Heavy Loads For July

[genejockey]

System wide load factor July 1 - July 28 = 83.8%

July 2003 = 82.2%

I have heard that bookings are also heavy for August and even September, but I have not confirmed this.

Good Luck to all US Airways employees!

 

[mweiss]

Unfortunately, yields are down relative to last year.

 

[WestCoastGuy]

Unfortunately, yields are down relative to last year.

Yields are down and we still made money this quarter. We'll make money again in Q3 also. Just not enuf for the greed in CCY.

 

[mweiss]

When yields are down, there are two levers you can move to increase profitability.

First is load factor. It's up by only 2%, which happens to be nearly exactly equal to the YOY decrease in yield. That would put US profitability at precisely the same level as last year (i.e., a loss).

The second is unit cost. CASM was up 3% YOY. That would make next quarter a loss, not a profit.

 

[WestCoastGuy]

Wow..you've sure got a lot of inside info....you must really have a nice office at Crystal Palace. Unfortunantly you're so far from the real world you in your own dreamland with the rest of them there.

 

[mweiss]

That's funny.

I don't work for US. I just read the quarterly financial report and the BTS reports for last year.

When it comes to making financial projections, it doesn't do much good to know the front-line operations if you don't know the financials behind them.

 

[oldiebutgoody]

That's funny.

I don't work for US. I just read the quarterly financial report and the BTS reports for last year.

When it comes to making financial projections, it doesn't do much good to know the front-line operations if you don't know the financials behind them.

And, you can really write a lot of posts when you don't understand either. For a guy with NO STAKE in this you sure do seem to have a LOT of insights. Since you seem to follow the financials like you do, please give me a breakdown on what UAIR includes as "OTHER" and "GOODWILL" on their spreadsheets and quarterly reports. I'm interested in just what they call the kickbacks to the RSA.

 

[mweiss]

For a guy with NO STAKE in this you sure do seem to have a LOT of insights.

I may not have a stake in the outcome, but I have a stake in the mental exercise for a number of personal reasons.

Since you seem to follow the financials like you do, please give me a breakdown on what UAIR includes as "OTHER" and "GOODWILL" on their spreadsheets and quarterly reports. I'm interested in just what they call the kickbacks to the RSA.

Goodwill is a term generally reserved for the purchase of equity at above-market value in an effort to expedite accumulation of equity.

Per the 2003 annual report, goodwill is no longer amortized because of a change in accounting practices (which actually produced a more favorable result). The source of the goodwill is not mentioned in the 2003 report. If anyone here knows where it came from, I'd really appreciate if you'd share it with us; I'd rather not have to go through several years of annual reports to find out.

Other expenses can include a number of different things. Among them are unexpected changes in the market value of assets (e.g., many airplanes were more expensive in 1999 than in 2002 because of lesser supply and greater demand), unexpected charges associated with cancellation of orders, changes in pension plans resulting in surpluses or deficits in the trust fund, severence payments, costs associated with parking aircraft in the desert, etc.

It's possible that some of the administrative fees head to RSA. If so, it's a pretty small sum relative to the rest of what goes on at US. Of course, if it all ended up in Bronner's pocket, that "small sum" becomes a lot of money.

 

[WestCoastGuy]

mweeiss......you certainly have a lot of passion regarding your postings and our complete ignorance. You are contantly pointing out all of our misgivings and misunderstandings regarding this company. You obviously have some type of stake in the outcome of this company. If you do not work for US, you have never walked a mile in our shoes. You truly have no understanding of our situation. This board is a forum of our OPINIONS. And you certainly have a right to post your opinion, but it is contantly demeaning to all the sacrafices we have made to see nothing with regard to the company position except beating on labor again. Good luck to all of us, and good luck to you as well. We will fight this battle to the end.

 

[mweiss]

...you certainly have a lot of passion regarding your postings and our complete ignorance.

Whoa, there. I'd hardly call it "complete ignorance."

You obviously have some type of stake in the outcome of this company.

Not in the least. In fact, I probably have less of a stake in the outcome of US than I do in the outcome of any other airline. I have a stake in the outcomes of CO, NW, AS, and UA, in decreasing order, based on accumulated miles, status, and route maps.

You truly have no understanding of our situation.

I have a far better understanding than you think. And I certainly have never beaten up on the union employees here (the unions, maybe, but that's different).

...it is contantly demeaning to all the sacrafices we have made to see nothing with regard to the company position except beating on labor again.

Absolutely. I don't know where you got the idea that I think another round of concessions is a good thing.

One more point. I point out the misgivings because I believe it's better to make a decision with all available information than to do so based on assumptions. Draw whatever conclusions you wish, but if your justification is based on fantasy, it's time to reconsider your conclusions. I'd like to help ensure that the fantasy is minimized, and the reality magnified.

 

[usair_begins_with_u]

Goodwill is a non physical asset.. much like a patent etc.. Companies record good will when they pay more for an asset than its book value.. Mostly common when one company buys another company and pays higers than market price on a per share basis. It is my belief that goodwill should be written off much like any depreciable asset, but I dont think businesses are forced to move it off the books. Its nice when a business is profitable to have goodwill, because you can expense goodwill against earnings to gian tax relief. Also, its not this way currently, but I think all companies should be forced to adjust goodwill balances annually to market value where possible and auditable.

 

[mweiss]

Do you know what the source of UAIR's goodwill was? I'd be astonished to find that it dates back to the Piedmont and PSA acquisitions.

 

[WestCoastGuy]

mweiss....thank you for your opinions and concern for our well being. We have all seen enough, been thru enough and given enough to make an intelligent decision regarding this company. Once again, until you have truly walked in our shoes, sacraficed money and benefits for this company, only to see it squanded away needlessly, please do not preach to us. Your opinions are truly just that ... YOUR OPINIONS. Just as mine are. As an outsider, not much to say will make an impact on our decisions. Believe it or not, most of us are intelligent enought to decide our futures.

 

[usair_begins_with_u]

Do you know what the source of UAIR's goodwill was? I'd be astonished to find that it dates back to the Piedmont and PSA acquisitions.

You know.. if we had their historical balance sheets.. we could back build their GW account.

The big jump was from 02 to 03.. goodwill jumped 2Billion. Im guessing this had something to do with the ATSB loans?

 

[usair_begins_with_u]

Ahh hidden right in their 10K


As of March 31, 2003, the Company recorded $1.11 billion of adjustments to reflect assets and liabilities at fair value (including a $1.12 billion liability increase related to the revaluation of the Company’s remaining defined benefit pension plans and postretirement benefit plans and a $360 million write-up of gates, slots and routes) and the write-off of the predecessor Company’s equity accounts. In addition, goodwill of $2.41 billion was recorded to reflect the excess of the estimated fair value of liabilities and equity over identifiable assets. Subsequent to March 31, 2003, the Company recorded an additional $62 million of adjustments to reflect assets and liabilities at fair value, including a $281 million decrease to Property and Equipment, net, a $121 million decrease to Long-term debt, net of current maturities, a $13 million increase to Deferred gains and credits, net, a $54 million increase to Other intangibles, net, a $15 million decrease to Employee benefit liabilities and other and a $6 million decrease to Accounts payable. An adjustment of $62 million was also made to Goodwill as a result of the above fair value adjustments.