Ala Carte Bevs

[N965VJ]

<SNIP> We need a new category.

Worker Kettles™. The kind that will book away from US when it’s time to take the family to WallyWorld when it’s on their own dime, after they consider the value of what their getting with all the annoying fees.

 

[aredeeyou22]

Worker Kettles™. The kind that will book away from US when it’s time to take the family to WallyWorld when it’s on their own dime, after they consider the value of what their getting with all the annoying fees.

And come to find out, when they leave US as non- elites, they will be subjected to the exact same fees at other airlines, with , of course the exception of $2. Turns out to be a huge savings in frustration levels!

Here's to the World Kettles!

 

[aredeeyou22]

CO's yield and RASM has been increasing at a higher rate than US' unit revenue for at least eight consecutive quarters. Those higher fare payors jumped ship a long time ago to CO (and other airlines).

US has lagged the industry in unit revenue improvements for eight consecutive quarters. Proof that US has been unable to attract or retain people willing to pay higher fares.

Of course CO's revenue is falling now. The point is, it's starting from a much stronger position. Unit revenue will probably fall at a higher rate at US.

Agreed, but I want to know if any of this revenue that has been escaping US faster has to do with its hub structure. NYC or ATL or ORD , for examples, are much higher O&D points as opposed to CLT, PHX, or even PHL. Does that have anything to do with US' steeper revenue decline, or is it 100% high yielding FF's defecting?

 

[BoeingBoy]

Ahhh... The economy.....

I was just looking at the article comparing CO's performance (RASM) from 1/2009 as opposed to 1/2008. Am I confused in understanding that 1/09 was worse than 1/08?

Ok - you're talking about unit revenue and not revenue. Given the drop in traffic I think about all the airlines are seeing a drop in unit revenue. Those that began cutting capacity sooner (like US who's been cutting for a couple of years) are seeing less change year over year for January - the January 08 numbers included some capacity cuts making the Jan 09 to Jan 08 change smaller. Airlines who reduced capacity later are seeing bigger changes for January. Airlines who were adding capacity in 2008 before starting the cuts are seeing the biggest change. Guess which group CO fits in.

Also, do you believe that CO's position as a leader in the NYC market has something to do with better revenue performance, as opposed to being a market leader in CLT, PHL or PHX? How much do the strong O&D markets affect or hurt revenue when comparing airlines?

I can't believe it - you saying that PHL may not be the top dog among hubs, the airport that other carriers are envious of.

Anyway, it all depends on yield and competition. All O&D traffic at EWR isn't high yield any more that it is at PHL. US has relatively little direct competition at PHL/CLT while CO has DL and B6 at JFK, a relative sizable AA operation at EWR, and significant within perimeter competition for the high yield traffic at LGA (not to mention the 1-stop coverage to most of the country).

Jim

 

[aredeeyou22]

I can't believe it - you saying that PHL may not be the top dog among hubs, the airport that other carriers are envious of.



Jim

You 100% misread. Where did I say anyone is envious of PHL? I am asking if the revenue decline at airlines has anything to do with their hubs and O&D structure, or is it just FF's defecting? I would think that revenues at an airline with a hub like PHL would be weaker than an airline with a hub like NYC or ORD. I said nowhere that PHL is a "top dog" among hubs, believe me.

 

[aredeeyou22]

Ok - you're talking about unit revenue and not revenue. Given the drop in traffic I think about all the airlines are seeing a drop in unit revenue. Those that began cutting capacity sooner (like US who's been cutting for a couple of years) are seeing less change year over year for January - the January 08 numbers included some capacity cuts making the Jan 09 to Jan 08 change smaller. Airlines who reduced capacity later are seeing bigger changes for January. Airlines who were adding capacity in 2008 before starting the cuts are seeing the biggest change. Guess which group CO fits in.

If RASM is Rev per available seat mile, what kind of effect do capacity cuts have on that number?

Anyway, it all depends on yield and competition. All O&D traffic at EWR isn't high yield any more that it is at PHL. US has relatively little direct competition at PHL/CLT while CO has DL and B6 at JFK, a relative sizable AA operation at EWR, and significant within perimeter competition for the high yield traffic at LGA (not to mention the 1-stop coverage to most of the country).

