Your Vision

Light Years

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Aug 27, 2002
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Just wondering if there is a limit to the amount of Express carriers an airline (especially a not very big one) can have. Its almost a joke now to sit in PIT and count how many different carriers are on the taxiway in U colours (Wow! Is that an actual mainline plane? No way!) For those of us who are laid off its a little upsetting to see gaggles of new hires, in our uniform, who dont even work for us.

Does anyone else agree that there should just be two divisions- long haul and short haul? They would both fly under US Airways titles. The short haul division would fly CRJS, EMB170s, up to (dare I say it?) EMB195s. The long haul division would fly Airbus narrowbodies and widebodies. The seniority list would be the current one including furloughees followed by a merged wholly-owned list. When positions open at the long haul division, short haul employees flow thru in seniority order, but they can turn it down if they want to stay at the short haul division. This would elimiate repitition (three of everything for the w/os and now a new division for MDA). It would standardize the product and keep quality control high (Has anyone from CCY actually been on a Mesa or Shuttle America flight?) It would be motivating for employees, as the actual US Airways Group employees become involved in the growth of the airline (I know, its a crazy idea- the actual airline and wholly-owned airlines getting the work rather than contracting it out.) The workforce will have the shared goal of U''s success, rather than affiliates who are America West on Tuesdays and Delta on the weekends. It puts more experience on the long haul division, and since everyone would start in the same place, no Mainline/Express animosity. It would give everyone a job in these hard times. It would help fight off competition as we fly regional routes, at regional costs, with the best regional equiptment (Just imagine U eating everyones lunch with a brand new, dual-class Embraer 190 at regional airline costs, at high frequencies, going against a Delta 737 or an American MD80. We could reclaim the East Coast from everyone else if we one-upped them). We could use the big planes to do what they were meant to do- fly to other markets throughout the Midwest, West, and Central America. The longer stage lengths would go a long way towards justifying mainline costs. The network needs to grow, not shrink. Alliances are nice to open up new markets, but by keeping things within our network we get the revenue.
The way things are going now, its like they dont even want a mainline- if thats the case, why bother? Let someone else cobble together a bunch of commuters and paint them in thier livery. The lack of a definite vision for the future is draining the best employees in the industry. All we hear is cut this, cut that, get rid of them, contract this out, get an agreement with somone else... keep going and there wont be an airline! Comments?
 
FYI - Siegel this week said to expect some "rationalization" of the express carriers.
 
At the June 10 Merrill Lynch Global Transportation Conference Dave Siegel said the Express operators would be rationalized. Mesa is the preferred partner that will see its operations expand. Previously, Siegel said that US Express should operate with about 2 or 3 airlines.
In my opinion, US Express could evolve into three groups:

- MDA: The airline will operate EMB-170/175s.

- Three Wholly Owneds - PSA, Allegheny, & Piedmont could complete their corporate integration to move from not only having headquarter functions integrated, but operations as well. This single carrier will operate CRJ-200 and CRJ-700 aircraft (maybe CRJ-705s), although US holds EMB-145 options.

- Mesa/Freedom - CRJ/EMB 37, 44, 50, & 70-seat aircraft.

Siegel said he will rationalize the Express carriers/aircraft fleets, which is good for US Group because the product will become more standardized. Therefore, I believe all of the other carriers could see their code share agreements terminated by US.

Best regards,

Chip
 
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On 6/14/2003 6:53:33 PM USFlyer wrote:

FYI - Siegel this week said to expect some "rationalization" of the express carriers.

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Rational to whom?
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Rationalization in terms of the number of carriers (W/Os and affiliates) or the fact that there are going to be four W/Os?
 
Unfortunately, Siegel didn''t elaborate much. I guess we''ll have to wait for the rumors or wait to see what actually happens.
 
"Lets not forget, U owns a large percentage of Midway too."


Wexford management owns more of their loans.
 

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