US Airways Must Reach Profitability By July

[iamwiz82]

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/search/s_182518.html

Cash in your frequent flyer miles folks. I do not see it happening. What companies want and are able to take on that much debt.

 

[IGBT]

I guess the airline biz will never be the same..biz at SFO is still down 30% since the 9-11 attack..and many feel insulted by the security shakedown..no easy solution unfortunately...

 

[StageLeft]

I read briefly that some smaller airlines are pissed that the big carriers are getting subsidized. I thought it was a good idea at first, but there comes a time when if you can't operate your business by itself it's time to go bankrupt and let the market sort it out.

 

[iamwiz82]

Airlines are a mess, and it is in large reason to high salaries. Guess what causes those?

I read somewhere that the corp. mentality of JetBlue and the like is not "what's best for me?" but is instead "what's best for the company?" JetBlue pilots and FAs both help clean planes, insuring more time in the air. They spend half the time at the terminal as normal airlines.

USAir is taking in large amounts of revenue, but it has huge expenses as well. I believe that they have costs equaling close to 12 cents per passenger mile, excluding fuel and unusual charges. Southwest, on the other hand hovers around 6.3 cents per passenger mile.

Just crazy, I tell you.

 

[rudder]

Originally posted by: IGBT
I guess the airline biz will never be the same..biz at SFO is still down 30% since the 9-11 attack..and many feel insulted by the security shakedown..no easy solution unfortunately...

The airline biz will never be the same and its due in some part to 9-11, but it is more a result of changes in the business world. Airlines like USAir and United would make tons of money off of last minute business travelers. In recent years there has been a shift towards more leisure travel and better planned business trips. Those business fares were the cash cow now they have dwindled.

Sure airline business is down all across the board, but you don't see Southwest Airlines hurting? They developed a model of origin-destination rather than the hub and spoke system that carriers like Usair adopted. This allows Southwest to better utlize their fleet. Airplanes cannot earn revenue when they are sitting at the gate.

There is a solution but with the pay structures put in place by the unions the usairs and uniteds can change but they will still lose money. Usair needs to earn $600+ million a year probably just to pay pilot salaries. Take an average salary of $129,000 and times it by the almost 5000 pilots they have.

 

[T2T III]

Originally posted by: iamwiz82
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/search/s_182518.html

Cash in your frequent flyer miles folks. I do not see it happening. What companies want and are able to take on that much debt.

Given the fact that fuel prices are increasing, there is little - if any chance of this happening by that time-frame. Usually, when fuel costs jump, airlines have some issues because their tickets were sold in advance, then they are stung with higher fuel and operating costs - and no way to quickly recover for those expenses.