Virgin America QOL

[Q400 Gear Bitch]

DC was in the Village yesterday and mentioned that there would be a big announcement Monday. I think we're switching to sabre. :beer:

 

[pilotpm]

DC was in the Village yesterday and mentioned that there would be a big announcement Monday. I think we're switching to sabre. :beer:

I'm guessing its a minor pay raise.

 

[bri5150]

Apparently DC said HUGE announcement. That must be bigger than big. He said 9.5/10 on a hugeness scale and it was a game changer. I guess we'll see.

 

[Q400 Gear Bitch]

Apparently DC said HUGE announcement. That must be bigger than big. He said 9.5/10 on a hugeness scale and it was a game changer. I guess we'll see.

Flygirls part deux!

 

[bri5150]

Flygirls part deux!

We can only hope!

 

[Flyer1015]

I thought the board meeting was Feb 8, so until then, no pay increase news right?

Could it be the 4th quarter results? When does VX usually release those?

 

[Andy]

Apparently DC said HUGE announcement. That must be bigger than big. He said 9.5/10 on a hugeness scale and it was a game changer. I guess we'll see.

I hope this isn't the big news. http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_22504207/virgin-america-begins-san-jose-l-flights

You guys need someone willing to drop another $100M in order to keep the doors open for another year, not simply playing musical chairs with your flights. ... these new SJC flights (along with the EWR and LAS ones) will mean that other routes will have to be cut since you're only taking delivery of one aircraft in 2013.

 

[Flyer1015]

I hope this isn't the big news. http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_22504207/virgin-america-begins-san-jose-l-flights

You guys need someone willing to drop another $100M in order to keep the doors open for another year, not simply playing musical chairs with your flights. ... these new SJC flights (along with the EWR and LAS ones) will mean that other routes will have to be cut since you're only taking delivery of one aircraft in 2013.

FlightInfo Airline Pilot CEO Andy, other routes don't have to be cut. They can increase aircraft utilization to a higher amount per day than current. And they can cut unprofitable frequency out of a route for new ones. And another 100 million? Flightinfo CEO, where did you hear this? Did you already see their 4th quarter report?

 

[Andy]

FlightInfo Airline Pilot CEO Andy, other routes don't have to be cut. They can increase aircraft utilization to a higher amount per day than current. And they can cut unprofitable frequency out of a route for new ones. And another 100 million? Flightinfo CEO, where did you hear this? Did you already see their 4th quarter report?

YOUR CEO stated that VX was going to stop opening additional stations because he claimed that the cost of opening new stations was the reason why VX was losing money (high cost of opening new destinations). So what's he done since that announcement? Announced that EWR and SJC will be new destinations for VX. I never bought the argument that opening new stations was VX's problem; VX's problem is that you guys are trying to sell conspicuous consumption in a Walmart world.

As to your second rebuttal - aircraft utilization - let's break down the numbers for VX's new proposed service.
SJC-LAX @4 RTs/day. That's a minimum of 3: 00 x 4 = 12 hours.
LAX-LAS @3 RTs/day. That's a minimum of 2:30 x 3 = 7:30 hrs.
LAX/SFO-EWR @6 RTs/day. That's a minimum of 11: 00 x 6 = 66 hours.
12 + 7:30 + 66 = 85:30/day additional flying.
VX is currently flying their aircraft more than 12 hours/day. There isn't much room for flying the aircraft additional hours. What you're suggesting is that VX will be able to get more than an additional 1:30/day out of their aircraft. While it's not mathematically impossible, I don't expect that you'll get high load factors on the multiple 2-4 AM departures that would be required to get that high a utilization rate.

Where'd I get the $100M figure? Simple math. The latest four quarters show a $99M cash burn rate. The problem is that VX's numbers have been deteriorating since 2010. I realize that some of you think that VX has turned a corner and the cash burn is suddenly going to stop but I see nothing but continued poor decisions at VX. The LAX Elevate Club is your management's latest plan to flush more cash down the crapper.

Have I seen the 4Q numbers? Yes. I've seen the 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011 4Q numbers. And from those and other quarterly numbers, VX has a track record. And the pattern of best to worst quarters is: 3Q, 2Q, 4Q, and 1Q. So even if VX had a 'great' 4Q quarter and only burned $10M in cash, it won't matter much because 1Q has always been VX's bloodbath quarter. Absent additional investment capital, VX will be out of cash before they turn a wheel in SJC.

Could it be the 4th quarter results? When does VX usually release those?

I find it rather humorous that someone who, by all appearances, hasn't even read a VX quarterly report, much less know when VX has traditionally released them, would mock someone who has actually read VX's quarterly reports.

 

[LoveGun]

$99 million per year cash burn rate? Not exactly...

The vast majority of VA's losses are due to us not paying down our debt. The interest owed our creditors stacks up -- hence the large net losses. This is bad, but it is not catastrophic. The number to watch is operating profit. If VA can make an operating profit consistently, then we can IPO and our owners/ investors will trade debt for equity.