Originally Posted by
Timbo
Yup, many years ago a senior Captain told me, "The 5 year plan changes every 3 weeks...". and that has turned out to be pretty much the case. Don't chase airplanes or bases, because as soon as you do, they will move that airframe to another base, or move the trip you wanted to a different airframe, or both.
It is my observation that the guys working in Network keep churning the fleets/trips/bases only to justify their jobs, then they blame the inefficiency of having 10 fleets with pilots deadheading all over the system to catch up with their airplanes, and the expense of all the training required, on the pilot's contract.
To compare our pilot block hour costs to someone like SW, who operates only one fleet, is nuts. But we don't make the fleet plan, but Richard and Ed, the guys who blew $6 Billion on fuel hedges, did.
The fleet plan has been remarkably accurate the last 10 years based on what was put out at road shows. The only real changes were a shift in type from the E190 to the C100 however the C100 was always mentioned as a possibility and keeping additional 757's.
As for marketing they appear to be doing a terrible job. Perhaps a new team can be hired to bring our yields down to the other airlines.