In my humble opinion the question is more why would the Alaska Air Group sell Horizon.
They are profitable. The Alaska Air Group has ample cash on hand and has no desire to pay fee for departure like many other majors do. Currently Alaska and Horizon do a decent job of harmonizing aircraft utilization on the proper routes. Selling off Horizon would end this coopoeration unless Alaska wants to pay a fee basis and as I said that sounds like a losing scenerio for Alaska.
Comair, by the way, is not fighting its way into the NW. They are replacing one narrow body round trip per day between SLC and SEA. For a significant REDUCTION in available seats for Delta. Don't look for growth here. Delta requires no feed anywhere in the NW. They are merely looking to shed some losses.
The more you consider the complexity and cost of XJT incorporating Horizon it seems like an insane idea. I have no idea how XJT's contract reads on mergers and acquisitons but Horizons is rather specific and mixing together so many fleet types imagine the skyrocketing costs of training. It's funny to me to hear people on this board mentioning MESA as the carier to imagine. They are totally outclassed and outperformed financially by the likes of Skywest, Comair, XJT, etc. all of whom have very simple fleet types. How can we possible say that offering a diverse fleet of aircraft is a bnus in this age where low cost is EVERYTHING.
So, on another note if XJT holdings wants to operate Horizon airlines as an independant carier as the Alaska Air Group currnently does....I could see that happening.
They are profitable. The Alaska Air Group has ample cash on hand and has no desire to pay fee for departure like many other majors do. Currently Alaska and Horizon do a decent job of harmonizing aircraft utilization on the proper routes. Selling off Horizon would end this coopoeration unless Alaska wants to pay a fee basis and as I said that sounds like a losing scenerio for Alaska.
Comair, by the way, is not fighting its way into the NW. They are replacing one narrow body round trip per day between SLC and SEA. For a significant REDUCTION in available seats for Delta. Don't look for growth here. Delta requires no feed anywhere in the NW. They are merely looking to shed some losses.
The more you consider the complexity and cost of XJT incorporating Horizon it seems like an insane idea. I have no idea how XJT's contract reads on mergers and acquisitons but Horizons is rather specific and mixing together so many fleet types imagine the skyrocketing costs of training. It's funny to me to hear people on this board mentioning MESA as the carier to imagine. They are totally outclassed and outperformed financially by the likes of Skywest, Comair, XJT, etc. all of whom have very simple fleet types. How can we possible say that offering a diverse fleet of aircraft is a bnus in this age where low cost is EVERYTHING.
So, on another note if XJT holdings wants to operate Horizon airlines as an independant carier as the Alaska Air Group currnently does....I could see that happening.
