Will XJt branded flying work?

[paid4training]

Discuss....

 

[Secret Squirrel]

Yes. Discussion over.

 

[ohplease!]

nope...

 

[SkyBoy1981]

The company can operate for several years even if the branded flying is a loss. Whether it works or not, we aren't going to see another Indy Air type thing where the entire company is quickly wiped out over the branded operation.

 

[Pattern-Master]

Time will tell.

 

[General Lee]

As long as they avoid competition from larger LCCs. If they take on Southwest, that route will be a loser. If they take on a legacy at one of their hubs, that route will be a loser. I don't think Expressjet will do any of those things. I think they are avoiding competition at all costs, and Indy Air did not. I think they have a good chance of succeeding, if they avoid major competition.


Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[Master Shake]

Yes General, we are. But it seems that competition is looking for us! Whatever. I understand the whole Free Market concept. What chides me is that our competition thus far has ignored our chosen routes. Suddenly, AA wants to scrap with us out of RDU, and Midwest wants some out of OMA. Funny, those routes would've been ignored if we were not on our current path. Whatever. All I have to say to AA is "free balnkets", and Midwest...F- your cookies, we have dollar beers motherf*cker!

 

[WestSide]

Horizon has free beer, but cookies would be nice too. Good luck to you guys.

 

[ERJpusher]

In the annual "Message to the Field," SWA CEO Gary Kelly singled out Xjet as a target because they are attempting to compete with us on some of our TX routes. You could tell by the tone in his voice that he was NOT happy.

 

[SkyBoy1981]

Yeah, I could see SWA starting up more nonstops to protect their SAT and AUS customer base.

 

[TNPILOT]

I think it will be successful as long as we keep the scope small. Considering that branded flying will only be 16% of the flying that we do I think the company will be fine. We have a steady stream of revenue coming from our CAL CPA and the addition of the DAL CPA (and no we're not doing it at cost). We are also running a successful (and lucrative!) charter operation which in my opinion has more growth opportunity than any other division of our company. These ventures together with our paint facility in SLW and mx outsourcing make XJT one of if not the most diversified and therefore insulated "regionals" in the country. But you're right time will tell.

 

[nonstop]

Thankfully as Southwest's fuel hedges wear off they won't be able to wreak havoc on the industry as bad as they did the last 5 years with their irresponsibly low fares.

 

[Master Shake]

Everyone has expected a response from SWA, and so far nothing. I'm sure SWA management is pissed, but how many battles can they fight at once? It seems to me the biggest problem for SWA is lift. They are tapped out. Maybe they are hard at work right now sourcing more 737s. Would it suprise me? No.

 

[generaltso]

The cool aid is flowing

 

[nonstop]

The cool aid is flowing

Is that what they call it at CHQ? Cool aid? Must be Kold eh?

 

[CaptainChris77]

In the annual "Message to the Field," SWA CEO Gary Kelly singled out Xjet as a target because they are attempting to compete with us on some of our TX routes. You could tell by the tone in his voice that he was NOT happy.

If you go to www.xjt.com and www.southwest.com SWA has come down to meet XJT's fares on many of the routes that they compete. On some, although SWA has met XJT's fare.... XJT offers non-stop service. But... SWA has some serious brand loyalty!

 

[Master Shake]

I love how all of you pompus pukes call anything positive "drinking the Kool-Aid". If all you want to be is negative, please strain your collective brains and come up with something original that will at least make me laugh.

What is so wrong with believing in your company and wanting it to succeed? Most of us XJET'ers have a vested interest in seeing our company succeed. Why can't you people get it through your heads??? Just wait until the end of the year when we post our numbers. Then, and only then will you have any idea as to how this thing is playing out. Until then, your worn out comparisons to INDY will be nothing but hot air.

 

[SkyBoy1981]

While there will still be some competition, I think Southwest is out to target those who only want the cheapest fare to get from one city to another. If that means making 3 stops along the way, then so be it. I don't believe that is necessarily the same group of customers that ExpressJet is trying to target. I guess we will see.

 

[Rez O. Lewshun]

RJ's and its own brand....???

Let's ask the Midway guys... oops never mind....

ok then...

Let's ask the Independence Air guys....

anyone still there? anyone?

 

[SkyBoy1981]

RJ's and its own brand....???

Let's ask the Midway guys...

Are you saying that using RJ's is what put Midway out of business? I don't even think it was a contributing factor. They had plenty of F100's and even a few 737's in their fleet. Hell, the F100's were the only airplanes that they had for quite a while. The problems at Midway went much deeper than fleet type.

As for Indy, that has been argued so many times on this forum its not even worth the energy anymore. If you still think that ExpressJet is comparable to Independence in any way other than operating a similar fleet type, then lets hear it.

 

[TNPILOT]

Are you saying that using RJ's is what put Midway out of business? I don't even think it was a contributing factor. They had plenty of F100's and even a few 737's in their fleet. Hell, the F100's were the only airplanes that they had for quite a while. The problems at Midway went much deeper than fleet type.

As for Indy, that has been argued so many times on this forum its not even worth the energy anymore. If you still think that ExpressJet is comparable to Independence in any way other than operating a similar fleet type, then lets hear it.

What I find funny is that people here act like XJT will somehow disappear ala Indy. They are totally ignoring the fact that branded flying only constitutes 44 of the 274 aircraft we operate. Sometimes I get the feeling people here are hoping we fail. If the same thing happened to their company would they hope that their management would ask for concessions and gut their contract to "keep" the flying? I hope not! If the same thing happened to their company would they want their management to just hand 25% of their fleet to the competition and just say hey good luck guys! We really are our own worst enemies.

