Virgin America QOL

[DHPFLYN]

any new interview gouge ? Just read about AUS and ANC. Was this just announced or am I just a little late ?

 

[bri5150]

any new interview gouge ? Just read about AUS and ANC. Was this just announced or am I just a little late ?

Announced this morning.

 

[hyflyin]

Andy,

These kooks are brainwashed. Their airline is only a few quarters away from losing ONE BILLION DOLLARS and you have to defend yourself?

Ya thats right they all have the secret inside info.. You know that the investor scam is paying prime plus 10% just so these illuminati investors dont punch out.. Hell its probably more

Uh oh im gonna get shelled because my investment return data is not accurate !!! lmao

We have a few still excited about the airline and you call them kooks?

Last I checked your the one's with the crazies from the cockpit running up and the down aisle during flight and another wacko blowing the slide, being sure not to forget his beer, to vacate the a/c.

So who has the kooks?:beer:

 

[fandango]

My buddy just got the "thanks, but no thanks".....he interviewed end of Jan.....

 

[Grandpa +65]

AUS, LAS, SJC and ANC. Who`s running the marketing department? The guy from wheel of fortune or sideshow Bob from the Simpsons.

 

[Andy]

Hit the nail on the head here. This place sometimes feels like a Ponzi scheme w an airline attached to it. Also, the rumor in Dec was that we already received another 200 mil injection. Looking forward to Q4 cash to get more of the story. Myself and many others have thier logbooks up to date and apps out to other places. I feel bad for those guys hired with no TPic. Love working here but can't be oblivious to reality.

I would consider 200 million in new funds to HUGE; 11/10 (for those Spinal Tap fans). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbVKWCpNFhY
200 million dollars would give VX enough additional runway to get this pig flying; it would buy the company an additional 2 years to get their act together.

VX announced ANC and AUS today.
ANC was brilliant; United has loads in the mid-90s during the time period (6 Jun - 9 Sep) that VX will fly the route. That should be an instant moneymaker for VX as long as other airlines don't add a lot of additional flights.
AUS was at the top of the list of cities I couldn't figure out why VX didn't fly to. It's a big tech city that should have been near the top of VX's list. I think that MSP, SLC, CLT and DEN are 4 more business/tech cities that VX should fly to.
Two of the previous new routes, EWR and LAX-LAS, are brain dead in comparison to adding ANC and AUS.
SJC will only be a smart move if they abandon SFO and move everything down to SJC. SFO is a fortress hub for United and United has more than enough money to crush VX on any route. Just look at United's response to VX out of EWR. AMR had a hub in SJC from 1988 until the tech wreck; VX's product/marketing is geared toward Silicon Valley techies.

VX has lost close to $1B lost since they started operations? That averages out to more than $500,000 a day for every day that VX has been flying. They need a radical change; SJC, ANC, and AUS are a decent start to turn things around. The big question is if they've got enough time to make needed changes.

 

[Flyer1015]

What $200 million injection? Yet another baseless comment passed as fact.

 

[Flyer1015]

VX has lost close to $1B lost since they started operations? That averages out to more than $500,000 a day for every day that VX has been flying.

Do you really believe these exact numbers, and that's how it works? Operational profit versus net loss, where the airline makes money from the operation side of things, which is the airline itself. All money is borrowed (equity through) the investors, and they are paid back from the operational profit. If it really worked the way you are describing, this airline would need a serious cash infusion every quarter. There is more than meets the eye with how this privately held company operates.

 

[jonjuan]

Looks like B6 just today added a second SFO-AUS flight to begin May 21, the same day VX starts service. Haven't checked UAL yet. Interesting.

 

[Andy]

Looks like B6 just today added a second SFO-AUS flight to begin May 21, the same day VX starts service. Haven't checked UAL yet. Interesting.

Everyone's piling on.
Delta added SJC-LAX service.
United will go almost hourly EWR-SFO/LAX.

I'd be surprised if AS doesn't respond to ANC.

