Alaska - Solidifying its Dominance in SEA

[jcw]

That's right hail to DL

Only DL can manage itself

It's also worthy to note DL made less money than AA

And DL lost money in SEA and saw a drop in traffic in ASia and suspended flights to Asia from SEA

That SEA strategic is great DL it is increasing revenue and simultaneously reducing net income those little rockets scientists are really running that DL like a champ

Nothing like a value destroying plan

 

[WorldTraveler]

DL said nothing about losing money in SEA or reducing revenue.

would you like to tell us what financial statement you read and from which you made up that figure - just like the others that you have made up?

you're in full fledge attack mode and looking more stupid by the minute.

and AA has clearly brainwashed (managed) you into thinking that you are better off when AA employees, just like the US employees that Parker used to manage, make less per employee than any other airline.

 

[traderjake]

and AA has clearly brainwashed (managed) you ............

 

 
WT: bottom row, second from right

 

[WorldTraveler]

and yet AS' RASM went down and was the only major carrier to do that.
 
they offset their RASM decline by new aircraft which allowed them to more efficiently add seats that have lower costs than the ones that they are replacing.
 
AS is indeed able to compete against DL's growth on the west coast because of technology while fares are going down in the domestic market - and up for everyone else.  

 

[jcw]

That's right from the post where you are touting DL's margin in a report that's old AS margin is above DL - so you can twist out of that one - since you quote that report as proof of DL's performance - we will guitar it here

AS smoked DL - once again DL under performed AS

Can't rationalize that away

 

[WorldTraveler]

I didn't argue with AS' margin.

I noted that AS' RASM went down in an industry where nearly every other airline is seeing domestic RASM increases.

DL's RASM in SEA increased.

 

[jcw]

Tell us again where DL broke out SEA performance

Can everyone say double standard I you use a report to praise DL and some one else points out someone performing better than DL - we change subjects to find sonething to trash said competitor

Btw I have not checked in this for a while - how is the list coming

 

[WorldTraveler]

they said it in the earnings conference call... this is what they said

"Seattle’s domestic performance has significantly exceeded our expectations as unit revenues increased 6% on a 25% increase in capacity driving margin improvements year-over-year. Our decision to shift capacity out of Cincinnati and Memphis to build out the Seattle Hub is producing solid results."

in contrast, the first analyst question on Alaska's earnings call resulted in a recognition by AS' mgmt. that increased competition is resulting in lower RASMs than in other AS markets.

"Savanthi Syth - Raymond James & Associates, Inc., Research Division
Just on the -- I mean, unit revenue has been performing really well and to your point, and then I think September, especially versus how August performed, did very well. And I'm just wondering, in your markets that you're growing, and some of it is in response -- competitive response, some of it is just the opportunity. How is the unit revenue performing between those 2 categories?
Andrew R. Harrison - Senior Vice President of Planning & Revenue Management
Savi, it's Andrew. What I will tell you is, obviously, where this heavier competitive capacity coming into our market, they tend to marginally underperform our system average. But what we have been finding, especially as we looked at the third quarter, the largest areas of growth, which was Midcon, Mountain and Transcon, their unit revenues were all actually above the system average. So we are actually finding meaningful benefit for the maturing of these new revenue streams that we're building on."

you can find both transcripts on Seeking Alpha.

most of the industry earnings call transcripts are available there but for some reason AA's is not.

nearly all public companies do have a replay of their earnings call available on the investor portion of their website.

 

[jcw]

that's right - increased capacity 25% however revenue is up 6% - that's a losing strategy so throwing all kinds of seats but no revenue - last time I checked you need revenue to grow faster than capacity - love the spin by Investor Relations - to bad they fooled you
 
you got to love it - can everyone say bleeding cash

 

[eolesen]

its namesake state, even if its headquarters aren't there.

Delta clearly ain't in the Delta last time I checked....

Arguably, Southwest is in the Southwest, and American and United both seem to be safely located geographically speaking....

(i.e. it was a really stupid observation to make in the first place, for those who don't understand extreme sardonism)

 

[WorldTraveler]

Delta is a Greek letter, not just a geographic name related to a river's terminus (which was the former name of Atlanta, BTW).

and DL's RASM was up by 6% in SEA which means they got more revenue for every ASM they flew than in the year before period. that includes the new SEA-ICN and HKG flights as well as all of the domestic additions.

AS' RASM (that is revenue per every available seat mile on average) was down for its system which they said was also reflective of SEA.

they did note that their markets which are competitive with other carriers where new capacity has been added did worse than their other mid-con and east coast markets

 

[WorldTraveler]

Airlines for America which represents AS along with the big 4 plus B6 and HA is suing SEA for mandating wage hikes in line with Seattle's minimum wage increases.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/u-airlines-sue-port-seattle-224309867.html

if sustained, SEA, and esp. AS as the largest SEA airline and as predominantly a domestic hub carrier will be hard hit by these cost increases.

 

[AdAstraPerAspera]

Not really. More like a drop in the bucket. How many minimum wage employees does AS have? Plus, any increases would affect other airlines such as DL the same.

 

[WorldTraveler]

First it would affect contractors more than actual airline employees but since the cost of increased labor has to be paid by the company that hired them, the increases will go to the major carrier's profits. while there might be relatively few airline employees overall who make the minimum wage, there are a high percentage of contract employees who fall below the line that this law would require

Yes, all carriers would be impacted. but since SEA represents the highest majority of AS' system and far more than SEA does to any carrier, it will impact AS more than other carriers.

Also, AS carries a lot of domestic connecting passengers thru SEA whereas DL is focused more on the local domestic market and domestic to int'l connections. int'l tickets cost more so the percent increase to a DL ticket will be less than for an AS ticket. the local passengers are going to pay for it, regardless of the carrier.

For the record, I believe the minimum wage in most of the US is too low. inaction by Congress has resulted in these piecemeal local attempts to raise minimum wage laws. the problem is not increased wages but a lack of consistency between US locations and implementation schedules which makes it impossible for nationwide businesses such as airlines to plan.

it is precisely because airlines are interstate businesses that they are arguing that local laws that circumvent federal law don't apply to them. It will be up for the courts to decide who is right

 

[DL2WN]

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