 

[ERJpusher]

Thankfully as Southwest's fuel hedges wear off they won't be able to wreak havoc on the industry as bad as they did the last 5 years with their irresponsibly low fares.

So when do you think that the fuel hedge is going to "wear off," since you think you have all the answers?

Pricing all boils down to cost. You can price tickets at whatever you want, but it doesn't change what your costs are. Our total CASM is lower than any other airline, which allows us to be competitive. The goal is to keep CASM is check, and the company accomplishes this by establishing fixed costs. The primary purpose of fuel hedging is NOT to save money (hard to believe, I know), but instead to make fuel a fixed cost, and allow easier financial planning.

Also, since we have high employee productivity (lowest number of employees per aircraft, allowing the the wages/benefits to be high), we can also be competitive in this industry. Pretty irresponsible, huh?

By the way, SWA has fuel hedges until 2012.

 

[LowlyPropCapt]

RJ's and its own brand....???

Let's ask the Midway guys... oops never mind....

ok then...

Let's ask the Independence Air guys....

anyone still there? anyone?

Well said.

Not a snowballs chance in hell, unless the scale stays very small. Whats the point?

 

[SkyBoy1981]

What I find funny is that people here act like XJT will somehow disappear ala Indy. They are totally ignoring the fact that branded flying only constitutes 44 of the 274 aircraft we operate. Sometimes I get the feeling people here are hoping we fail. If the same thing happened to their company would they hope that their management would ask for concessions and gut their contract to "keep" the flying? I hope not! If the same thing happened to their company would they want their management to just hand 25% of their fleet to the competition and just say hey good luck guys! We really are our own worst enemies.

A lot of pilots simply don't like to see other pilots happy. Its a sad reality, but thats just how it is. This flying may work, or it may not...but either way, I would take everything that I read on this site with a grain of salt.

 

[coolyokeluke]

Well said.

Not a snowballs chance in hell, unless the scale stays very small. Whats the point?

You guys really enjoy kicking dead horses and comparing apples with oranges. Those arguments have been made and invalidated because the lessons of those failures have been accounted for and learned.
The point, by the way, is to not be CAL's bi#@c. The rates offered to XJT would not have made the company a dime. Is that any way to run a public company where you have responsibility to your stockholders?
If you're referring to the wage scale, XJT's pilots are among the best compensated in this corner of the industry. There are other ways to save money rather than subsidize an operation by cutting labor.

 

[dojetdriver]

Yes General, we are. But it seems that competition is looking for us! Whatever. I understand the whole Free Market concept. What chides me is that our competition thus far has ignored our chosen routes. Suddenly, AA wants to scrap with us out of RDU, and Midwest wants some out of OMA. Funny, those routes would've been ignored if we were not on our current path. Whatever. All I have to say to AA is "free balnkets", and Midwest...F- your cookies, we have dollar beers motherf*cker!

Amazing isn't it? Let somebody else spend the money to do surveys and track passengers flying patterns and desired service. Then move in to capitalize without spending a dime on research.

 

[Superpilot92]

SWA wont be to angry when we start filtering ALOT of people into SAT from Mexico for them to further distribute throughout the country. Watch!

 

[Rez O. Lewshun]

Are you saying that using RJ's is what put Midway out of business? I don't even think it was a contributing factor. They had plenty of F100's and even a few 737's in their fleet. Hell, the F100's were the only airplanes that they had for quite a while. The problems at Midway went much deeper than fleet type.

They a few FK100's and a bit more 737's and just as many.....read....too many CRJ's. The cost structure was too high.... Maybe XJT management will do better... which can't be too difficult... however Bi-Polar Bob was a CAL wunderkind under Lorenzo... hopefully no one is making calls to Bob....

As for Indy, that has been argued so many times on this forum its not even worth the energy anymore. If you still think that ExpressJet is comparable to Independence in any way other than operating a similar fleet type, then lets hear it.

I think there maybe some comparisons in that a company has a group of RJs laying around that they have to do something with.... What Indy did was pay consultants to tell them what they wanted to hear so they could start the end of many a employees long term dedication to ACA/Indy.

XJT may not too much of a choice either? I don't know... they have to do something with the jets... Let's hope management doesn't have stars in its eyes that they get to start their own brand....

The point, by the way, is to not be CAL's bi#@c. The rates offered to XJT would not have made the company a dime. Is that any way to run a public company where you have responsibility to your stockholders?

Maybe.... not being CAL biotch was ACA's mentality of not being UAL's biotch... sounds pretty emotional to me.. As a pilot it was never really important to me to tell UAL to stick it and create our a new brand.... especially with the results..... my bank doesn't care where the mortgage payment comes from...and neither does my family....

but the issue is complex..the pilots don't control, for the most part, if at all, who the airplanes are flown for..... so what is a pilot to do? S/he can only to so much...what he can control??? flying the jet safely... that is about it...

 

[TNPILOT]

SWA wont be to angry when we start filtering ALOT of people into SAT from Mexico for them to further distribute throughout the country. Watch!

Since when will SAT have flights coming from Mexico? Branded flying does not include Mexico ops. Once again Superpilot92 to the rescue

 

[Superpilot92]

Since when will SAT have flights coming from Mexico? Branded flying does not include Mexico ops. Once again Superpilot92 to the rescue

Hey turd! Do you even bother listening to the conference calls or the alpa call In's? Obviously not! Nides said that we will be doing the Mexico flying in the Future. I guess you just sit around and let others pay attention to their companies plans and then come out of the blue with your peanut gallery remarks. Congrats on your over achievements!!