Salt Lake City-Tokyo

[chucky]

Delta may add route to Tokyo
By Paul Beebe
The Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated: 10/09/2008 11:49:41 PM MDT


Delta Air Lines is beginning to look past its successful Salt Lake City-to-Paris route and is contemplating a second international destination, possibly Tokyo.
On Thursday, the board of the Governor's Office of Economic Development agreed to give Delta $250,000 after the airline broached the idea of starting a route from its Salt Lake City hub to Japan's capital, GOED Executive Director Jason Perry said.
The money would be added to a $2 million incentive package being assembled by an alliance of public and private groups, including Salt Lake City International Airport and Salt Lake County, Perry said.
"Should the incentive be accepted by them, I would expect an announcement of their intent to start this flight in the very near future, with the flight to actually begin some time next year," he said.
Delta spokesman Anthony Black said the Paris route launched last June has been a hit with travelers. Because the route proved itself, the Atlanta-based carrier now is "interested in exploring additional international opportunities," he said.

Story

 

[delta777]

Wouldn't have been my 1st guess, or even 2nd or 3rd for that matter, if i had to predict which city would see new service to NRT.

 

[Hi-C-Camp]

Wouldn't have been my 1st guess, or even 2nd or 3rd for that matter, if i had to predict which city would see new service to NRT.

Talk about bad decisions, at this pace DAL wont have clear skies for long.

 

[chucky]

Talk about bad decisions, at this pace DAL wont have clear skies for long.

Yeah? hows United doing these days? I hear 400 mechanics will be hitting the bricks soon Story
things are really lookin' up over there huh?

 

[Hi-C-Camp]

Yeah? hows United doing these days? I hear 400 mechanics will be hitting the bricks soon Story
things are really lookin' up over there huh?

Ohh Chucky, its simple mathematics, 100 airplanes go, then the jobs associated with them go as well... And yes, those mechanics have a contract, so it will be done according to contract, unlike DAL... Drink some more Delta-Aid.. you will need it..

 

[chucky]

Here's some simple mathematics.. we adding planes= expanding. You're grounding planes= shrinking. Long story short= worry 'bout getting your own house in order Maybe it's you who needs a stiff drink.
But seriously HI-C linking a western hub with an Asian hub makes sense as you will have feed from both ends. Trust me, if the route doen't work, Delta will get rid of it. So far it looks like the Salt Lake-Paris flight is doing well

 

[Hi-C-Camp]

Chucky, only an idiot would add planes in an environment like todays.. I would be willing to bet, once the merger is approved DAL will be tossing planes out the window, think s80 at a minimum... You dont add planes in a time of economic crisis, and a major financial meltdown.. That is the dumbest thing i have heard... Once again, get out the Delta-aid and have another, sounds like you are tanked on it..

 

[chucky]

Chucky, only an idiot would add planes in an environment like todays.. I would be willing to bet, once the merger is approved DAL will be tossing planes out the window, think s80 at a minimum... You dont add planes in a time of economic crisis, and a major financial meltdown.. That is the dumbest thing i have heard... Once again, get out the Delta-aid and have another, sounds like you are tanked on it..

You're right, once the merger is approved I'm sure Delta will ground some older jets, don't know about the MD80's though I hear they may be reassigned to Detroit and Minneapolis. Delta will match the combined fleet with the routes they want them on. If you look at the Boeing order sheet you'll see that we are really not adding any large number of acft xcept (2)777 (6) more 737-700 (4 have been delivered) and the Dreamliners that were on order with NWA:

Boeing Order Sheet

Southwest ,American and Continental are also taking deliveries of new jets (guess that puts us all in the idiots club), no mention of United though . Third quarter results are comming up this week.... will be interesting.

As for the economy, yeah things look bleak.. but it looks like the airlines have adjusted so far:
Airline Earnings Take Back seat to Bookings

 

[Hi-C-Camp]

You're right, once the merger is approved I'm sure Delta will ground some older jets, don't know about the MD80's though I hear they may be reassigned to Detroit and Minneapolis. Delta will match the combined fleet with the routes they want them on. If you look at the Boeing order sheet you'll see that we are really not adding any large number of acft xcept (2)777 (6) more 737-700 (4 have been delivered) and the Dreamliners that were on order with NWA:

Boeing Order Sheet

Southwest ,American and Continental are also taking deliveries of new jets (guess that puts us all in the idiots club), no mention of United though . Third quarter results are comming up this week.... will be interesting.

