AMR''s loss = JetBlue gain

[Oliver Stone''s Apprentice]

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On 5/6/2003 6:32:07 AM Bob Owens wrote:

Well the only way they can get rid of the A-300s is BK. They have leases that they have to honor till 2007, I think.

More than likely its the same with the MD-80s.

Does it cost more to pay for them and have zero income by parking them in the desert or do they lose less by flying them at a loss where there is some income?

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The first lease expiration on the AB6 fleet isn''t until 2008, with the last in 2015.

That''s not to say that there aren''t ways to get rid of them outside of bankruptcy, though. We managed to find buyers for the MD-Lemons and Death Crates.

We''ve had four or five parked since 587 went down. It doesn''t make sense to ground all of them, but if we can find a buyer for 25 or so, it might make sense to ground the ones that remain.

The biggest aftermarket for A300''s has been cargo, so if the price is right, it wouldn''t surprise me at all to see some of our A300s wind up with brown or purple paint...

 

[FWAAA]

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On 5/6/2003 6:32:07 AM Bob Owens wrote:

Well the only way they can get rid of the A-300s is BK. They have leases that they have to honor till 2007, I think.

More than likely its the same with the MD-80s.

Does it cost more to pay for them and have zero income by parking them in the desert or do they lose less by flying them at a loss where there is some income?

With UAL sticking around it seems that we may end up in BK anyway.

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Interesting tidbit for everyone who has been banging the bankruptcy drum lately - saying that everyone at AA would be better off it AA filed Ch 11:

Did you happen to see UAL''s Q1 $248 million charge for "Reorganization Items"??

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/030502/cgf008a_1.html

While not all of this number represents the lawyers, accountants, bankers, consultants, and other parasites that get paid first when a company is in Ch 11, plenty of it does represent these needless (for AA) expenditures and, in any case, it is an enormous amount of money.

Still wondering why AA would need another half billion dollars from the employees if it filed Ch 11?

Somebody has to pay those costs.

By the way - investors in AMR disagree that the company is headed toward bankruptcy - with the war over, oil falling in price like a rock, bookings firming up, cost cuts already in place - things are looking up for AA. Up another 71 cents so far today.

 

[Oliver Stone''s Apprentice]

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On 4/24/2003 10:09:14 AM 737nCH11 wrote:

CH11 or not, AMR isn''t going away any time soon. I do think, however, that JetBlue stands a chance of turning into another People Express when the majors get their houses in order.

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History does have a way of repeating itself.

When I was at People, we had a lot of ex-Braniff, ex-Air Florida, ex-AA, ex-everything pilots and other employees. While things were warm and fuzzy, everyone was content. When things started to fall apart, people started talking about unions.

People Express had four great years of explosive growth where they could do no wrong, but it only took it took one year for them to self-destruct. Part of it was self-induced, and a bigger part of it was due to the majors finally getting their acts together.

I do expect the remaining majors will get their act together, and at some point, I do expect JBLU''s employees will succomb to organization efforts, especially since as Bob Owens has pointed out, their ranks are slowly being filled with people who were either furloughed from or quit AA, UA, and US. I''m sure there are more than a few former IAM, IBT, AFA, ALPA and TWU shop stewards on the property by now...

Let''s revisit all this in another two years, and see how warm and fuzzy things still are at B6.

 

[j7915]

Buck, are you an OSM? If not get over it already. Do you really belief that all jobs are worth the same? Are you scared that you may have to bump into a back shop, and think that you should be entitled to the same pay as you get as an avionics tech "who signs off on MELs" etc?

It is very simple either the jobs are reasonably competitive with outside vendors or the work leaves the plant; and if enough work has left the plant your position becomes untenable. AA can always find 200-300 hundred mechs to do a light or heavy on a aircraft. The MROs are just waiting for the call.

Never mind that your hero Dell has hobnobbed at the MRO Conference, when he should be protecting jobs at NWA.