Originally Posted by rickair7777
Yes, they pay more for the lease, but that is a minor issue.
The big issue is that they have 69 planes that are operating on CAL Expess routes which means CAL pays XJet for the service which is where XJet gets the revenue! In 2007 those planes will NOT be able to operate as CAL Express, will NOT be painted with CAL colors, and will NOT earn any money!
The cost of paying lease, mx, and crew costs on 69 planes that are not in use would bankrupt any airline in a matter of weeks or even days. XJet needs to find someone to pay for the service provided by those airplanes, and they have not announced who that is yet (if they even know).
As an XJT FO, I can say that the rumors abound. We have several things going in our favor though. First is that the airplanes that we are losing are all LR and XR (the ones with winglets) models. Lets put it this way. We do IAH-BOI and IAH-YYZ, both 3 1/2 hour flight and we are normally able to take close to 50 people (+/- 2 depending on wx) on both routes, which is just about longer than other 50 seat jet can do.
Second, since we were the launch customer on the 145 models, and are Embraer's biggest 145 customer, the lease rates that are on those planes are excellent! so even if we are paying CAL more for the a/c, its still a very competitive rate.
Third, its a win-win situation for CAL. They get paid extra money for us to use these airplanes. Now, I'm pretty sure they have to put out a new RFP for another carrier to fly those routes AND supply the RJs. Or, they can use some of the 23 737s they ordered to use on some of the more popular routes.
I'm very cautious about whats going on at XJT, and the rumors are a dime a dozen here. We have heard just about everything from Southwest flying to gutting out the planes down to 19 seats and doing a charter thing. Whatever happens, it should be interesting to say the least.
IF things work out at XJT, I have to say, its pretty much one of the best regional airlines out there. As much as I am not happy with ALPA, I'm glad we have it. We have a great Human Performance group. Our vacations are protected. So far we have been able to stop prefferential bidding. And our union has a pretty good working relationship with management. I'm glad I'm at XJT and not elsewhere!