gloopy

What does everyone think about the "UAL may park 54 (all mainline) aircraft to combat rising fuel prices" announcement?

Propaganda/fear during negotiations? (FUD)

It doesn't matter what the price of fuel is as long as people are flying and ticket prices support the cost of fuel. So if UAL were to park that many planes, it would be a tremendous gift to their competitors and the LCC's unless there were a significant drop in demand/overall travelers at supportable price points. If that were the case, everyone would likely be parking more.

I think, at this point, it was a meaningless generic statement probably meant to either stroke off the capacity dicipiline robots in the crackberry trader community and/or as a fear tactic to labor who dares to question the sancity of the company's ability to outsource to the lowest cut throat bidder.

Also, any guesses as to when other airlines (particularly DAL) will start making sililar chatter?

Check Essential

The National Mediation Board is about to declare Republic a "single transportation system". That means the codesharing with Delta has to end because it violates the scope clause in the Delta pilot contract.

johnso29

They already have. Capacity will only grow 1%-3% vs 2%-5% & the announcement to retire the DC9-50's in the next 12-24 months was made. Also, RJs will continue to be parked while less capacity with more frequency will be replaced with less frequency & more capacity.

KC10 FATboy

I must be honest, I am ignorant on all of this stuff. And if what you say is true, and I believe you, what does that mean to Mother D? Do we really expect Mother D to not use those airplanes and lift?

80ktsClamp

Spot on.. they just awarded 10 more airplanes to RAH (shuttle america specifically).

If what is asserted is true, then ALPA has gotta to jump all over the company immediately and make sure they do the right thing. It's pretty obvious the company still sees no issue with what is going on.

buzzpat

C'mon, what's not to like? Available crack, cheap hookers, sims within walking distance, uh, winning!!

gloopy

That's what I was wondering. Is this recent UAL chatter on an equivalent timeline as the older Delta capacity announcement, which was basically a non announcement? Or is this a new cutting edge capacity announcement that DL will feel pressured to "one up" to please the pundits?

Of course it all comes down to are people flying and are airlines charging sustainable fares?

If UAL cuts 54 mainline aircraft (all 75-76 domestic I think) that would be a huge gift for VA and WN as I'm sure much of that capacity would come out of the bay area and metro Chicago. Especially with VA desperate to invade ORD. Panic capacity cuts a decade ago did nothing but throw gas on the brushfires of LCC growth. All it pretty much did was transfer capacity to the LCC's which put more price pressure on the legacies doing the transferring in the first place.

Well, that and make no talent hack worthless MBA types think you could transport the entire world 50 seats at a time and order thousands of RJ's just in time to start panic parking them after they all showed up.

In any case, I find it mind boggling that no one cares in the slightest about 90 dollar oil as a permanant mean average price floor and can actually be very bullish about the industry at that price, but suddenly at 101 dollar oil the sky is falling and we (the industry) had better start parking everything and putting people on large RJ's and letting the LCC's grow faster than Barry Bond's biceps.

If demand is there, and it appears to be at least if you've been on a flight or walked through an airport anytime in the last year or so, then a 10 or 20 dollar price spike in oil shouldn't make our supposedly best and brightest pundits in the boardrooms or investment community scream like its a pending industry apocalypse. JMHO.

Columbia

Uggh.....Back to the T.J Hooker marathon.

Nosmo King

Perhaps another opportunity for DALPA to give up scope concessions

Nosmo King

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