US Airways Conference Call & Employee State of the Union Key Points

[FWAAA]

China may, or may not, be used in Envoy Class.

Post of the week!

 

[SS255]

In other words, discounted corporate travel shows some signs of recovery.

From what I'm seeing in my own company.......not happening. Don't forget that companies budget travel based upon fiscal years. If the travel budget gets slashed, it affects the entire year.

We are going into "budget season" in a few weeks.......and from the 3 months between when the budgets get submitted and when they finally get approved, I highly doubt that our travel budgets will be increased. That means that travel will be at current levels or lower until April, 2011.

And even if the travel budget gets increased slightly, it will be based upon our new travel policy (mandating the cheapest coach tickets in most cases), not the old travel policy......which was very liberal, and pretty much kept AA's front cabins full on the LAX-JFK-LAX route.

Just my personal opinion based upon what is happening in my own backyard.

 

[USA320Pilot]

US Airways' Frequently Asked Questions - Oct. 22, 2009

The following questions came from the Q309 State of the Airline meeting held on Oct. 22, 2009.

Q. Do we have any plans to begin charging for carry-on bags in addition to checked bags?

A. COO Robert Isom said, “We don’t have any plans to do so at this time because we think it’s too aggressive to charge at the gate now and the majority of our customers are complying with our policies. Our agents are monitoring bags at the ticket counter and gate to make sure our customers are in compliance with our carry-on bag policy.â€

Q. When do we expect approval on the slot transaction deal with Delta Air Lines that we announced in August?

A. Executive Vice President, Corporate, Steve Johnson explained, “There are four levels of regulatory approval for the Delta slot transaction: The Department of Justice (DOJ), the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which governs slots at LGA and DCA, the Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ), which transfers the lease authority. We look forward to receiving approval on the transaction soon, but don’t have a specific timeframe as to when we can expect it.â€

Q. If the low cost carriers like JetBlue, Southwest, and Air Tran can make money during the difficult times, what will keep them from growing and taking the capacity that the legacy carriers are giving up?

A. CEO Doug Parker answered, “Since these carriers are all domestic-only, they haven't suffered the same losses from declining international traffic like US and other similar carriers. We're not seeing large domestic growth plans from them.â€

Q. What is Doug's view on Delta pledging 50 percent of its fleet to international markets and where does our future stand with international growth?

A. President Scott Kirby took this one and said, “Delta is mostly adding back international routes they had previously taken out. Trans-Atlantic demand is down and US Airways didn't have all the ancillary revenue that we had from domestic routes. So, for 2010 we'll have less capacity across Atlantic. Our new CLT-Rio de Janeiro (GIG) route is the only international growth at this point.

 

[USA320Pilot]

Optimism arrives with travel-related earnings

Scott Kirby, president of US Airways, says he sees the potential for a "V-shaped" economic recovery – one in which the rate of recovery after bottoming out roughly equals the rate of decline. "The odds," he says, "are in favor of a quick spiral up."

Doug Parker, US Airways CEO, says he's less concerned about rising oil prices because airlines are better positioned than last year to raise fares to offset fuel costs. Airlines have cut capacity, or number of seats they're making available, to match the lower demand for travel, he says. Parker says that while all the big airlines have escaped the near-term threat of bankruptcy, they're far from healthy. "The standard can't be just survival," he says. "There's a higher standard out there, which is getting actual returns for investors on their investment."

See Story

Regards,

USA320Pilot

 

[goodgirl37]

Optimism arrives with travel-related earnings

Scott Kirby, president of US Airways, says he sees the potential for a "V-shaped" economic recovery – one in which the rate of recovery after bottoming out roughly equals the rate of decline. "The odds," he says, "are in favor of a quick spiral up."

Doug Parker, US Airways CEO, says he's less concerned about rising oil prices because airlines are better positioned than last year to raise fares to offset fuel costs. Airlines have cut capacity, or number of seats they're making available, to match the lower demand for travel, he says. Parker says that while all the big airlines have escaped the near-term threat of bankruptcy, they're far from healthy. "The standard can't be just survival," he says. "There's a higher standard out there, which is getting actual returns for investors on their investment."

See Story

Regards,

USA320Pilot

And you believe His babble? I would be seriously concerned since they fell below covenants this quarter. DP and gang aren't going to make it sound dismal thats for sure.. i would say the exact thing about the company i work for, which isnt far behind.

 

[SS255]

Optimism arrives with travel-related earnings

Scott Kirby, president of US Airways, says he sees the potential for a "V-shaped" economic recovery – one in which the rate of recovery after bottoming out roughly equals the rate of decline. "The odds," he says, "are in favor of a quick spiral up."

Scott Kirby obviously has no clue what it's like to manage a travel budget. Airlines determine employee travel MUCH differently than "civilian" companies determine employee travel.

Just because some idiots on Wall Street say that the recession is over, it does not mean that companies are hiring. And it does not mean that they are increasing their travel budgets.

This recession put a plug in one of the biggest scams in corporate America: Travel on the company dime. I have witnessed first-hand how employees abuse their travel perks, and how much unnecessary travel got approved prior to the economy collapsing. This is the low-hanging fruit where companies can easily clamp down and shut off the spigot.

I work in one of the most free-spending industries ever invented, and our travel privileges are NOT coming back for a long, long time.

 

[Glucose Intolerant]

A question was asked at the Employee State of the Airline Meeting about a rumor where the company would be sold and split up (East & West). Doug Parker said, “US Airways absolutely can’t split up the airline to sell. This is not happening and will not happen. This is patently (a) false (rumor). That is not going to happen.â€￾


too bad....we can always hope

 

[Dorf]

Doug Parker said, “US Airways absolutely can’t split up the airline to sell. This is not happening and will not happen. This is patently (a) false (rumor). That is not going to happen.â€￾


too bad....we can always hope

How can you tell when Parker et al are lying?.....their lips are moving! That may be true or it may not...they definately aren't going to tell anyone until the deal is done. If it puts more money in his pocket he will split the airline into 5 pieces if he has to.

Dorf