Originally Posted by
svergin
Look at their route map. Delta, Southwest, and American have as much overlap with them as we do. I'm not worried about them at all.
I'm not concerned about the route map; I'm concerned about the excessive capacity increase.
Wall Street wasn't happy when UAL announced 4-6% growth but has no problem with (excluding AMR, Delta) other carriers adding significant capacity. Southwest is planning on 5-6% capacity increase and Wall Street didn't blink an eye.
One thing I really like about Kirby is that he wants to add capacity more in line with our competitors. If it causes overcapacity issues, then we'll all have to reduce growth. And from looking at Spirit's numbers, they're adding more capacity than demand can support. When that happens, airlines tend to just put planes on new routes, hoping to fill them up while selling at fares where everyone loses money.
And let's not forget that Spirit has a lower CASM due to higher seating density. Their A320s hold 178 or 182 pax. Compare that with our 150 seats.