Who's next?

[critterair2]

Heard a rumor from a USAir guy that their flight att. MEC is saying that Spirit will follow ATA, Aloha, and Skybus...next week. Who's hearing what?

 

[Jet41]

blah, blah blah blah....

 

[Andy]

Spirit's cash/equivalents weren't a problem at the end of Q3; unless they flushed a lot of money in the last 6 months, I don't see it.

 

[hawkowl88]

Equivalents?

Andy, do you know if the cash equivalents have been devalued or temporarily frozen? As you know, access to your cash is the name of the game now.

 

[redflyer65]

My guess would be Sun Country.

 

[PHXFLYR]

Anyone know how Frontier is holding out?

PHXFLYR

 

[BJK]

For what it is worth, take a look at the March numbers for F9:

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/080404/laf021.html?.v=101

Obviously, this is only a month and fuel is a huge killer, but things are not a bad as one might think. Also, the numbers below reflect $170,000,000 in cash at the end of 2007. Loss this quarter along with proceeds from sale of 4 aircraft are probably a wash, if not a small net gain in cash.
​

FRONTIER AIRLINES HOLDINGS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES ​

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET DATA (Unaudited) ​

(IN THOUSANDS) ​

​

​

December 31, ​

March 31, ​

2007 ​

2007 ​

Balance Sheet Data : ​

Cash and cash equivalents ​

$
170,434
$
202,981

Current assets ​

$
291,636
$
340,405

Total assets ​

$
1,126,748
$
1,042,868

Current liabilities ​

$
370,481
$
359,326

Long-term debt ​

$
537,236
$
451,908

Total liabilities ​

$
933,176
$
833,372

Stockholders' equity ​

$
193,572
$
209,496

Working capital (deficit) ​

$
(78,845
 )
$
(18,921
 )

 

[luckytohaveajob]

I think Midwest is NWA next target. Yesterday, Skyway closed. Now it is Midwest's time to be shut down.

 

[Lampshade]

I think Spirit, Midex and Express Jet are worse off than Frontier.

 

[Deadalus]

Sun Country, Spirit, then Frontier. Air Tran and Jet Blue are in a bad way, but may make it.

 

[elag777]

Sun Country, Spirit, then Frontier. Air Tran and Jet Blue are in a bad way, but may make it.

what are you smoking !

 

[Andy]

Andy, do you know if the cash equivalents have been devalued or temporarily frozen? As you know, access to your cash is the name of the game now.

This is a link Beetle posted a few days ago: http://www.transtats.bts.gov/Fields.asp?Table_ID=279

NK's cash: 60,569,000
NK's equivalents (short term investments): 37,925,000

Those numbers are from the end of Q3 last year, but they had more than enough cash for their size.

Yes, the commercial paper market has pretty much seized frozen solid. And the actions that the Fed's taken (giving access to the discount window to every swinging dick) is making matters worse.

 

[Lampshade]

Spirit is a tough nut to crack because they are a private co. But they were burning though cash pretty fast in the past. They received an investment of $100 mil in 2004 and were down to $4 mil in 2006 then received another cash infusion in 2006 approx $75 mil. At some point the investors are not going to open up the pocketbook any more.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_2004_April_29/ai_n6004592
http://www.smartbrief.com/news/sifm...72910B6-CA90-4C98-814D-B90F63E29640&brief=SIA

 

[USMC319]

Sun Country, Spirit, then Frontier. Air Tran and Jet Blue are in a bad way, but may make it.

You know fellas, this is very unclassy and in poor taste. Predicting the falure of airlines is a hot topic but to name airlines on a public forum is just wrong unless you have hard data that proves your prediction beyond a reasonable doubt. This is not a static industry. Lots of things will change. Those of you that predict the demise of others with a sense of glee in your voice (or posts) are either new to the industry or lack character.

 

[USMC319]

BTW, Deadalus I know you are a pretty good guy and didn't intend to flame. My post was general in nature and targeted at the "everybody but my" airline hater club. It just gets tiring after 14 years of people telling you that you won't make it to the end of the year. There were times years ago that it was very plausible (weeks worth of cash), but F9 isn't even close to those days right now.

 

[jayme]

I don't see any glee here.

 

[Chubaka]

Don't forget United. Look at the shape they are in.

 

[Ty Webb]

Sun Country, Spirit, then Frontier. Air Tran and Jet Blue are in a bad way, but may make it.

Here's a prediction-

AirTran will outlast your flying career . . . and your marriage. :laugh:

TW

 

[FlyWolf]

I think Midwest is NWA next target. Yesterday, Skyway closed. Now it is Midwest's time to be shut down.

Lucky, I don't think NWA has anything to do with the closing of Skyway, this issue have been in the discussion for a while (like at least 16 month), only Midwest management is responsible for closing Skyway.

 

[Lampshade]

Spirit Airlines may lay off or displace up to 60 percent of its flight attendants and as many as 45 percent of its pilots in two months, as it struggles to cope with soaring jet-fuel prices.
The Miramar-based low-cost carrier sent letters to union leaders Saturday, notifying them that it will furlough or displace up to 448 flight attendants and 242 pilots on Aug. 1, as the airline closes its New York LaGuardia and San Juan bases and reduces its Fort Lauderdale base. For flight attendants, the airline is also shutting its Detroit base.
''We were blindsided,'' said Sean Creed, chairman of the Spirit Airlines pilots union. ``Nobody expected it.''
Spirit would not confirm the numbers or disclose what flight cancellations will accompany the layoffs.
But according to the letters to Patricia Friend, international president of the Association of Flight Attendants, up to 240 attendants will be affected in Fort Lauderdale, 141 in Detroit, 15 in New York and 52 in San Juan. Each letter names the flight attendants affected. Spirit has about 750 flight attendants.
The letters, written by Jeff Carlson, Spirit's vice president of flight operations, are required by law under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, or WARN, as well as by union contracts.
Creed said that up to 242 pilots will also be affected, but he was driving and did not have the letters with the breakdowns by base. Spirit has 540 pilots, he said.
''Everybody is shocked,'' said Creed, who is based in Fort Lauderdale but lives in Connersville, Ind. ``We had a meeting [May] 21st with the company, when they gave a completely different impression of the state of the industry as far as Spirit Airlines is concerned.''
Spirit spokeswoman Misty Pinson would not discuss details.
''Spirit notified the labor representatives of flight crews of potential reductions. These notices are necessary to comply with the WARN Act,'' she wrote via e-mail in response to questions.
``Spirit has made no final decisions about reductions, if any, but to maintain flexibility, we will need to continue to evaluate our overall flying this fall during our lowest demand period of the year if fuel prices remain at record levels.''
Spirit's roots are in Detroit, but it moved to Miramar in 1999 and began its strongest growth spurt after the private equity firm Indigo Partners took a majority ownership stake in July 2006.
Boosting its flights to Latin America and the Caribbean, Spirit in May 2007 became the largest carrier at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.
But the airline lost $16.7 million in the fourth quarter, on $187.1 million in revenue, according to the Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
The prospective layoffs are the latest pullback in an industry reeling from record fuel prices. Last month, American Airlines said it would eliminate an unspecified number of jobs as it reduces its domestic capacity up to 12 percent in the fourth quarter.

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