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When is Delta going to SELL/IPO CMR/ASA?

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jetflyer

Concerned Citizen
Joined
Mar 8, 2002
Posts
2,040
When is Delta going to SELL or IPO Comair and ASA?

With oil prices going high, it's going to be interesting to see the Profits(ha:)) or Losses of Delta in the second quarter. I'm sure the losses are going to be sizable.

I personally think Delta better sell Comair and ASA soon before Delta gets too much weaker or the VALUE of CMR/ASA will decline more.

I feel it's in the best interests of Comair and ASA employees to be sold/IPO'd as well. I'm with Comair and am hoping a sale/ipo happens really soon.
--Comair will then have the opportunity to contract with other carriers.
--Comair if sold would then not be dragged into bankruptcy WHEN Delta files CHAPTER 11.
--If Delta ultimately goes CHAPTER 7 one day, Comair would not be part of the LIQUIDATION to get the stakeholders some of their money back and could instead TRY to be their own independent airline like THE INDY-AIR EXPERIMENT. Oh how fun going it alone:(, but atleast it might give us jobs for a couple more years.

1)When do you guys think Comair/ASA will be IPO'd/Sold, if ever?

2)Comair/ASA pilots: Do you want to be IPO'd/sold OR stay owned by Delta?

Thanks for your comments,
Jet
 
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Well, you keep bringing this up so you are obviously worried or something. Remember, that as long as there are fare increases, the price of oil can keep going up. We have had 8 fare increases that have stuck over the last 8 months. Also, this is our best time of the year, so losses won't be as bad as the first quarter. Sure, there may be a loss, but it probably won't be as bad as the others.


As far as selling ASA or IPOing Comair, I think our management is reviewing those options. As to whether or not any of those options will happen, only Grinstein and Kolshak know. They have put out the "feelers" to see what they might be able to get, but I haven't heard anything other than that. Grinstein has publically said that we don't need to own them to profit from them. (Don't get mad Cmrflyr-----business is business) There probably wouldn't be much change if we did sell or IPO them, except somebody else would be signing the paychecks. Medflyer will undoubtable state that we may need Comair and ASA to "post bail" if we go to Chap 11, and that could be true. And, I don't care what you Comair fans think, the RJs have accumulated debt, and ridding ourselves of that would be useful. (Got that, DOH?) We would just have to find the right buyer, and maybe we haven't found that yet or the right price.

Recent word from the latest "incommand" session (new Captains meet with Grinstein and a bunch of the VPs) is that they would like to have fleet commonality eventually in mainline (probably 737-700 being the smallest DL mainline AC) and DCI running a mixture of 50 and 70 seaters ONLY. They acknowledged the high fuel costs, but said our $5 billion a year savings plan will show results eventually. Song will grow with more 757s also.


So, jetflyer, please relax and if you want to apply to a DCI and you are worried about a possible selloff, apply to these DCI airlines in this order: 1.ASA 2.CHQ 3.SkyWest 4.Mesa 5.Comair


Bye Bye--General Lee
 
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General Lee said:
Remember, that as long as there are fare increases, the price of oil can keep going up. We have had 8 fare increases that have stuck over the last 8 months.

Apparently, your buddy Kolshak disagrees with your assessment:

"So far, the number of fare increases have only covered a fraction of the increased costs," Kolshak said in a telephone interview.

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050702/BIZ01/507020333/1002/BIZ

So General, you better start praying that fuel prices come down, because the fare increases aren't getting it done. Rememeber too that in September, demand will drop like a rock which means fares will drop too. DL will probably get through the summer ok, but this fall will be a blood bath.

And, I don't care what you Comair fans think, the RJs have accumulated debt, and ridding ourselves of that would be useful. (Got that, DOH?) We would just have to find the right buyer, and maybe we haven't found that yet or the right price.

Bye Bye--General Lee

You can push the debt on someone else, but you'll still have to pay for it. Whoever buys ASA/CMR would simply build the debt service into the fee-for-departure.

Unfortunately, I think DL has waited too long to sell ASA/CMR at a good price. If they had wanted to get a good price, they should have done it two years ago. Now, with fuel prices high and LCC's becoming more and more dominant, the value of ASA/CMR is minimal. DL will probably sell one of them, but the sale will do little to boost the bottomline.
 
