I think one can be "mature, thoughtful and professional" and also not particularly generous...

The typical former WAL Captains I flew with seemed much more "laid back" than the typical Atlanta "RDs" I flew with. The ATL guys seemed to get wrapped around the axle about relatively trivial stuff, whereas the SLC guys seemed to do a much better job of focusing on the big picture. Over the course of a rotation there was significantly less drama.

Those are just my observations over approximately seven years tenure in both bases.

 

In a word, yes.

 

If we do get a refinery and we do get the benefits of less expensive fuel, would that benefit also be translated to our regional "partners"? If so I don't see the 50 seater being as dead as projected.

 

That may be true from your observations, but the pilots; Capt and FO's that I have flown with on the 767 et al, have no drama, and only care to get the job done and go home. Yes, that limits small talk for some, but I really could care less, If a guy wants to be quiet, so be it. Many like to talk, and a lot, but drama is not how I would describe any pilot, from any base that I fly with. Ready to get their careers back? Yes. Anal? No. Generous? Not really, but why would they be when their pay has been cut, and they have kids in college and a wife that has never worked? They are trying to keep some semblance of the life they had, and I totally respect that and the fact that they do not choose to pay for my dinner. I would never expect that, and for the some that have offered, it makes me order a cheaper dinner than I would have paid for on my own!

 

Who knows, but it I was RA, the last thing I would want to do is subsidize a fleet of airplanes that shoes poorly on the business. They want em gone, and if they can find a way to avoid the penalties in the lease agreements and the DCI air service agreements they will. Does that mean we need to be their shill? Nope, there are many ways do skin this cat.

 

So you're in the SWA pool too?

Anyway I don't see the savings from a refinery being targeted for certain airframes. We pay the fuel anyway for the DCI carriers and it all comes to us in the over all fuel bill. The closest we could come to doing that would be to not discount fuel at certain (all RJ) stations, but I don't think it will ever become that localized. Even if it was, again, we pay the fuel bill anyway. I see the regionals benefitting from this, but only proportionate to the size of the benefit itself relative to how much fuel they use. It won't be a game changer either way from a mainline vs regional standpoint, but they will benefit from it and the savings will unfortunately help soften their CASM IMO. I can't see it happening any other way.

 

According to Richard at the meeting today they want to get te number of 50 seaters down to 100-150 ASAP.

 

Making from for more 70-76 seaters I guess.

 

Wow! Did he mean a reduction of another 100-150 50 seaters, or a reduction of 50 seaters to where only 100-150 remain? If its the latter, that's a lot of parked 50 seaters.

 

Well, I used to have some book royalty "throw around" money. Those days are gone.