Originally Posted by
Varks
As far as debt goes. Maybe Mr. Parker is not concerned because interest rates are so low. Why not borrow today at 3% reducing the chance that interest rates will go up in the future? For those of us that had purchased homes in the 1980's. 12% thirty year fixed rates have happened. Delta has an old fleet. What if interest rates went nuts? Who's smart then? I say buynow(money is cheap)
That's great but they have borrowed several billion (that's a "b") dollars just to purchase stock, not assets.
If they were buying back stock at $30 and reissuing at $45 I would agree that would actually make a ton of sense! Instead they've bought roughly 25% outstanding shares since the merger.
The company is NOT set up for success. That is the source of my frustration.
He points to increased competition and margins decreasing. Yet we can point to SWA and jetBlue adding 7%-10% capacity YOY yet LF, RASM, and margins have held fairly steady.
Imagine if we grew even 5% a year? How many pilot jobs would that add to our bottom line?
The reason? They have a good product and give good value to their customers. Passengers actually want to purchase tickets on them. My wife and her friends can't stand AA. Every time they arrive they wait 45 mins+ for their bags. I took a screen shot of a jetBlue arrival 10 mins later then my wife's flight one time. It was parked NEXT TO MY WIFE'S FLIGHT. They got their bags within 20 mins. We waited 1+10. It's a joke. This unfortunately is not a rare occurrence!
I wouldn't be so critical if Parker & CO had a clue what was going on at the front lines. The management team is out of touch. They literally don't know what they don't know. It's so frustrating, they are squandering a good thing going.
They have the money to make this place an attractive place to work and kill off the competition. Yet they are so focused on squeezing blood from a turnip RIGHT NOW.
They've spent millions on new uniforms. You should've seen the show they put on in Dallas for the first one. Ice cream bar, music, free food, luxury hotel accommodations for those staying over, etc. Why the union even has a uniform committee is beyond me.