Originally Posted by
DENpilot
I believe this management team has no intention to grow the airline as planned. They care about ONE thing, and that is; what can they do to make a dollar RIGHT NOW.
Biffle and Indigo don't give 2 *******s about this airline in 5 years.
Our CASM is somewhere under 6 cents. God forbid we keep a 5 year old A320 and our CASM goes from 5.7 to 5.8 cents. They're so effin' blinded by short term gain by replacing a CEO with a NEO that they are missing growth opportunities Allegiant and Spirit are moving in on, very rapidly.
I was optimistic about Frontier's future, but with every passing day, that optimism wanes.
I'm not so sure that makes the most sense...
First of all, if this airline were twice it's size (planes, pilots, etc.), it'd make close to twice the money. So, it's certainly not a $ thing. If for no other reason, they do want to grow for that.
Second, perhaps they aren't making the correct business decisions to grow. That very well could be the case. Or, it just could be they are SO STINGY, that other discount airlines are outbidding them from space, planes, etc. I'm haven't done the research so I really don't know what other airlines are doing relative to us that indicates they are growing so much more.
Third, I think a lower CASM is better than growth. When (that's not if, but when) the economy tanks again or NAI happens or whatever causes demand for airline tickets to go down and prices go with them, this airline will be in better shape than most. Outside of another Sept 11th, sooner or later, airlines that are riding the wave of low gas prices and not being fiscally responsible are gonna feel the pain of not doing so. So, a lower CASM is, in a way, preparing the airline for 5 years from now. Could they be doing more to grow? Of course. But, I think I'll wait and see before I declare this approach as completely incorrect and of no value.
In this business, starting over really isn't practical. I debate w/ myself all the time about when I will reach (or have I already reached) that time where going somewhere else is too painful financially and QoL wise. Sooner or later, we all get stuck and the horse we're currently riding is the one we have to stick with. This horse doesn't pay much *for now*vbut it's one of the healthier ones...
So, all I really care about is our next contract, it's pay rates and work rules. This is the area we all are truly losing out. The company could pay every single pilot twice what they're paying us now (and that'd put us somewhere near the top until being leapfrogged again) and this company would still make $.