Originally Posted by cybourg10

I don't know where you get your information from but I was told (to my face) by our VP of Flight Ops that the United deal is profitable at a certain block hour level. We have already surpassed that level with our projected block hour numbers for the summer and United continues to add to those projected block hours every week, hence why we are having to recall and determine where the new base will be. Our profit margin is lower than our historic margin but that is what the regional airline business is morphing into, less profits and higher quality requirements. The key is XJT is paying 1/2 price for the already discounted lease rates for our aircraft, that coupled with the size of our fleet allows us to operate at a lower price. I know you guys like to assume that we are doing this at a loss but XJT has the lowest cost per hour of any 50 seat operator right now for various reasons. Our UAX operation will not only be cheaper than the others but we will also have wifi, power outlets, and XM radio on our aircraft which will give us a better product. The only reason we are able to underbid everyone is our lease payments that are currently 50-60% lower than any other 50 operator which was part of our new CAL CPA, that coupled with the size of our fleet makes each 145 very very cheap. Glad to see XJT and ASA get new flying and hopefully it is a trend that will continue.........