Originally Posted by alfaromeo

Alliances help create profitable flying,

Originally Posted by newKnow

Geeze....


Has anyone gotten this "ms removal tool" virus?

Originally Posted by Carl Spackler

Hey, how many times have I told you to watch yourself in Bangkok! And now you're complaining about some virus in your tool!

Carl

Originally Posted by newKnow

Geeze....


Has anyone gotten this "ms removal tool" virus?

I've been dealing with this crap all day.

Originally Posted by DLpilot

Had that one on another computer. Had to restore to a previous point to get rid of it.

Originally Posted by alfaromeo

Growth will come only when the airline can profitably add flying to the system. The industry and Delta in particular is not interested in mindless market share wars just to say they have the most market share. So the only way to encourage the airline to grow is to create the business environment for them to succeed and add more flying.

I know there are some who think that if we just rid ourselves of code shares and JV's that we will somehow organically grow by leaps and bounds. AMR has been slow to the mark, somewhat hindered by their pilots, to embrace the new reality. They have the weakest alliances and the weakest market penetration (except for US Air, but they are not a factor). They have lost mainline market share, their pilot group has shrunk dramatically and they have hundreds on furlough.

As Delta has strengthened their code shares and joint ventures, we have added mainline capacity faster than any other carrier. We are still in the middle of a slow recovery from a deep recession coupled with a dramatic rise in fuel prices. Yet Delta is able to continue to fly markets profitably, continues to decrease connection flying, and according to management, they will make a profit this year. This is due in no small part to Delta's leading role in establishing a broad alliance amongst many carriers that allow them to steal profitable flying from other carriers.

So the two concepts go hand in hand. Alliances help create profitable flying, alliances help build market volume which shifts flying from RJ's to mainline aircraft, and alliances will help the company and the pilot group to grow. When the economy recovers, then we will see the growth, until then it will be slow.

I can see the urge to go tribal and try to build a moat around us and hope that leads to prosperity. In today's industry that is a recipe for failure.

I hope that answers your questions.

Originally Posted by alfaromeo

Growth will come only when the airline can profitably add flying to the system.... the only way to encourage the airline to grow is to create the business environment for them to succeed and add more flying.

I know there are some who think that if we just rid ourselves of code shares and JV's that we will somehow organically grow by leaps and bounds. ...

As Delta has strengthened their code shares and joint ventures, we have added mainline capacity faster than any other carrier.

So the two concepts go hand in hand. Alliances help create profitable flying, alliances help build market volume which shifts flying from RJ's to mainline aircraft, and alliances will help the company and the pilot group to grow. When the economy recovers, then we will see the growth, until then it will be slow.

Originally Posted by Bill Ayer, Alaska Air CEO

The good results prompted the airline to announce growth plans for 2012 and beyond, and Mr Ayer indicated that the results flowed from its 2003-launched 2010 plan. CFO Brandon Pedersen indicated the results for the year translated into a record 11.1% pre-tax margin bringing the 2010 ROIC to 10.7%. He also noted 2010 was the first time since 1999 that Alaska reported profits in all four quarters
“While we support industry efforts to balance supply with demand, we believe the most efficient operators should grow more than the industry average,” Mr Ayer told analysts during yesterday’s call. “In contrast to flat domestic industry capacity since 2003, Air Group ASMs have grown 18%. At the same time we have reduced our non-fuel unit costs from 8.73 cents in 2001 to 7.85 cents in 2010. We are continuing that trend because, in my view, we are now in a permanently low-fare environment. With our new fleet order we have the option to grow 3-6% annually as long as conditions permit. But let me be clear, we will not grow if conditions don’t permit it. ”
Alaska announced a 15-aircraft order for Boeing 737s starting in 2010, including 13 -900ERs for delivery in 2013 through 2014. The new aircraft will go into trans-continental and mid-continental markets as well as high-density West Coast markets. Mr Ayer noted that Hawaii was a question mark when it launched its 2010 plan, but it now represents 15% of its flying, bringing it to a close second to United in terms of daily West Coast departures.