Originally Posted by
falcon2000aj
Geez, I wish Wallstreet would get off this RASM measurement to judge an airlines stock valuation.. Why don't they go back to sheer profitability numbers instead.. We just made $76 million with a huge melt down.. Everyone has known our RASM would drop.. Customers are getting more travel savvy with us and we knew airlines would begin to try and compete with us.. With our CASM below 6 cents and dropping with every new ac delivery it takes us $50 to break even on a seat per 900 mile stage length. Our planes are full on almost every flight....
Because they need a way to make comparisons, and Ben addressed that in the latest call.
I don't think he's particularly worried about American or any other legacy matching our prices. We go after different customers. We are not going to steal their business customers who need frequency, we're not taking their international customers, the leisure travelers who travel on their miles or perks either. We're not going to get the government customers or those who fly to destinations we don't serve. There won't be any price matching on those flights.
So, you look at the type of customer we serve, the discretionary traveler. Of those 300 flights a day we do, how much overlap is there with American? And of those, how many of the seats on those flights will be priced to match or beat Spirit's? Even if it's a whopping 10% of the seats on a flight (I'd guess it's be more like 5%), that's roughly 10-15 seats per flight that are competing with us on price. I don't think it's a worry.
The worry is more on the legacies continuing their collusion to limit capacity. Yes, I think the Justice Dept. has something there. That's where we could run into trouble is once all three legacies decide to turn their eye towards us because of our growth.