Here's B6's press release. They not only added SFO-AUS, but also added SFO-FLL for good measure. They added a LAX-FLL flight at the beginning of January. http://investor.jetblue.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=131045&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1784728&highlight=

 

[Andy]

What $200 million injection? Yet another baseless comment passed as fact.

DCMartin stated that the $200M was a rumor. I speculated on how, if true, it would give VX some more life. Both posts were unambiguous and I question the intelligence of anyone who could possibly misconstrue either DCMartin's or my comments as 'fact'.

Do you really believe these exact numbers, and that's how it works? Operational profit versus net loss, where the airline makes money from the operation side of things, which is the airline itself. All money is borrowed (equity through) the investors, and they are paid back from the operational profit. If it really worked the way you are describing, this airline would need a serious cash infusion every quarter. There is more than meets the eye with how this privately held company operates.

Are you unable to use an internet search engine? Even Chazz learned to work the Google on the internet machine. Allow me to walk you through the cold, hard numbers.
Article 1, 12 Jan 2010: http://www.fenwick.com/experience/P...g-DOT-Clearance-Obtaining-68-4M-Debt-Fin.aspx
Fifth paragraph: In addition, as part of the proposed transaction, Virgin America made substantial revisions to its governance and control documents and obtained an additional $68.4 million in unsecured debt from its shareholders. In 2007 and 2008, Fenwick represented Virgin America in several rounds of financing, raising over $500 million in debt and equity – the most ever for a new domestic airline.

Article 2, 21 Dec 2011: http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfranc...gin-america-raises-cash-cushion.html?page=all
First paragraph: Virgin America Inc. raised $150 million from hedge funds, a cash injection the airline said could carry it to a possible IPO.

I didn't spend very much time searching so there may be additional rounds of funding. Now let's do the math.
Article 1 mentions 'over $500M in debt and equity' in 2007 and 2008.
Article 1 mentions an additional $68.4M in unsecured debt. (2010)
Article 2 mentions $150M in cash injection (2011)
Over $500M + $68.4M + $150M = Over $718.4M invested in VX.

 

[Flyer1015]

And again, your point?

And what do you mean by adding a second FLL for "good measure"?

 

[jonjuan]

And what do you mean by adding a second FLL for "good measure"?

Keeping the boot pressure on the neck?

 

[Andy]

And again, your point?

And what do you mean by adding a second FLL for "good measure"?

Seriously? Sharks smell blood in the water. They're going to keep attacking until Sir Richard coughs up large coin. Until they see VX on more solid financial footing, they'll keep adding competing flights. That's why I said that if the $200M rumor was true, it would be huge ... I suspect it's just wishful thinking on someone's part.
They don't have to take a ton of VX's traffic; their strategy is to skim off 3-5% of the load factor because those last few seats are the highest revenue seats. Are you new to the airline business?

 

[Flyer1015]

Seriously? Sharks smell blood in the water. They're going to keep attacking until Sir Richard coughs up large coin. Until they see VX on more solid financial footing, they'll keep adding competing flights. That's why I said that if the $200M rumor was true, it would be huge ... I suspect it's just wishful thinking on someone's part.
They don't have to take a ton of VX's traffic; their strategy is to skim off 3-5% of the load factor because those last few seats are the highest revenue seats. Are you new to the airline business?

Mr. I have an economics major and I'll throw it at your face, FLL is a strong leisure market that is already well covered by Spirit and JetBlue. Neither of them are "skimming" the high revenue VX passenger. Most of VX's high revenue passengers are loyal, and it's why VX has been around today. The last minute traveller will pay a price, but at that point, flight timg is critical over a brand.

Airlines are competitive and are always competing with each other. Your "good measure" comment is baseless, because Jetblue isn't pulling a finishing move on VX. Good measure means when you've already done something, you do a lil more to ensure it by an extra margin.

No I'm not new to the airline industry, but I'm also not nuts deep into airline threads that I've never worked at past/present/future.