Originally Posted by
Aero1900
I mostly agree with the two above posts.
CVG and RDU do seem like logical next bases. LGA will be entirely dependent on the merger so that's an unknown for now.
I can see the company wanting to follow the Allegiant model to an extent, the question is how much? I wonder how many domiciles Allegiant has and how many destinations they serve? Also, I wonder how thin their reserve coverage is in small bases? If you rely on the premium folder maybe you can get away with very little reserve coverage?
In my mind, the only reason not to have 15 domiciles is having to carry 15 sets of reserves. But if almost all the trips are day turns, getting them covered is much easier. Calling out for a day turn vs a 3 or 4 day trip that criss-crosses the whole country is much easier for the company to cover. Or you just offer up a premium trip to cover the sick call one day and you don't need to use any reserves vs the 3 or 4 day sick call that frequently uses 2 reserves to cover.
It's pretty easy to see how recovering from a disruption is much easier. I just didn't think they ever cared about that lol.
All of this discussion makes me wonder why the big airlines don't do more domiciles? We have domiciles that are dwarfed by the number of legacies overnighting and yet its not a base for them.
we have 24 bases and sitting reserve in a small base is incredibly easy - some senior pilots bid reserve in small bases because they are rarely called; recently we had senior pilots in a small base who were called out just to get their landings for currency.
reserve in Florida is the opposite: basically h*ll. We have bases at six airports and reserves get jerked around in FL to cover the flying.
small bases make the company over staff on reserves which is why the QOL is so good for reserve in small bases.
we also fly way less than you all do. Utilization is nearly double at F9 than G4. Anyway just came across this and thought I’d respond to a couple of your queries.