Spirit Pilot Hiring in 2020 & Beyond
#101
I'm gonna buy a mess of 2021 SAVE leap calls and hope we survive, else i'll just go tits up with the mother ship.
#103
Gets Weekends Off
Joined: Oct 2019
Posts: 110
Likes: 0
We’ve not been as successful as we could have been with oil at that price point. Or do you think BS like AA’s foolery with the E island, fare matching and gate limiting at DFW would go on if their fuel prices were 20-30% higher than they’ve been for the last half decade? Give them $100+ per barrel oil and the price differential becomes stark in a ULCC’s favor.
If traffic demands recovers quickly enough, we might be able to take huge advantages of this oil price war. Heck, we might even start hedging, I know I would.
Having said all that, there’s always going to be demand for ULCCs (taking covid19 and such extremes apart). In strong economies we stimulate first time flyers “creating” market traffic. In recessions, leisure premium travelers “step down” to fly cheaper. And lastly, don’t forget about independent business travelers that today might represent a very small % but will slowly grow as we add frequencies.
#104
Line Holder
Joined: Jan 2018
Posts: 1,839
Likes: 3
Cheap oil does benefit everyone. And that’s the point. An environment where everyone can take advantage of the tailwind is not what the ULCC model was built for. That “fit fleet” of young, fuel efficient planes is meant to take advantage of the competition having to pay more for their oil and their older aircraft.
Fuel is the number one expense for any airline. The legacies can play their games to suppress the ULCC niche and it’s growth when that cost is low. Those opportunities are much more limited when oil is selling for a more traditional price point.
This isn’t rocket science. The cost structure and higher personnel and support costs of the legacies make competition with a ULCC nearly untenable when oil costs more.
Fuel is the number one expense for any airline. The legacies can play their games to suppress the ULCC niche and it’s growth when that cost is low. Those opportunities are much more limited when oil is selling for a more traditional price point.
This isn’t rocket science. The cost structure and higher personnel and support costs of the legacies make competition with a ULCC nearly untenable when oil costs more.
#105
Line Holder
Joined: May 2019
Posts: 1,008
Likes: 47
Cheap oil does benefit everyone. And that’s the point. An environment where everyone can take advantage of the tailwind is not what the ULCC model was built for. That “fit fleet” of young, fuel efficient planes is meant to take advantage of the competition having to pay more for their oil and their older aircraft.
Fuel is the number one expense for any airline. The legacies can play their games to suppress the ULCC niche and it’s growth when that cost is low. Those opportunities are much more limited when oil is selling for a more traditional price point.
This isn’t rocket science. The cost structure and higher personnel and support costs of the legacies make competition with a ULCC nearly untenable when oil costs more.
Fuel is the number one expense for any airline. The legacies can play their games to suppress the ULCC niche and it’s growth when that cost is low. Those opportunities are much more limited when oil is selling for a more traditional price point.
This isn’t rocket science. The cost structure and higher personnel and support costs of the legacies make competition with a ULCC nearly untenable when oil costs more.
#106
Line Holder
Joined: Jan 2018
Posts: 1,839
Likes: 3
Also, we’re not hauling cargo for a third party, and our seat density is higher. That means we’re not flying them as heavy and we’re moving more butts per unit of fuel burn than say AA.
Additionally, we’re accomplishing the same mission with smaller planes. A legacy would need a 767 or larger to move the same number of people as we do on a 321. Or a 757 to the same number as one of our 320s. Those fuel burns aren’t even close.
And, as you’ve correctly noted, that gap widens as we essentially go all NEO from this point forward.
Low fuel costs are a boon for us now as load factors will drop off with the current market scare. But we fare better in a more traditional demand environment with a normalized oil price.
#110
Gets Weekends Off
Joined: Nov 2019
Posts: 1,256
Likes: 0
I kind of agree with this. Paranoia and fear is filling the markets. Nothing to do with "company ABC is bad" etc. Amazon is down 8%. Everyone self-quarantined will be using Amazon. Down 8%
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