As for the economy, yeah things look bleak.. but it looks like the airlines have adjusted so far:
Airline Earnings Take Back seat to Bookings

Thats right, UAL has narrowbodies (airbus) on order, that are not firm, so they can reject them.. I am sorry but taking on more debt is not a smart move.. Maybe if you are US and you have to have the craft then sure... There was an article just the other day about how AMR is not in a good spot, due to the fact that they now have to take on more debt from new a/c... UAL has already stated that it will lose its butt on fuel hedges.. What you fail to mention chucky, is that UAL is the ONLY network carrier with free operating cash flow.... If UAL wanted to, they could go out and order new planes, but that wouldnt be that smart now would it, to replace an a/c that is paid for and mortgage a new one, especially if fuel keeps falling... It is like you, taking your paid for car and going and buying a new car, not that smart, b/c we all know you are not rolling in the dough working at DAL or any airline... You can say what you want, but DAL can't start parking a/c now, and they have to keep operating un-profitable routes to satisfy "the gods" that jobs wont be lost, or the merger will not be approved... Once it is approved, get ready for the bloodbath... Lets face it, even southwest is parking older planes and are now uncertain about their profitability. So, keep telling urself that stacking up more planes is a better thing, its not, you guys just dont have the ability to shed them right now like the rest of us... CAL getting rid of nearly 80 a/c ( not getting that many new ones delivered) SWA ditching older 737s.. AMR getting rid of some S80s and wishing they could get out of leases on more... Lets face facts Chucky..... Not a random pic drawn in la la land...

 

[chucky]

Wallstreet seems to have a different perspective:

ANALYST TAKE: Several analysts believe Delta will be able to weather high fuel costs and the economic downturn better than some of its competitors because of aggressive cuts in domestic capacity and non-fuel expenses. Credit Suisse analyst Daniel McKenzie said in a research note Monday that his firm does not rule out the possibility of further merger and acquisition activity for Delta in the future. He said Seattle-based Alaska Air Group Inc. or New York-based JetBlue Airways Corp. "remain appealing targets, both with attractive assets and strategic positioning that would enable DAL/NWA to better compete with what we consider is an inevitable CAL/UAUA combination sometime down the road." Houston-based Continental Airlines Inc. and Chicago-based UAL Corp., parent of United Airlines, were said to have had discussions earlier this year, but they never announced a combination. Continental later said it would join a marketing alliance made up of several carriers, including United.


Earnings Preview: Delta Air Lines

 

[Hi-C-Camp]

Wallstreet seems to have a different perspective:

ANALYST TAKE: Several analysts believe Delta will be able to weather high fuel costs and the economic downturn better than some of its competitors because of aggressive cuts in domestic capacity and non-fuel expenses. Credit Suisse analyst Daniel McKenzie said in a research note Monday that his firm does not rule out the possibility of further merger and acquisition activity for Delta in the future. He said Seattle-based Alaska Air Group Inc. or New York-based JetBlue Airways Corp. "remain appealing targets, both with attractive assets and strategic positioning that would enable DAL/NWA to better compete with what we consider is an inevitable CAL/UAUA combination sometime down the road." Houston-based Continental Airlines Inc. and Chicago-based UAL Corp., parent of United Airlines, were said to have had discussions earlier this year, but they never announced a combination. Continental later said it would join a marketing alliance made up of several carriers, including United.


Earnings Preview: Delta Air Lines

Yes, they do, and it is definitely not your perspective.... Basically saying that DAL would have to still gobble up another carrier to compete with UAL/CAL... Your too much chucky, I thought you guys werent cutting domestic capacity and you were ADDING all these flights... Keep up the double talk, you must be in mgmt at DAL... another serving of Delta - aid coming right up...

 

[chucky]

Yes, they do, and it is definitely not your perspective.... Basically saying that DAL would have to still gobble up another carrier to compete with UAL/CAL... Your too much chucky, I thought you guys werent cutting domestic capacity and you were ADDING all these flights... Keep up the double talk, you must be in mgmt at DAL... another serving of Delta - aid coming right up...

Oh Hi-C..you're not making any sense... just keeping reading the article until you finally get it. .... we'll talk then ..

Just when you thought the news couldn't get any worse

 

[Hi-C-Camp]

I think thats the problem, you are reading way tooooo into it... And dont let an analyst, make up your mind for you, they are just "opinions".... Keep a sippin that juice...

 

[chucky]

All the best HI-C! .....Getting back to the topic:

SLC-Tokyo flight getting more support


State tourism officials stepped forward Monday to lend their financial support to promoting nonstop Delta Air Lines flights between Salt Lake City and Tokyo.
The state Board of Tourism Development approved the allocation of $400,000 to advertise flights to and from Japan, a route Delta has said it is evaluating in light of the success of its Salt Lake-to-Paris connection

 

[FWAAA]

What you fail to mention chucky, is that UAL is the ONLY network carrier with free operating cash flow....

chucky would have looked pretty foolish if he'd made this completely false claim - he doesn't seem prone to posting falsehoods.

All six legacy network carriers (AA, UA, DL, NW, CO and even US) had free operating cash flow in the first six months of 2008. Of the six, however, only US produced less free operating cash flow than UAL. US generated a mere $96 million in operating cash flow in the first six months and UAL generated $137 million. To compare, in AMR generated $1.154 billion in the first six months of 2008, more than 10 times the operating cash flow of UAL in the first half. Times are rough for all legacy network carriers, even for AA and UA.