Aloha Airlines: Letter to the Editor
04-03-2008, 05:52 AM
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Aloha Airlines: Letter to the Editor
Just saw this, figured I would pass it along
Letter to editor from Bob Gould courtesy Jim Herbert:
Editor,
Go! airlines, the proxy of Mesa Airlines, which is an airline with
probably the worst reputation in the industry for predatory practices
and poor treatment of its employees, has achieved its stated goal of
running Aloha out of business. Aided by the shortsightedness of local
travelers who only wanted the cheapest prices whether those prices were
sufficient to support a profitable business or not, the predatory
business practices and pricing of Mesa caused untenable losses at
Aloha. Mesa has never lost money except in Hawaii, where they figured
their short term losses would be sufficient to drive Aloha out of
business, after which they could raise prices to sustainable levels.
Everyone today wants the cheapest item; not the best item. As a
result we have food and toys from China that are adulterated or contain
harmful substances as the companies there attempt to make a product to
meet the price demands of their American business customers like
WalMart, and we have airlines failing right and left because people only
shop by price and not by quality or safety. When crews are worked so
hard that they fall asleep on a 1 hour flight, the traveling public
should realize that something is wrong, but the traveling public has
been led to believe that they are protected by the regulations of the
FAA. That is not true. The traveling public has more protection from
the unions on the airlines that insist on safety standards above and
beyond those required by the FAA. But not on airlines that have no
strong unions! Your only protections on Go! airlines are the minimal
ones provided by the FAA, which has neither the time nor the manpower to
ensure your safety because of all the new airlines starting up and all
the outsourcing of maintenance and other work by airlines trying to cut
costs every way possible.
When I started flying for Northwest Airlines 43 years ago, the
company paid 9 cents a gallon for fuel. At that time at ticket between
Hawaii and the mainland was as low as $233. The lowest it ever was, in
the late 50s and early 60s was $99 on a cheap nonsked airline operating
outdated propeller equipment. Now fuel costs over $2.00 a gallon and it
is still possible to purchase tickets at times that are $150 each way.
To account for inflation alone, ticket prices to the mainland should be
at least $500 each way, but the airlines think they cannot charge that
much money and still have any passengers because some el cheapo company
like Mesa will come in with a fare war and hurt everyone.
Never in the history of Hawaii has the state been able to support 3
different interisland airlines. Many have tried to enter the market and
failed, because there isn't enough business to go around, and Hawaiian
and Aloha were able to outlast the cash flow of the newcomers and their
temporary cheap fares. Not this time. Already weakened by inflation in
costs, especially jet fuel, and having just come out of bankruptcy due
to those costs and other competition, Aloha did not have enough cash to
outlast Mesa's (go!) predatory pricing. All of you people who bought
those cheap tickets on go! should not be able to look your neighbors and
friends who worked for Aloha in the eye. All you people who whined
about the price of an interisland ticket and cheered when someone came
in and dropped fares from what you thought were exorbitant levels should
be ashamed of yourselves. Mesa brought go! into the market knowing just
how long Aloha would be likely to last in the fare war Mesa started
because they had proprietary business information on the two local
airlines from the bankruptcy information provided to potential
investors. Now they have gotten away with it, and now prices will rise
back to levels that are profitable and that all you whiners thought were
unfair.
Aloha's employees (and those of almost all the airlines in the U.S.)
had taken pay cuts and work rules changes that were equivalent to almost
half their pay. Now they have lost their pensions and their futures.
An airline with 60 years of service has been driven out of business by
the most predatory airline in the country. The employees of Aloha who
bought your goods and services will no longer be able to do so. The
employees of Mesa's go! don't make enough to pay for your goods and
services.
Wake up, America! Stop searching for the cheapest airline ticket,
the cheapest toy, the cheapest mortgage and start shopping for VALUE and
QUALITY, because 'the cheapest' will eventually come around to you.
That attitude has driven our manufacturing capabilities overseas and
reduced the safety and quality of products in the USA and enriched the
managers of the companies that are taking advantage of you.
