Originally Posted by
jcountry
I REALLY like the fleet plan. We have a lot of new airplane on the way-and we are replacing old ass birds at a rapid pace.
I think it is smart to jump on some new planes while interest rates are low, and I think certain "dream" airlines are really missing the boat on that one. Some airlines are taking short term profits and totally ignoring the fact that their fleet is older than hell.
Once the SLI is done and all the planes are where they should be, I think we have one heck of a machine.
I'm not expert on anything, but I really feel good about this place. We have a lot of great people, we are building a newer fleet, and we should really be a force in a few years!
We are buying last decades aircraft. Stupid. Meanwhile in 5 years the other carriers will be refurbing their fleet with new airplanes that have a 15%-20% fuel cost advantage just when fuel prices will be rising again.
Parker has said repeatedly had they been able to change the orders they would, but "what's done is done".
AAL is TAKING ON DEBT to buy back stock (2014 figure was $750 million, not sure about 2015 yet). That is ludicrous. We are paying more and more interest to buy an intangible thing that has zero value the second we have a hiccup. Meanwhile DAL is shedding it, they are saving over half a billion a year in interest over us currently, and the gap is widening.
Why is Parker doing this? To keep Wall Street happy and scratch their back. Buying back stock in no way benefits AAL, it's employees, customers, or vendors.
UAL has an amazing route structure yet they can't get out of their own way operationally. Our route structure is third of the three but we have Isom thankfully, who knows how to run an airline.