Originally Posted by
rickair7777
No dog in this, but I am a Cali guy...
VX's financial trajectory was typical for a startup, especially given the timing (recession, oil spike). They clearly appeared to be on the right track to keep making money and more of it. Cali people loved the brand, their only complaint was that they didn't fly to more places.
Not only that, you can’t compare a privately held airline to a publicly traded one. The VX investors were getting their money’s worth the whole time. Then they reaped the rewards heavily when they sold it to AS. I remember several times where management said we would’ve made money, but we had to make payments back to the investors. Then there’s the whole employee ownership scandal.