XJT currently has its fuel hedged for 2008 for its Branded, DAL pro-rate flying. CAL CPA and DAL CPA are not affected by fuel prices. Branded is doing well too....its been a year guys, the load factor is up, it is still flying and generating interest. This is NOT an overnight operation, I think people need to remember it. Just because it doesn't work perfectly today, it has made great strides. Just watch.

The XRJ is efficient for a few other reasons. It will carry 50 people, with all their bags, a long way. IE IAH-YYZ, IAH-ZIH, IAH-PIT, OKC-EWR, AUS-CLE. Its a good plane. You also have to remember that all of our LRJs are now LR2s, with a post-weight mod, that allows us to carry an additional 1,000lbs of weight in the reg. LRG. XJT can fill a 50 seat airplane with bags and gas b/c we have invested so much into w/b programs. So 50 seats or not, they are efficient aircraft.

 

It doesn't matter if "branded" is improving, the point that is being made is that it is still losing tons of money and skywest would have NO desire to keep it going. The same goes for the Delta at-risk jet flying, those planes would probably be replaces with larger ones and the at-risk opertaion would also end.

 

Maybe we should just wait and see what happens if/when something happens. Do you speak for SKYW management?

 

Good luck replacing them with larger RJs, they aren't as attractive as they used to be.

 

Wow i didnt realize we had some mgmt types on here I love the armchair CEOs that KNOW what their mgmt WILL do. LOL

 

No, But our managment as early as last week said "NO!" to any form of at-risk jet flying. Xjt needs the branded because they decided to call CALs bluff and now are Forced to do it because they decided to keep those planes. Skywest on the other hand won't be bound by that especially if Cal is pushing this deal. You guy might get lucky and have those planes put back in service with cal but to think that money losing branded will stay around is crazy.

The crj-900 is replacing plenty of flying all around the country and there are plenty of routes done out of Lax where it would fit perfectly.

 

There's a cap on those -900's, and the fact there replacing plenty of flying at those pay rates is NOTHING to brag about.

 

With load factors being what they have been in our at risk flying, I think you should wait and see what the 1st Q #s are on branded before you say its not making money.

 

Your load factors from what I have seen for q1 08 were the same in q4 07. Other airlines had record load factors in q1 and still managed to post the biggest losses in history for any fiscal quarter. There was nothing that changed from q4 07 to q1 08 that would make your company not lose the 30 million it has been losing for the past year.

 

I'll put a C-note on it being a loss. Breakeven Q4 2007 was around 90% load factor. You would need a huge increase in yield to break even at 70%. Further, the branded operation fuel is partially hedged, and therefore will feel some impact from the increase in fuel prices.