Midway also had 737s, and maybe 727s if memory serves.

 

Yes, and they couldn't make money with either. Although that doesn't mean it won't work (maybe their management wasn't very bright) it isn't a good sign. RJ's just don't make money, especially with gas at $2.00/gal+.

On a side note, we have a few ex-midway birds. The ones with leather.

 

I'd like to thank you for being the voice of pessimism for everyone at ExpressJet or those looking into them. It’s very clear you don't want them to succeed for some reason. What's your beef? I notice you provide a negative outlook on almost every thread about ExpressJet. Are you that much more comfortable where you're at?

 

No, I provide the yang against everyone else's yin on here pushing XJT. I just like giving people something to think about. Think about it as being a "devils' advocate". You're probably right though, I should tone it down a little. I can see how all the XJT'ers are excited - if my company was doing it's own flying I would think that was neat too.

As far as where I'm at, it's a very stagnant company for which growth isn't really an option. But I am happy here, for now.

 

Well if I remember correctly Mesa bought Midways Cert. and all of there 200’s.

 

RJs can make some great profits if used on a captive audience with no other direct flights available. I believe XJT is making a good profit on at least their Mexican flights and probably on quite a few overall. As far as showing that RJs can work right now- look at the American Connection flights out of STL. STL was greatly reduced by mainline AA a few years ago, but it is now a hugely profitable mini-hub with the RJs doing direct flights, mostly to airports that have no other direct flights for competition, and charging very big ticket prices for these direct flights. They specifically avoid going head to head with Southwest and most other carriers unless the other carriers are also charging big bucks for the flights. Another factor that helps is keeping the connections to a minimum so that almost every seat is paying the full price for that specific leg. To work, an airline definitely needs to closely watch the competition and avoid any possible fare wars on RJ routes since they cannot win a fare war against a 100+ seat carrier with big pockets. There are definitely quite a few things that limit the opportunities for an all RJ carrier, but if very carefully planned and operated, it can work in some cases.

 

I can't speak for the midway certificate, but they didn't buy ALL of the RJ's. AWAC ended up with 4 or 5.

 

And two motor Fokkers as well.

 

Yeah, just like in the late 90's and 2000. When just about every other airline was doing it to. That is sooooo crazy, isn't it?

 

Do you have any facts to back that up? Also XJT makes a profit on every flight. It's CAL who is concerend about how much revunue the flight brings in .

OK hold on a second. We are talking two completely different things. Just because Eagle offers a "direct" flight from STL to BFE doesn't mean every passenger on that flight is originating in STL. STL is a hub. People come into the hub, then get on another flight and go to their destination. The majority of XJT's mexico flights also originate at a hub (looking at their route map at least).

We are talking about doing "point to point" flying bypassing a hub, essentially the old SWA business model but using aircraft 1/3 the size and double the operating costs.