MedFlyer said:
Apparently, your buddy Kolshak disagrees with your assessment:

"So far, the number of fare increases have only covered a fraction of the increased costs," Kolshak said in a telephone interview.


I tend to agree that the fare raises have not covered fuel, but.......do you really think Kolshak would come out and say anything good until we know about pension reform? They will continue to paint the worst picture possible hoping for pension help.
 
MedFlyer said:
Apparently, your buddy Kolshak disagrees with your assessment:

"So far, the number of fare increases have only covered a fraction of the increased costs," Kolshak said in a telephone interview.

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050702/BIZ01/507020333/1002/BIZ

So General, you better start praying that fuel prices come down, because the fare increases aren't getting it done. Rememeber too that in September, demand will drop like a rock which means fares will drop too. DL will probably get through the summer ok, but this fall will be a blood bath.



You can push the debt on someone else, but you'll still have to pay for it. Whoever buys ASA/CMR would simply build the debt service into the fee-for-departure.

Unfortunately, I think DL has waited too long to sell ASA/CMR at a good price. If they had wanted to get a good price, they should have done it two years ago. Now, with fuel prices high and LCC's becoming more and more dominant, the value of ASA/CMR is minimal. DL will probably sell one of them, but the sale will do little to boost the bottomline.

Kolshak would not be saying anything good until they get pension relief. Michael707767 is correct. As far as the September drop off, that is correct---it always happens like that. But, Summer driving also falls, and gas usually comes down. With our own budget cuts, we may be able to ride it through. Also, we are realigning our flights in Sep, like some Song flights going to except Tue and Wed, to allow for yearly maintenance. It is all a work in progress.

Fee For departure will stay competitive, because there are so many people out there that want the business. Saying that a higher fee will result due to the debt service is speculative. The new owners probably have better credit and could possible renegotiate the debt service at a better schedule, and since they are more likely to pay it off--the creditors may agree. Again, all speculative. But, the debt will float away with the new owners.


Bye Bye--General Lee
 
When looking at an IPO or sale, an important question to ask is, ", who would want to buy/invest in an airline with a large fleet or RJs whose only flying comes from a mainline carrier struggling to keep its nose above water?" There is no shortage of RJ's out there. There is no great secondary market to convert them to cargo or corporate airplanes. I would not be surprised to learn that Delta has been quietly shopping CMR or ASA around and has failed to get any decent offers. If Delta doesn't want to own us, why should anyone else?
 
Birddog said:
If Delta doesn't want to own us, why should anyone else?



I don't think its a case of Delta not WANTING to own you so much as Delta not being able to AFFORD to own you........two totally seperate things.
 
Birddog said:
When looking at an IPO or sale, an important question to ask is, ", who would want to buy/invest in an airline with a large fleet or RJs whose only flying comes from a mainline carrier struggling to keep its nose above water?" There is no shortage of RJ's out there. There is no great secondary market to convert them to cargo or corporate airplanes. I would not be surprised to learn that Delta has been quietly shopping CMR or ASA around and has failed to get any decent offers. If Delta doesn't want to own us, why should anyone else?

Look at the number of investors lining up to try to get a piece of the USAir and AWA combo.... There is no shortage of people who want to lose money apparently.


Bye Bye--General Lee
 
General Lee said:
Look at the number of investors lining up to try to get a piece of the USAir and AWA combo.... There is no shortage of people who want to lose money apparently.


Bye Bye--General Lee

Good point, but, and this is only my armchair quarterback opinion, its apples and oranges. With America West/USAir, people are hoping that the result will be at least as good as the sum of the parts. With ASA/CMR, there is no similar strength to sell. As Michael pointed out, Delta may not be able to afford to own us as opposed as not wanting to. Either way, it is not a good position to try and sell something from. I am concerned as to what this will mean for ASA/CMR. There are other ways to get rid of us...
 
I agree with with the general, the sooner comair gets ipo'd the better. Nobody at comair wanted the buy out, Delta got heavy handed and said sell or you loose your contract to fly for us.

It would be nice to be our own airline again and not get dragged down by stupid managment decisions.

The sooner the better.
 

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