I think the chances of Siegel staying here are slim to none. RAH extended his employment contract until 1/14 so he could cash in on a "success payment" related to the sale of F9. When he was originally pegged as the CEO it was a perfect fit for F9. We needed PE and he specializes in attracting capital. He did exactly what he came here to do, and now that it is done he has no reason to stay.

 

Good luck with Mr. Franke. Y'all gonna need it!

 

It will be very interesting to see how Bill Franke runs Frontier. The guy has probably the best track record of success of any airline CEO. Will he put up a major fight when it comes time to negotiate a new contract? Absolutely, but who isn't? I'm sure he learned something during the Spirit strike. I'm sure he wont want to go down that road again, but of course he will push us as close as he can.

Frontier needs an injection of money and a new direction forward. Indigo/Franke will provide this. Frontier has already been strongly moving toward the ULCC model, and has been fighting to lower its costs for a long time. This is an airline that has been through bankruptcy and been owned by RAH. I really don't think that Franke is going to all of a sudden make things worse for us.

If Franke was taking over UAL or DAL I would agree with the above comment, but Frontier is already pretty damn close to what he is looking for. I don't see huge changes coming to Frontier that will cause much heart ache for the pilots. What I can see is a higher utilization of the aircraft which could hurt some guys schedules, but I think that FAR 117 should keep that is check.

I see growth, future hires and upgrades at Frontier. Something this place needs really bad. The future is bright at Frontier.

 

We are pretty used to Bedford so I don't think it could get any worse with Franke.

 

Were any RAH types able to bid over to F9 since the SLI?

 

No! Different CBA's do not allow it.

 

The IBT is attempting a last ditch, desperation expedited arbitration to settle this issue. F9 is currently hiring of the street and the IBT wants the positions filled via the IMSL. Unfortunately, RAH has been hiring off the street continually since the IMSL was issued. Ironically, the IBT had nothing to say about the filling of vacancies at RAH via the IMSL (even the filling of unfenced 190's and Q400's) but now, surprise surprise this is a pressing issue that requires expedited arbitration.

The IMSL has never filled a vacancy at F9 to date. We have filled vacancies one way since the IMSL was issued, F9 DOH (the IBT didn't say anything about that either).

Arbitration is apparently scheduled for late January. By then this ship won't even be a spot on the horizon.

 

The CASM of NK is 6.9 , Frontiers is 6.4 range on the 319s. The spread is even bigger on the 320s. (7.4 vs. 5.6) So Frontier cannot compete with NK unless they offer flights for high yielding customers. That's why I think F9 will look like EasyJet of Europe vs. NK being similar to Ryanair.

 

That is a good analysis. I buy that.

 

Not sure I understand, why can't frontier compete if their CASM is LOWER?