Virgin America Reports First Quarter 2011 Financial Results

[Tomct]

What I thought was most interesting is how VA pulled out of Orange Co so quick. Orange Co is a cash cow for every single airline that's there..the margins are high. Not sure how they couldn't make money there.

Not surprised out the financials, with oil this high it's a tough thing to eek out any profits.

RF

It wasn't that we weren't making money on that route, but they wanted to start other cities and due to the fact that "Alaska" was stomping their feet like a spoiled little brat in the corner with another DOT investigation, which for the 2nd time, was proven American Owned. We had to pull planes and add capacity to other cities that were performing better for us. But don't worry, like Dash said, 50-60 planes and we will begin to really turn up the ability to make money.

No Juice, just fact. Full planes with heavier ticket prices and all is good. Fuel is a problem for us, just like everyone else. Hopefully they get the oil price down or we are ALL in trouble! We are growing about 15% every 6 mos while the rest of the industry is growing at about 1% per 6 months.

Thanks 757, you get it. We will be fine.

Googs...Nevermind.

 

[Fubijaakr]

If you had full planes with heavy ticket prices, you'd be making money. You may have full planes, but you can't turn a profit.

Better go back and read the fire sale fares you've been getting out of ORD and DFW. You may have bodies in the back of the plane, but at $39 a head, you're LOSING. As confirmed by your 1Q result.

But you keep that red Kool-Aid IV in. Sir Dick couldn't operate without true believers. Neither could Jim Jones.

 

[LoveGun]

I hope we either turn a profit soon or go under. These Tomct vs Fubi threads are killing me.

Seriously though, management seems pretty confident about our financial viability. Either there is a lot of capital hidden on the sidelines or our management team has the best poker face in the history of the airline industry.

i hope VA makes it, not just because I work there, but because the VA business model is based on the belief that an airline seat is more than just a commodity -- that a passenger might buy a ticket based on service and brand loyalty. If VA is a success, then a lot of things in this industry might start to fall into place. Imagine if every airline was forced to look at quality of service or else loose pax to the competition. They might actually have to start treating their employees better. The way things are now, ticket price and frequent flyer programs are the only reason a passenger chooses one airline over another. Maybe if VA gets big enough the industry will be forced to react.

I realize it's still just a pipe dream considering we're hemoraging cash quarter after quarter. And, it's hard to be on a high horse when you work at the lowest paying carrier in the country. However, I still have hope for VA. Everyday I see hundreds of happy guests getting off our aircraft. Hopefully our investors are willing to hold on till we reach a the tipping point toward success.

 

[Flyby1206]

i hope VA makes it, not just because I work there, but because the VA business model is based on the belief that an airline seat is more than just a commodity -- that a passenger might buy a ticket based on service and brand loyalty. If VA is a success, then a lot of things in this industry might start to fall into place. Imagine if every airline was forced to look at quality of service or else loose pax to the competition. They might actually have to start treating their employees better. The way things are now, ticket price and frequent flyer programs are the only reason a passenger chooses one airline over another. Maybe if VA gets big enough the industry will be forced to react.

+1

It would be a huge step if VX could de-commoditize the business. I dont know if the airlines are really de-regulated enough to allow this to happen, but I hope they make it work.

 

[GuinessGuy]

Wow.....great idea, never heard that before.........I wish there was another airline like that.........

 

[Fubijaakr]

but because the VA business model is based on the belief that an airline seat is more than just a commodity -- that a passenger might buy a ticket based on service and brand loyalty. If VA is a success, then a lot of things in this industry might start to fall into place......
I realize it's still just a pipe dream considering we're hemoraging cash quarter after quarter.

At least you realize the folly of your pipe dream. While you may HOPE that consumers buy service, they don't.

The average passenger buys low fares. The high yield business flyer buys mileage to maintain their Gold status. Don't believe it? Last December I was in the hotel van with gal who was flying from PDX to Paris for LUNCH with a friend. Why? To up her miles on CAL.

VX can't match established carriers with EITHER of those demographics. What does that equal? Let's just say I'd keep your resume updated.

 

[Tomct]

At least you realize the folly of your pipe dream. While you may HOPE that consumers buy service, they don't.

The average passenger buys low fares. The high yield business flyer buys mileage to maintain their Gold status. Don't believe it? Last December I was in the hotel van with gal who was flying from PDX to Paris for LUNCH with a friend. Why? To up her miles on CAL.

VX can't match established carriers with EITHER of those demographics. What does that equal? Let's just say I'd keep your resume updated.

Funny, our load factors continue to improve and oh by the way, our First Class is one of the highest priced in the industry and we are full all the time. Don't forget that we have 3 levels of service, not just two. Yeah, there are $39 fares out there (just like everyone else) , maybe 3-5 per plane...maybe. The rest are right there or even a bit higher than the rest. Say what you will, but you will STILL be saying it 5 yrs from now when we have over 100 plus planes and getting bigger and stronger every year. But hey, you keep that positive attitude of yours going there Fubi....if I had to spend 5 seconds with you in the cockpit....I would kill myself. What a Tool. All those AK pilots are so lucky to have you on their team. uke:

Lovegun, don't you worry, we will be fine. Baring any catastrophe with Oil. If that happens, there will be furloughs and airlines folding all over the place. Hope that never happens.

 

[jayme]

If you had full planes with heavy ticket prices, you'd be making money. You may have full planes, but you can't turn a profit.

Better go back and read the fire sale fares you've been getting out of ORD and DFW. You may have bodies in the back of the plane, but at $39 a head, you're LOSING. As confirmed by your 1Q result.

Try booking a ticket on us and see what we're charging. Certainly not giving away the seats. I just saw $1889 one way SF to Boston (first class, which is head and shoulder above anything most other airlines offer.) I checked our non-rev internal site to see loads and some of those seats have already been sold at that price.

We're not making money, but it ain't cheap to start an airline the way we've been doing it. And the only way a sane investor lets management do what we've been doing is if there is a boatload of money behind the operation. I'm not saying we don't have insane investors, or inept management... who knows? But I sleep just fine at night, and know if we go down, we will have done our best to change the competitive landscape in domestic airline travel.

But I think we'll be fine. Thanks for your concern...

 

[Fubijaakr]

All I need to look at is your profit statements. You guys are bleeding cash. How long til Sir Dick pulls the plug just like he did at Virgin Blue and Virgin Nigeria?

Fortunately, all the recall offers will be gone by then.

 

[redflyer65]

It will be interesting to see how long the bleeding of cash continues. It's definitely hard to get capital when you are a young new airline...instead of being a legacy like American.

In the end, the airline seat is a commodity...albeit with good or poor customer service surrounding it. It's hard to break into new markets with any long term success when going up against the years of frequent flyer programs out there..someone mentioned this before.

One thing is true, having low cash on hand with a high debt load, and still trying to borrow money leads to higher credit interest rates and eventually vendors witholding services (because they know there is no cash behind the request).

This was the first nail in the coffin with Frontier. Credit card companies started calling for more cash which F9 didn't have...which triggered their bankruptcy.