Originally Posted by
Airdale
Of course Airtran will take as many shots as possible at Republic. Do you think their CEO really gives two smelly turds about you and your pilot group? Its all about the money. Republic will go head to head with Airtran now, and they're scared. They think making public statements about Midwest being "gone" will sway travellers into choosing Airtran.
Of course Airtran is fearful of the competition, we fly E-jets for much less. People don't care whose name is on the side of the plane, its all about the ticket price. Republic could price themselves so much lower than Airtran and pack every flight. Airtran knows it.
Time to put aside the pilot groups and their own perspectives and see it for what it is - pure business. You and I mean nothing in the aviation business world.....but you should already know that, having been a "mainline" pilot and all.
No you don't need to worry about the AirTran CEO. What you do need to worry about is ~3000 ex Midwest employees floating around the MKE area who tell everyone they know not to fly Republic. I know by myself alone there are over 100 friends and family that will never fly Republic. 2 of my friends have changed their corporate travel departments to fly Delta and AirTran instead.
You will not be able to compete with Southwest and Airtran. You can have cheap pilots all you want but crew costs are such a low percentage of CASM that it's not worth talking about. The only way will be to bring in 30+ Airbuses to MKE and MCI. Every route you compete with either carrier with a EMB you lose. The only way Midwest was able to compete with higher CASM's from the seating situation was to provide awesome service. From the past year of flying on Republic aircraft it's obvious that you can't even come close to the service of the real Midwest. People are noticing that you are the same cattle car airline that provides the bare minimum of service. You can't just tell your employees to be nice and expect them to provide real service. You need to recruit those people and train them to provide real service.
One question. Has anyone actually bought a meal on a republic operated Midwest flight? I've flown around 50 legs and I haven't seen one yet. The FA's advertise it over the PA but they have never asked anyone if they want one during their service. You know this service was profitable back when the real Midwest provided it. Are your FA's just too lazy? Your FA's realize that these meals are trashed if not bought right? I'm not an expert in sales but I believe studies have shown that sales increase if you actually ask someone if the would want something.