Originally Posted by
UAL SUX
Absolutely.
The parade of turds in this TA goes on and on.
Parade of turds because they will change the seats from 90 to 76?
This is a classic example of internet idiotic stupid remarks. The TA has a weight restriction. The number of seats actually in a plane is irrelevant. The weight of the plane is what matters.
Regional airlines are at the beginning of a new era where they are in decline. They got to where they are because of the economics of 50 seaters but the growing storm related to labor costs and the fuel costs associated with 50 seaters are ushering in a new era where mainline recovers the jobs and regionals loses jobs.
These tidbits are taken from the Skywest AR:
Challenges in 2011
During 2011 we were in the middle of three year engine overhaul cycle for engines on our United CR.J200 regional jet fleet and we incurred total overhaul costs of $77.5 million Planned spending levels for these overhauls are estimated to be $50 million in 2012 and $20 million in 2013 Costs at ExpressJet are higher than competitive standards and in addition to the integration savings are expected to be reduced in each of the following two years.
Going forward we are addressing these issues through gaining better control over aging aircraft costs and through rate discussions with our major partners that reflect the realities of operating these aircraft.
Long-term Contracts with Re-fleet Rights
SkyWest is in strong position in our fleet replacement strategy which will give us the opportunity to replace aging aircraft with newer and in some cases larger aircraft which will positively impact both our partners costs and our margins.
Reduced utilization levels of our aircraft under our code-share agreements would adversely impact our financial results.
Generally our major partners have utilized our flight operations at levels which exceed the minimum levels set forth in our code-share agreements however in recent years our major partners have reduced our utilization to levels which at times have been lower than the levels required by our code-share agreements If our major partners schedule the utilization of our aircraft below historical levels including taking into account the stage length and frequency of our scheduled flights we may not be able to maintain operating efficiencies previously obtained which would negatively Impact our operating results and financial condition.
There are long-term risks related to supply and demand of regional aircraft associated with our regional airline services strategy.
Many of our major airline partners have publicly indicated in the past
that their committed supply of regional airline capacity is larger than they desire given current market conditions Specifically they cite an oversupply of 50-seat regional jets under contractual commitments with regional airlines. Delta in particular has reduced both the number of 50 seat regional jets within its network and the number of regional airlines with which it contracts There are currently more than 300 50-seat aircraft within the
Delta Connection system In addition to reducing the number of 50 seat jets under contract major airlines have reduced the utilization of regional aircraft thereby reducing the revenue paid to regional airlines under capacity purchase agreements See the risk factor titled Reduced utilization levels of our aircraft under our code share agreements would adversely impact our financial results for additional details This decrease had negative impact on our regional airline services revenue and profitability.