I personally don't see 80 daily flights happening but perhaps DAL could get the city to subsidize things like PIT for instance. More than likely its a shot at SWA to keep them preoccupied with defending turf rather than invading a new one (CVG). I doubt it would be more than some additional flights to current hubs though.

 

That's a good idea T for a lot of reasons.
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Did I miss it, no talk of super conferences? SEC expanding to 16 teams? Big 12 being ripped up by PAC 10 and Big 10? Wow if I missed it discussed then I apologize, but if I didn't miss it, what have we become people?!?



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Oh and T, as promised, you will get the last laugh on the man child Lane Kiffin:

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Two media outlets are reporting the NCAA has decided to ban Southern California's football team from the postseason for two years and strip the program of scholarships.

The Los Angeles Times reported the NCAA sanctions include the loss of more than 20 scholarships. ESPN.com reported Wednesday night that the Trojans will forfeit wins "from at least the 2004 season."

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/201...html?eref=sihp

Now if only to strip them of that 2004 National Championship...

 

Actually, WN continues to expand their service from STL. Who do you think took over the MSP flights when AA pulled out?


Guys, I don't think it would be a hub. We would simply increase our flights in and out of there. There is a market for it.

 

I'll believe sanctions when I see it in an official NCAA presser. But the prospect is tantilizing nonetheless.

 

There is a good synopsis of the council 66 mtg on the DALPA site.

 

Heyas J,

Obviously there IS a market for point to point service. That's how SWA built up their whole airline....flights between large cities with long drive times...AKA TX and CA.

There were also opportunities to poach service from a legacy hub, and that's how SWA laid waste to USAir's entire BWI hub (I flew out of there in 1993-94...it was a very going concern).

But SWA's operation has morphed closer into to a hub based system with very high labor costs, albiet offset by the efficiency of their operation. Problem is, the low hanging fruit has pretty much vanished, and where they do go into, they're seeing competition that has frustrated their goals (Frontier in DEN, AirTran in MKE). Now they're forced to enter into markets they said they'd never enter...first PHL, then DEN and now the crying over LGA and DCA. Why? Because that's where the money is.

What you have now is an airline that is finely tuned to skim the cream off of nearly every market. Who wants to go to East Butthole, Minnesota when you can pick the 7-8 highest yielding/load factor city pair out of any population center? This is EXACTLY how AirTran got started in ATL, and to some extent, how JetBlue got started out of JFK (although to be fair, that was more like seeing the keys to a Kenworth Truck sitting on a table with a note saying "here, take it, it's free and we'll even give you free parking")

So, whats to prevent DAL from reverse engineering the process and targeting specific, high yielding city pairs? Well, a couple of reasons. First, NWA tried it out of MKE and IND, and had mixed success at it. Some flights worked, others didn't.

Second, it takes them outside their "core compentencies", something RA has traditionally gotten away from. We had an NBA contract with 5 727s that were a license to print money....all you had to do is turn the crank and out came the cash, but the whole operation was shuttered.

Same with cargo. Although HIGHLY profitable at one point, and WAS considered a "core compentency", it was allowed to degrade to the point where it was no longer cost effective to spin into something that was competitive with the "new market". Had it been treated with a minimal amout of TLC, we'd be flying -400 freighters now.

But is SWA vunerable in a place like STL? I think yes. We've fought a good holding action in MSP, DTW (for a long time), and SLC. AirTran is in sort of rewind from ATL and is looking for easier pickings (IE MKE). But it's important to understand that AirTran is NOT SWA...different kind of operation altogether.

If we have the spare airplanes, I think we COULD go after some of the "heavy cream" markets that the LCCs use to subsidize their operation...but you have to be smart about it, and not just show up one day at KDAL with 40 airplanes ready to lay waste to Texas (although I would personally love that...especially with DC-9s).

Our yields are certainly subject to erosions by LCCs...but we're all more or less on the same playing field now, and 5-10 airplanes in a LCC's core market could really throw a monkey wrench into THEIR plans for a change.

Nu

 

Indeed.

It will be crazy if the SEC annexes FSU, MIA, CLEM and VT to go to 16 teams. out of conference games, yes, Opelika and Hoover H.S. If you have a problem with that, look at the rest of our schedules...

Oh wait, FTB has an announcement to make... attention, attention...
Thank you, thank you for coming, God Bless America and Buzz you can take the teleprompter away, I don't need it anymore.

 

After some time away, I had to read back a bit (some 80 pages, go figure) and I came away with one observation. Has anyone else noticed that the two guys exchanging barbs as of late have two totally and diametrically opposed avatars as anyone could get?

Reagan with that stupid hat (buzz) and Murray with that stupid grin (carl). Can you imagine what a conversation between those two guys would have been like? No wonder today those two views clash on this board! I think it is hilarious because when I see these two trade barbs here, all I see in my mind is a SNL skit! (I do not know either of these two fine gentleman and mean no disrespect) But I cant be the oly one here that finds it funny...

Anyway back to my beer!

 

Good analysis Nu. I did not see this coming, (STL) and it would really portend a new chapter in the air wars if it's true. I wonder if it comes to pass, will DL cannibalize CVG and MEM to fund the expansion, or will we just be using increased block hours and airframes from the desert, and new MD-90's? One major weakness in DL's route structure is the lack of O and D traffic at our hubs. Compared to AA and UA/CO we are very weak in this area. This would at least represent a shift in that strategy, if STL did become a hub of sorts. Had a divert into STL a few years back, and the staff there was wonderful, took great care of us and the passengers.

 

Welcome back Carl!

Get used to it. And the sad part is that every CEO since Ron Allen has said we need to improve Delta "Technology," but only the infamous Leo Mullin did serious work in that department. Well, he spent a lot of money anyway.

Cheers.
BD