Is that your screen name in adult movies?

 

I forgot all you Republic guys are geniuses.......

Mexicana has already leased the 717's, you're wrong on that one.

RAH will collect what in bankruptcy court? hahaha. A Wisconsin Federal Bankruptcy court is going to give an Indianapolis based company preference over the local Airport Authority and the money it is owed from Midwest?

SWA gives a rats as-s about Midwest. This is about diminished capacity thanks to Tim Hoeksema and his Seabury geniuses hired by Dick Schifter. They move in to fill the void before Delta can and perhaps limit AAI growth in MKE. If anything, this move makes Midwest perhaps a much cheaper takeover target for AAI again as a defensive move versus SWA.


Just remember a flaps problem over Lake Michigan (going to MKE) deems a divert to IND as the safest course of action from our highly proficient Republic "subcontractors".

 

Wasn't Denver one of the biggest destinations for Midwest from MKE? So maybe add Denver to that list?

Statement says they can do all these new cities without adding aircraft. Is that what your seeing LuvJockey or will they have to add at least a few to cover these. Hard to believe they could schedule the jets any more efficiently.

 

SWA has been reducing flights into many markets (slow pulldown over the past year or so). They can add flights to their existing fleet without any trouble. I wish for the industry's sake they would grow.

 

With all due respect to Midwest pilots, AAI doesn't need Midwest as a defensive move versus SWA. I'm more than positive every airTran pilot on this forum (plus the other 1660) would agree with me when I say they dodged a bullet by not buying Midwest and buying them now would make absolutely no sense. Midwest has higher cost than AAI , they don’t need or want any more 71's; plus think of the scope battle airTran pilots would have to deal with when it comes to SKW and RAH.

AirTran is taking 2 737-700 deliveries and will have no problem competing against SWA on a day to day basis……………………..they’re used to it.

 

There's no way 12 170s could run to MOK. The volume isn't there. We'd probably see them parked with more furloughs. BB said that the planes needed to last till June for the investment RAH made to break even. Anything past that is gravy. He's also mentioned increasing MOK by an additional 2 aircraft in the future however that still leaves 10 more sitting on the ramp. Unless something changes we should be furloughing again in the fall.

 

He doesn't work for Republic. He's basing an opinion just like you do yours.


The same thing they collected from US Airways maybe? If you don't know I'm talking about gates.

Well it is called the law and they have no choice but to uphold their agreements.

An airline that's on it's last legs with it's 717 assets going to Mexican airlines and they're good for a takeover? The union mess alone is worth just waiting a little longer for them to collapse all on their own. Unless you mean the contracts Midwest has with it's regional partners that would be upheld. Worked for AMR when they purchased TWA.

 

BoeingTanker, I think DEN would probably be a non-stop as well. Don't know why I didn't think of that.

No matter what an airline does to stimulate traffic, during a recession there are only so many passengers that want to travel between specific cities. We have overcapacity in city pairs where we have very high market share, so we need to redeploy those aircraft to new service. When the economy recovers, I am sure you'll see the new cities grow quickly, and capacity added back to others. In the meantime, I wouldn't be shocked to see another city or two announced in the next few months.

 

Could Southwest move rekindle AirTran Midwest bid?

Posted on May 20, 2009 at 1:16 PM
Filed under: Acquisitions | Corporate Strategy
Tagged: airtran airways , midwest air group , southwest airlines

[ Share ] [ E-mail ] [ Comments (1) ]
Southwest Airlines Co.'s (NYSE:LUV) plans announced Wednesday to begin service in Milwaukee appear targeted at slowing the growth of rival discounter AirTran Airways Inc. (NYSE:AAI) in the market. But the real loser in the coming fare war seems likely to be TPG-owned Midwest Air Group Inc., the one-time dominant force in the market that has fallen upon hard times in recent years.

Midwest first hit turbulence in late 2006, when AirTran went public with an offer to buy the company. A bitter proxy fight followed, with AirTran losing out to a rival bid from white knight TPG and backed by Northwest Airlines Corp. But AirTran went on to increase its own flights out of Milwaukee, and that plus and the economic downturn put Midwest deep in the red. In September 2008 Midwest announced plans to outsource a large part of its flying to Republic Airways as part of a dramatic shrinking of its business.

Midwest remains locked in a battle with its unions over the Republic deal, and it has been losing share in Milwaukee to AirTran. Republic in its 10Q filing earlier this month said Midwest had delayed payments totaling $3.3 million due to it, saying it was monitoring Midwest's financial condition and working with management and Midwest's financial advisers.

The addition of Southwest, even in a limited capacity, figures to further drive down margins and could drive a fare war between Southwest, AirTran, Midwest and Northwest acquirer Delta Air Lines Inc. (NYSEAL). It seems unlikely that all four will survive a war, with Midwest the most obvious potential casualty.

Whatever the outcome, the Southwest move appears targeted at AirTran and not Midwest. Though Southwest has slowed its overall growth, it has in recent years targeted specific cities where other discounters are strong, namely Frontier Airlines in Denver and JetBlue Airways Inc. (NASDAQ:JBLU) in Boston. Southwest recently launched service between Baltimore and Boston, one of the first non-Florida routes where it and AirTran go head to head.

AirTran has a reputation for (wisely) backing away from a fight with Southwest, but Milwaukee might be different. The Orlando, Fla.-based discounter envisioned Milwaukee as its long-sought Midwestern hub, an escape from the bitter battles it fights against Delta in Atlanta, where the two carriers have their primary hubs. A Southwest build-up could lead AirTran to approach TPG about renewing its interest in Midwest, potentially seeing new value in buying up that company's list of loyal fliers.

AirTran has spent considerable resources building a foundation in Milwaukee. This might be the market where the company finally sticks around for the fight. - Lou Whiteman

Lou Whiteman is a senior writer covering the automotive, transportation and industrial sectors. Follow him on Twitter @louwhiteman

 

717200, that article means nothing. There's no quote from AAI regarding the purchase of Midwest so I wouldn't hold my breath. SWA is pulling back on other markets and needs new places to go. They smell blood just like AAI so in they go.