Why being a UAX carrier will suck...

[Mookie]

general,

tadunk.....
that is the sound of the proverbial hatchet being buried. done.

what was the reason you guys didnt' negotiate a j4j with the connection carriers in the first place with some of the scope language. UAl had one right away, USAirways had one, why not you guys, especially considering you are probably the strongest union shop out there. not looking to start a fight, just wondering.

i forgot that trump had a combover...still looks like something i ran over yesterday.

peace
mookie

 

[Carl_Everett]

General,

My poor spelling skills almost match your inability to see the entire point. I know that you like to speculate about this business, but in this case you (almost purposely) leave out all of the details. There are a lot of people living in Northern Virginia and good number of those actually live closer to IAD than DCA. You implied that RDU was a bad location due to the dot.com crash. I was making the case that the DC area will continue to be a growth area due to the close proximity of the "Capitol". Plus you are dead wrong about the cab fare. Even if the round trip cab ride was $100, you would still be cheaper than the non-low-cost options at DCA. This assumes a walk-up fare of course. Also, thanks for glossing over my other points, I guess you just accepted them.

Carl,

If people want to go to the "Capitol"--they will fly into DCA. IAD and the associated car traffic driving to the capitol $ucks(the cab ride expense makes up the low cost difference between your airline and one that goes to DCA). Don't tell me you haven't been stuck in that crazy traffic---it will drive anyone crazy---I have done it. Anyone with urgent business (like a businessman), would choose DCA.

Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[General Lee]

Carl,

So, you guys are going to have A319's etc on every route that is identical to Southwest's out of BWI? Everyone... Hmmm. Wrong. I guess the CRJs are only going to Charlie West and Roanoke, those types of cities. Hmmmmm. And, I have driven myself in a rental car, my sister's car, a cab, and a hotel van (sometimes we fly into IAD and overnight near DCA--for the next day's SLC flight nonstop--I've done it twice) and the ride is a long one--especially in traffic near dinner time. Any businessman with business in the "capitol" or beltway would rather go to DCA. I wish you guys luck, but I question the CRJs in the LCC environment in competition with LCCs with mainline equipment. We shall see Carl.

Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[acaTerry]

Any businessman with business in the "capitol" or beltway would rather go to DCA. I wish you guys luck, but I question the CRJs in the LCC environment in competition with LCCs with mainline equipment.

Right as you are, there are still those who want cheap over convenience. Also, as you know from driving between the airports, the sprawl has gotten a good number of businesses outside of the district. Hopefully these will account for something.

 

[Carl_Everett]

General,

Please do me a favor. Please read this slide show before we continue with this discussion. It appears to me that you are using your own ideas when describing FLYI's plan. What your are saying is not 100% accurate about the business plan:

http://www.flyi.com/html/111903.pdf

I know there is some rah-rah company babble in there, but you will find a basic idea of the business plan. Pay particular attention to pages:

pp 6-7 here you will find the market reasearch, note that the business traveller is not the only passenger they are trying to attract.

p 9 ACA's view of the LCC RJ in the plan

p 11 sample fares. Take note of the Major's ticket prices compared to FLYI's. Also remember that a signifigant portion of SWA's traffic has the "dreaded long drive" that you so elegantly described as a reason for not going to a cheaper airport. According to your theory, the people will take the closer drive to IAD than take the hike to BWI to save money.


page 12 shows a route map. Now you don't have to speculate where the RJ may go.

page 15. Take note of the number of VA customers that drive the long distance to BWI -- 47%. That is a lot of people making that "dreaded" drive.


Please read the slideshow before commenting. I don't enjoy debating issues when the facts are not accurately portrayed.
For example it is 319's AND 320's. I do believe there is a conversion option for 321's if so desired.

Is the General acting like an expert without getting all the facts? Hmmmm.

Carl,

So, you guys are going to have A319's etc on every route that is identical to Southwest's out of BWI? Everyone... Hmmm. Wrong. I guess the CRJs are only going to Charlie West and Roanoke, those types of cities. Hmmmmm. And, I have driven myself in a rental car, my sister's car, a cab, and a hotel van (sometimes we fly into IAD and overnight near DCA--for the next day's SLC flight nonstop--I've done it twice) and the ride is a long one--especially in traffic near dinner time. Any businessman with business in the "capitol" or beltway would rather go to DCA. I wish you guys luck, but I question the CRJs in the LCC environment in competition with LCCs with mainline equipment. We shall see Carl.

Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[General Lee]

Carl,

Thanks for the slides. It does clear up some questions I had. But, there are still many roadblocks in front of you. Having RJs as your main source of revenue can hurt your chances of bringing in full revenue to support your full business. (trust me, we have too many RJs at Delta and that restricts the number of passengers you can bring into a hub---we could be making more if we had brought our planes out of the dessert sooner or had not parked the MD-11s after the War) I know you will be getting Airbuses (A321s too). Good. But the majority of your planes will be RJs (for a good while), and they will have to go up against the likes of Southwest (even in far away BWI) and your fares will have to be close, or people may take that long drive. I am glad you are well funded, and I hope it lasts long enough for you to get a good amount of mainline sized aircraft. As far as not knowing the facts, I might not know your minute details, but I have experience in the full picture. I hope you succeed, and I hope you don't fail like the Midway operation in RDU with all of their RJs and mainline aircraft. I also hope we do not turn into another UAL.


Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[Carl_Everett]

General,

Here are some more thoughts about FLYI:


http://flyi.com/html/article1.html

It might address some of your questions.

Carl,

Thanks for the slides. It does clear up some questions I had. But, there are still many roadblocks in front of you. Having RJs as your main source of revenue can hurt your chances of bringing in full revenue to support your full business. (trust me, we have too many RJs at Delta and that restricts the number of passengers you can bring into a hub---we could be making more if we had brought our planes out of the dessert sooner or had not parked the MD-11s after the War) I know you will be getting Airbuses (A321s too). Good. But the majority of your planes will be RJs (for a good while), and they will have to go up against the likes of Southwest (even in far away BWI) and your fares will have to be close, or people may take that long drive. I am glad you are well funded, and I hope it lasts long enough for you to get a good amount of mainline sized aircraft. As far as not knowing the facts, I might not know your minute details, but I have experience in the full picture. I hope you succeed, and I hope you don't fail like the Midway operation in RDU with all of their RJs and mainline aircraft. I also hope we do not turn into another UAL.


Bye Bye--General Lee