have Andrew Nocella, Mktg and Planning chief up
in 2006, 83% of capacity was in Phoenix/Philly/Charlotte/DC/Shuttle markets - now up to 98%
part of the airline that was in the non-core markets before were either loss-making or at least lagged
"cautiously optimistic" that the slot swap with @Delta will still get done
now the announcement is official - First Class on 70+ seat aircraft
Today 40% of @USAirways departures have First Class - that will climb to 61% now
very quick timeline - conversion starts in Fall 2011 and will be done by Jan 2012
upgrading First throughout - better snack baskets (1.5 to 3.5 hours) - better meals (3.5+ hours), glassware replacing plastic
new intl biz seat is on all A330-200s, will be on -300s by spring 2012 - also new seats and entertainment in coach on -300s
new amenity kit for intl biz - will have a pen included - good for filling out customs forms
they keep talking about how efforts are reducing carbon output, but really it's because these things save money

Now it's time for a social media chat with Jim Olson in Corp Comm and Kevin Jackson in Consumer Mktg
talking about US1549 on the Hudson - didn't have Facebook or Twitter acct and that was a huge mistake
did a survey on who was following on Twitter - more than half were in the hubs - 86% were Dividend Miles custs
81% of followers were doing it for discounts, 56% wanted info about company, 51% operational info, 29% cust svc ...
two people dedicated to social media at @USAirways in corp comm
@USAirways created a dedicated Twitter account for @USEmployees
@USAirways social media for mktg: it's not a discount channel "that's not in our DNA"
in Twitter - keep it simple (complex offers bomb); on Facebook, more complexity to encourage exploration/engagement
working w/ customer relations to see how or if they should be doing Twitter for customer support but volume is incredibly low
"not committed that this [Twitter] is the most effective way to service the customer"

Time for the executive Q&A session to close out the day
Q: How much is retrofit of regional fleet going to cost? A: Not going to disclose actual cost
wait . . . now CFO chimed in saying it's $35m
no news on slot swap with @Delta but Scott Kirby says better than 50% chance of it getting done
Doug Parker: NextGen is not a project that will likely have a positive ROI, so why should we [airlines] be forced to pay for it?
Doug: We're willing to pay for the benefits we received but not the nationwide infrastructure that we don't benefit from
@USAirways internet usage rates are below 5%, breakeven is over 20% but Kirby expects it will become prevalent over time
"don't look for individualized entertainment onboard anytime soon" - less important as internet becomes more prevalent
no power outlets anytime soon - too expensive, low usage rates, and hard to maintain

And that's a wrap from @USAirways media day