"Girls, girls, you're both pretty! Can I go home now?"

Baja.

 

Not for DL apparently. DL is terrified, horrified, of JB in BOS and refuses to compete, doesn't want it, can't handle it and is content to be a distant second or even third forever. DL could get it back and dominate it with ease, but that would require short term yield degredation. Its better to permanently surrender mass quantities of markershare forever than to bleed a little yields short term.

I agree though. We have to get to what "hub" really means. There's enough O&D out of CVG to justify its current size, less a few more 50 seat RJ markets here and there than can also be consolidated to other "real hubs". But the proximity to another "hub" doesn't mean an existing "hub" should "close" (whatever that means) if there's enough O&D to support a "hub" in the first place.

Mileage alone is only one of many factors and by itself its very minor.

 

RA is a smart guy, think its more of what he learned at NWA...you can achieve your financial goals through code share and joint ventures, any expansion will be via merger.

 

Exactly what statement of mine would you like backed up?

Carl

 

I originally thought it would come to a head in '14 but its possible the fake stock bubble/easy money rally could last that long I suppose.

If we're really staying lean for imminent times then great, I would actually agree with that to a point. When the dollar/debt/international soverign debt and currency/secondary housing/student loan bubbles all pop, probably at abou the same time, 2008 will look like a picnic.

Amidst the turbulence however will be embedded opportunities for a properly prepared airline to really shine. DL could pounce back on BOS and retake with avengance, decimate JB, further beat back SWA in ATL and take it hard to the fantasy order book airlines in the Middle East when we stop propping them up with purchase subsidies and no charge mercenary defense.

 

Those who fail to learn from history.....

Yeah it's great they are tooting their horns about not fighting for market share at the expensive of yields blah blah blah. Will we look back in 10 years with yet another management team and ask why were we so dumb as to cede more hubs and territory. LAX which was OWNED by Western Airlines ring a bell anyone? Now we have a tricky situation trying to get milk at a discount rate from the likes of Alaska and others in the Northwest. Bet the current management team wishes we still owned LAX. Food for thought.

 

When you say they got larger aircraft do you mean larger than large or just more large aircraft? They've definitely gotten more large aircraft, that's for sure, and all 70 (max allowed) are already on order.

And when I say more large aircraft I mean more aircraft that are large. It's not big, it's large. <- for you Texans.

 

Its like they don't think anyone out there will ever notice that the LCC collective with many many many hundreds of growth airframes on order are licking their chops with nationwide route maps they are counting on poaching from the legacies like its 2002 all over again. They are out gunned and out matched, but their ace in the hole is them betting we will cull capacity forever and gift it to them as they keep taking orders to facilitate their growth. Then when they are big enough maybe we will code share with them because they're so big. On the bright side at least we are rapidly collecting underpants on the way to mad profit.

 

Old Contract: (max 70 or 76 seat jets, 255)


New Contract: (max 70 or 76 seat jets, 325)


What's the difference between a 76 and 70 seats? 6 seats.

 

Ah, picture of a large RJ was too large.