Originally Posted by
CincoDeMayo
Couldn’t be more wrong, sorry.
We aren’t in the early innings and I don’t believe that thought is shared with any reputable source. Spirit said today that they are happy with their balance sheet and are not seeking additional funding at this time. So do we need more government money to survive? There is nothing out there to suggest we do. In fact, not only did we profile better than expected numbers with positive trajectory, but another ULCC, Allegiant, also posted strong improvement and they feel that can be cash burn neutral by this quarter.
No offense but you have always had trouble grasping the fact that we are not the same as legacy carriers. Your previous contentions of “we fly the same planes as they do, we should make the same” doesn’t work for the same reason why you lumping us in with them now doesn’t work. We are different, different models, different revenue structures, different obstacles to overcome with Covid.
And I’ll throw rocks all day long. Those other airlines are out direct competitors, they would love to close up our shop tomorrow if they could. So if they have a hard time getting out of this, and that allows us to gain some share, gates and routes, that’s great for our airline and our careers. This kumbaya all airlines are in this together is great for a greeting card, reality is the airlines are one of the most, if not the most, competitive businesses out there. The victor gets the spoils. So here is hoping Spirit continues this upward trajectory and it puts us in a great position to take advantages of the strategic opportunities out there.
Having liquify from debt and liquify from free government grants are two entirely different things. One you pay back while servicing, and one you get for free and send straight to your employees’ paychecks. What do you think the C-suite is going to say on an earnings call. They have to give the numbers but they also have to give those numbers in as rosy a light as possible. They can’t get on there and say we’re F’d if things don’t get better really quickly.
Your lack of perspective leads me to believe that history isn’t your guide. Maybe we haven’t seen Covid before but we’ve seen major industry downturns before and history proves that six months in from the initial event is still the early innings. Maybe people come roaring back to 2019 levels in the next six months but if you think running at 50% capacity on even further reduced margins will sustain ANY airline long term without mass furloughs then you weren’t paying attention the last two times.
I am much happier to be a Spirit today than anywhere else so I can agree with you on that and I hope as much as anyone this is all a bad memory come June. The thing is no pilot picks to be at a successful airline. It’s all luck of the draw. The fact that any of us are here during this period in the industry is pure dumb luck. This could just have easily have been skybus any other dead airline. And it still could be in the future.
Your lack of humility is unflattering. Put down the koolaide for a minute.