Originally Posted by
trlaketige
ACL, some people have longer memories. When I was hired, 1987, we lived comfortably on a 75 hour month (max allowed). Had a pension, fully paid for med plans, per diem that covered layover expenses, and no RJ's. Now lets look at where we are now.
Jim
If you do not think for a second that all of us want to be there you are kidding yourself. The question is how to get their the quickest.
I still submit that LUV is the main reason for our woes. Our Legacy debt structure and business plans could not compete with an airline that paid its pilots less, had them buy their type ratings, and overall had a lower cost structure. They got lucky on a fuel hedge, and were able to kill all of us. Our implosion was massive. We are just above that bottom.
Consolidation is the best and quickest path to defend against a round two. True coast to coast route structures are necessary to compete with these LCC"s that pick low hanging fruit. We have see the success of this plan in MSP, and SLC.
LUV is seen as some goal, when in reality they caused the profits and margins to dry up. Mismanagement of the threat further exasperated our decline, and as a result we took it in the shorts in CH11. Like I said, we have not even had one section six. Lets see where we are in the "restoration spectrum" after section six.
Unity will deliver the best results. We have 10 months to get our house in order.