Originally Posted by
Skyw
Can United really compete longer term with the LCCs? LCCs don't have to pay for the highly unprofitable regional jet routes like mainline. United is not structured to be a LCC. United is heavily exposed to international and it's not as profitable compared to domestic. Norwegian and other European LCCs pose a major threat to international profitability. As I was reading through the United investor presentation, they have 90 aircraft to park (return to the lessor) in an economic downturn. But what about the financial obligations on the other 630 jets? United has ****ed off investors with their growth plans. It's going kill margins, but good for customers that don't want to pay more than 100 dollars for a ticket. Can United execute? I don't think so.
If United wants to really compete, the company should be looking to cut out layers of redundancy within it's managerial ranks. There's like 2 or sometimes 3 people that do redundant jobs. They should get a consulting company to come in and look at how their office, administrative, managerial, and support staff operate and look to gain efficiencies there. The front-line workers at the airports and in the jets are running things pretty tight. Behind the scenes....not so much.