Letter to editor from Bob Gould courtesy Jim Herbert:
Editor,
Go! airlines, the proxy of Mesa Airlines, which is an airline with
probably the worst reputation in the industry for predatory practices
and poor treatment of its employees, has achieved its stated goal of
running Aloha out of business. Aided by the shortsightedness of local
travelers who only wanted the cheapest prices whether those prices were
sufficient to support a profitable business or not, the predatory
business practices and pricing of Mesa caused untenable losses at
Aloha. Mesa has never lost money except in Hawaii, where they figured
their short term losses would be sufficient to drive Aloha out of
business, after which they could raise prices to sustainable levels.
Everyone today wants the cheapest item; not the best item. As a
result we have food and toys from China that are adulterated or contain
harmful substances as the companies there attempt to make a product to
meet the price demands of their American business customers like
WalMart, and we have airlines failing right and left because people only
shop by price and not by quality or safety. When crews are worked so
hard that they fall asleep on a 1 hour flight, the traveling public
should realize that something is wrong, but the traveling public has
been led to believe that they are protected by the regulations of the
FAA. That is not true. The traveling public has more protection from
the unions on the airlines that insist on safety standards above and
beyond those required by the FAA. But not on airlines that have no
strong unions! Your only protections on Go! airlines are the minimal
ones provided by the FAA, which has neither the time nor the manpower to
ensure your safety because of all the new airlines starting up and all
the outsourcing of maintenance and other work by airlines trying to cut
costs every way possible.
When I started flying for Northwest Airlines 43 years ago, the
company paid 9 cents a gallon for fuel. At that time at ticket between
Hawaii and the mainland was as low as $233. The lowest it ever was, in
the late 50s and early 60s was $99 on a cheap nonsked airline operating
outdated propeller equipment. Now fuel costs over $2.00 a gallon and it
is still possible to purchase tickets at times that are $150 each way.
To account for inflation alone, ticket prices to the mainland should be
at least $500 each way, but the airlines think they cannot charge that
much money and still have any passengers because some el cheapo company
like Mesa will come in with a fare war and hurt everyone.
Never in the history of Hawaii has the state been able to support 3
different interisland airlines. Many have tried to enter the market and
failed, because there isn't enough business to go around, and Hawaiian
and Aloha were able to outlast the cash flow of the newcomers and their
temporary cheap fares. Not this time. Already weakened by inflation in
costs, especially jet fuel, and having just come out of bankruptcy due
to those costs and other competition, Aloha did not have enough cash to
outlast Mesa's (go!) predatory pricing. All of you people who bought
those cheap tickets on go! should not be able to look your neighbors and
friends who worked for Aloha in the eye. All you people who whined
about the price of an interisland ticket and cheered when someone came
in and dropped fares from what you thought were exorbitant levels should
be ashamed of yourselves. Mesa brought go! into the market knowing just
how long Aloha would be likely to last in the fare war Mesa started
because they had proprietary business information on the two local
airlines from the bankruptcy information provided to potential
investors. Now they have gotten away with it, and now prices will rise
back to levels that are profitable and that all you whiners thought were
unfair.
Aloha's employees (and those of almost all the airlines in the U.S.)
had taken pay cuts and work rules changes that were equivalent to almost
half their pay. Now they have lost their pensions and their futures.
An airline with 60 years of service has been driven out of business by
the most predatory airline in the country. The employees of Aloha who
bought your goods and services will no longer be able to do so. The
employees of Mesa's go! don't make enough to pay for your goods and
services.
Wake up, America! Stop searching for the cheapest airline ticket,
the cheapest toy, the cheapest mortgage and start shopping for VALUE and
QUALITY, because 'the cheapest' will eventually come around to you.
That attitude has driven our manufacturing capabilities overseas and
reduced the safety and quality of products in the USA and enriched the
managers of the companies that are taking advantage of you.
04-03-2008, 06:18 AM
#2
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Joined APC: Feb 2008
Position: Class date 7 Apr
Posts: 16
Amen, good to see someone tell it like it is...NWA did the same to AirTran in Minneapolis to Chicago, lowered prices to take a loss, once AT left....NWA jacked price from 130 to 269...public is now paying the price for frequent flyer miles...duh.
04-03-2008, 06:29 AM
#3
Self Employed.
Joined APC: May 2005
Position: Corporate Pilot
Posts: 7,119
All of us !!
Should we all take this message to heart and begin to buy our products from companies that treat their employees well? The reality is that everyone is doing whatever they can to be able to survive in this economy. Price is everything.
Mesa may have been able to kill off Aloha through predatory pricing but that is business. Plenty of other airlines do the same thing. UAL cut their prices out of Denver to keep Frontier in check. And, everyone is nervous when SWA comes to town.
