I would argue the opposite. In 2008 they have reacted late. Way too late. Right now our growth has practically come to a halt until the end of 2011. The decision to not take more planes for the Summer of 2011 must have been made a while ago. I bet it was a hard one since summer has always been the money maker for everyone. I have no doubt in my mind that they have planned the IPO for 2011, and with that they would have started to grow this place at a higher rate. But you simply can't go public when there is a possibility that your company may operate in the red due to runaway oil prices.
If you guys think about it, we gave back 7 airplanes out of the total of 35 in 2008. They have got them all back in 2.5 years. In other words, we were able to grow 25% within 2.5 years. That is an average of 10% growth annually. All this while we also struck and all this during a bad recession.
Right now we are hiring guys for $38.50/h to avoid JRMing others that make $70-$140. Finally a smart move from management.
The difference, as we have been told by our CP is this. Before 2008 this company was operating in the red. Ever since 2008 we have been making money and growing. We even made profit in months like January and February this year. Which is almost unheard of for an airline. AND oil was already relatively high during those months.
I personally feel a lot better about our near future now than in late 2008. However I too can see furloughs by the end of the summer. The bottom of the list has never been a good place at Spirit. But I don't expect anything like 2008.