Jim

So O&D traffic in the NYC area is pretty much the same yielding traffic as say, PHX or CLT or PHL. One should not expect healthier yields over all in NYC as opposed to PHX?

 

[Zarah]

The flights I have done both people on the cart enter the drinks. If they have the machine in their hand I just ask them to enter a coke quick cash for me and they do the same to me. When we get to the galley everything has matched and we are done.

 

[SS255]

Figure it out. I don't think Tempe is offering double EQMs because the VFFs are staying in droves. If they want the kettles, so be it.

This is the first double EQM promo I can recall seeing since the merger. Coincidence?

 

[BoeingBoy]

If RASM is Rev per available seat mile, what kind of effect do capacity cuts have on that number?

A rhetorical question? Obviously, reducing ASM's with no other changes would spread the same revenue over fewer ASM's, thus increasing RASM (although since you're discussing FF's and their movement from airline to airline I'll assume you mean passenger RASM or PRASM).

Naturally, all the other factors that go into PRASM don't stay static while you reduce ASM's, so it's impossible to draw a direct relationship between ASM changes and PRASM changes.

So O&D traffic in the NYC area is pretty much the same yielding traffic as say, PHX or CLT or PHL. One should not expect healthier yields over all in NYC as opposed to PHX?

Since both markets have a mix of traffic - high yield, low yield, and everything in between - plus a mix of competition, it's impossible to say that one absolutely has higher average yield than the other. While I'm sure US has the numbers for PHL and CO for EWR, those numbers aren't reported. Now one could speculate that the NYC market has better average yield than PHL, but that says nothing about CO's yield at EWR (serving only a portion of NYC traffic) vs US' yield at PHL (which serves all of PHL traffic).

I must admit that it's a clever way to ask the question, but it's comparing apples to oranges in an attempt to show that limes are bigger than lemons. Greatly oversimplifying such a complex set of variables doesn't prove anything at all, especially with the pretense that NYC is CO's hub when it isn't - CO's hub is EWR, serving only a portion of the NYC traffic.

Jim

 

[aredeeyou22]

It's even worse then "Annoying Fees" Consider this "liesure traveler" scenario.

Mom, Dad & Two Children 8 & 10 for our imaginary family.

How many of Joe's friends will fly US after hearing of the relatively minor "Flightmare"

So now, if this non- elite family flew most any other airline, except WN, would not they be subjected to the same fees (baggage, BOB, etc....), with the exception of drinks?

 

[hp-csr-phx]

This is from Thursdays AZ Republic:

Revenue per available seat mile was also down due to the weak economy. It fell between two and four percent, the company said. That was better than the 5 to 6 percent decline reported earlier this week by Continental, the only other major carrier to disclose monthly revenue trends.

AZ Republic

 

[etops1]

Dream on.... Just look at the numbers Continental reported for January: I expect more will be joining us in the a la Carte drama shortly...


i wouldn't be so sure he is dreaming.

 

[aredeeyou22]

Dream on.... Just look at the numbers Continental reported for January: I expect more will be joining us in the a la Carte drama shortly...


i wouldn't be so sure he is dreaming.

I'd certainly love to be proved wrong!

 

[tadjr]

Next (if ever) time think they'll use US Airways?

I love when people ask if we are the ONLY airline that charges for bags. No, almost all others do. Of course then someone in the group pipes in Southwest doesnt. Ok, then why didnt you fly Southwest instead?
I actually had a college age girl crying her eyes out over having to pay for a bag when mom asked this very question. When advised by the supervisor that Southwest was about the only airline that didnt charge for a bag the girl actually blurted out "Yeah, but they were more expensive". Ding, ding, ding, you are now free to pay more to move about the country. *This of course wont apply in every scenario, but if you're going to have a hissy fit about paying to check a bag and then ADMIT its still cheaper than you would have paid on Southwest (with a FREE bag), I'm sorry, but I dont get it. :blink: :blink:

 

[YVINTERN]

Was this chick from USF? lol all chicks there have a self-sense of entitlement.