SKyHigh
Mesa may have been able to kill off Aloha through predatory pricing but that is business. Plenty of other airlines do the same thing. UAL cut their prices out of Denver to keep Frontier in check. And, everyone is nervous when SWA comes to town.
SKyHigh
04-03-2008, 06:35 AM
#4
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Joined APC: Oct 2005
Position: B747FO
Posts: 148
Originally Posted by 15eRetireee
Amen, good to see someone tell it like it is...NWA did the same to AirTran in Minneapolis to Chicago, lowered prices to take a loss, once AT left....NWA jacked price from 130 to 269...public is now paying the price for frequent flyer miles...duh.
As for NWA and ATA:
NWA was protecting it's MSP hub, just like DAL, CAL, UAL, AA will do and has done, when a LLC tries to get a foothold at one of their major hubs. They just matched ATA's ticket prices and added seats.
Go on the other hand, was a raider and had inside information on how to run Ahola out of business.
Please don't compare NWA to Go or any of the Mesa Air Group.
04-03-2008, 06:38 AM
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Position: 767 FO
Posts: 396
Originally Posted by SkyHigh
Should we all take this message to heart and begin to buy our products from companies that treat their employees well? The reality is that everyone is doing whatever they can to be able to survive in this economy. Price is everything.
Mesa may have been able to kill off Aloha through predatory pricing but that is business. Plenty of other airlines do the same thing. UAL cut their prices out of Denver to keep Frontier in check. And, everyone is nervous when SWA comes to town.
SKyHigh
Mesa may have been able to kill off Aloha through predatory pricing but that is business. Plenty of other airlines do the same thing. UAL cut their prices out of Denver to keep Frontier in check. And, everyone is nervous when SWA comes to town.
SKyHigh
04-03-2008, 06:41 AM
#6
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Nov 2005
Posts: 2,002
Originally Posted by SAABaroowski
Just saw this, figured I would pass it along
Letter to editor from Bob Gould courtesy Jim Herbert:
Editor,
Everyone today wants the cheapest item; not the best item. As a
result we have food and toys from China that are adulterated or contain
harmful substances as the companies there attempt to make a product to
meet the price demands of their American business customers like
WalMart, and we have airlines failing right and left because people only
shop by price and not by quality or safety. When crews are worked so
hard that they fall asleep on a 1 hour flight, the traveling public
should realize that something is wrong, but the traveling public has
been led to believe that they are protected by the regulations of the
FAA. That is not true. The traveling public has more protection from
the unions on the airlines that insist on safety standards above and
beyond those required by the FAA. But not on airlines that have no
strong unions! Your only protections on Go! airlines are the minimal
ones provided by the FAA, which has neither the time nor the manpower to
ensure your safety because of all the new airlines starting up and all
the outsourcing of maintenance and other work by airlines trying to cut
costs every way possible.
Letter to editor from Bob Gould courtesy Jim Herbert:
Editor,
Everyone today wants the cheapest item; not the best item. As a
result we have food and toys from China that are adulterated or contain
harmful substances as the companies there attempt to make a product to
meet the price demands of their American business customers like
WalMart, and we have airlines failing right and left because people only
shop by price and not by quality or safety. When crews are worked so
hard that they fall asleep on a 1 hour flight, the traveling public
should realize that something is wrong, but the traveling public has
been led to believe that they are protected by the regulations of the
FAA. That is not true. The traveling public has more protection from
the unions on the airlines that insist on safety standards above and
beyond those required by the FAA. But not on airlines that have no
strong unions! Your only protections on Go! airlines are the minimal
ones provided by the FAA, which has neither the time nor the manpower to
ensure your safety because of all the new airlines starting up and all
the outsourcing of maintenance and other work by airlines trying to cut
costs every way possible.
04-03-2008, 07:03 AM
#8
Self Employed.
Joined APC: May 2005
Position: Corporate Pilot
Posts: 7,119
Seems to me
Originally Posted by Canyonair
Why blame the consumer? There would not be a "Predatory" Mesa (Go Airlines) if pilots, mechanics, gate agents...etc. did not accept and agree to work there. I don't blame the public at all.
Now and in the future the higher paying jobs will go to the skilled blue collar worker and small business owner.
SkyHigh
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