Originally Posted by
gloopy
Yeah but most of that graph is cushy guaranteed profits with free fuel. SKYW is flush with cash and their profitibility graph is probably similar. All either means is that they have experienced pant splitting growth in the guaranteed profit free fuel market segment with ever larger airplanes. The question will be is that sustainable. Indy Air tanked pretty quick once truly on their own and even dirt cheap Mesa had trouble in the guaranteed profit free fuel sector.
IMO the only thing that will keep the "Indy Air Group" in question in business for a sustainable timeline is the continued increase of outsourcing quantity and gauge and some kind of domestic code sharing windfall loophole to continue to subsidize their "independant" operation.
I and some others are afraid that is exactly what he is banking on. I think his strategy is to continue to siphon more and more flying from legacy carriers by undercutting the competition and thus gaining more guaranteed FFD contracts until his independent operation can obtain a feed contract to one of the big alliances. Imagine if Skyteam, Oneworld, or Star signed a contract with Republic holdings for feed and code sharing with their foreign carriers, thus bypassing Delta, American, and UCAL. That would be Armageddon for us.
What if he snags contracts with Emirates et al? Every pilot that has aspirations of every flying for a major and making more than regional wages has a stake in this. Republic must be quashed. This flying across certificates to bypass scope clauses must be quashed.