UConnQB14

ok, this may sound really messed up, but try this on for size....

everyone is talking about the new VLJ's coming the market and how air travel will be more in the hands of private pilots and the fractional owners, or charter, whichever a customer prefers... so, in a purely economic approach, how bout the industry go to hell for a little while..

before i get lynched on this, lemme explain... the industry as of late is in a downward spiral, starting at the top with management.. everyone agrees there are some really plush jobs and some really ****ty ones at the same time, but very little in the way of common ground... regionals are packed with pilots and low pay, and the majors are suffering at the hands of rising costs.. how about this new approach... consolidate the airlines into three or four huge airlines (the only exception being the so called "airlines" like cape air and nantucket that only fly a max of 60 mile legs, but do have scheduled service).. do this when a good percentage of the industry nears age 60, such as now, and it will be easier to do

how? start by bringing airlines (and their money) into business with the successful majors like continental... not saying for mesa to be bought by CAL, but for them to mutually merge without an exchange of money at all, leaving it all in one account... have others follow suit, like comair, airlink, etc.... essentially, you are keeping the same airlines (but now under one name) and the same amount of pilots, because very few aircraft will be lost in the process... fly mostly the domestic stuff by regional jets or 737s (coast to coast in 757's) and leave the heavy metal to the internationals.. save some money in the process again...

how this is beneficial:
by not having as many flights from airports, consumers will look to charter, but at a high price.. when they NEED to go somewhere and charter is the only option, they will spend upwards of 2,000 an hour for the only plane to get them from point a to point b... two or three years of this will drive consumers crazy and they will have to go back to the airlines, increasing revenues for the airlines, bringing back the prestige of being an airline pilot, and then maybe, finally some good pay... i dont know about you, but comparing $2K an hour vs. $500 round trip is a no brainer...


im going to hell for this post, but lets hear some feedback on the best thing for the industry

iflyjets4food

At least you know you're going to hell for it. Haha, j/k. Sounds like an involved plan. Maybe too much to it, and how will you convince all of those pilots to sacrifice seniority numbers, or are you?

UConnQB14

not asking the pilots to give up seniority because in essence, they will be flying the original company's aircraft...
for example: if i hold #250 for Comair, i will move up only on the comair planes until i look for a job with my owner airline (for example Delta)... when i want to move from the lesser regional to the larger aircraft, i apply to that airline just like any other, or even develop a reasonable flowthru program within the airline network owned by the head company..

the point is to unsaturate the industry and get rid of the bottom feeders like greatlakes and secondly, to create enough of a bind on the consumer that they HAVE to resort back to flying airlines

RedOverWhite

Interesting thoughts....I think, from a consumer standpoint, if I was planning a vacation to, say, the Bahamas, and the only way there was to charter a Lear 60, I would instead pack up the car and drive to the Outer Banks. If I had to travel for business, then, sure I'd charter and plunk down the company AMEX.

As for the airlines consolidating, seems like that's starting already. And I wouldn't be surprised if the "bottom feeders" became the staple of air travel between small to mid-market cities. Ahh, who knows.

I like the industry going to hell part

__________________________________________________ __________
When I die, my only wish is to go peacefully in my sleep like Grandpa, not
screaming like the people on the bus he was driving.

ERJ135

I believe a one point this was tried. Or something similar. I have no proof or link to prove it but, I think at one time the airlines got togther and agreed that they would all charge X amt of dollars and no lower. This lead to some pretty high fares and the courts got involved and found that it was against the law for them to do that. I believe it is called Collusion. I can't say its a bad thing unless your a consumer. From a business and employee standpoint it could pretty good because instead of competing for the lowest fare through employee givebacks, bankruptcies they could compete through service. IE: more incentive for employees to do a better job for better pay. Again could be wrong but it is something I just heard. Oh, not sure when this happened either.

Brown Dog

This thread is pretty lame but RedOverWhite's AVTAR kicks ass! Nice job dude.

HSLD

Aside from convincing each airlines' board (and shareholders) to merge operations, carving out revenue sharing between operators, and then getting the plan by DOJ scrutiny....the plan sounds foolproof!

SkyHigh

One huge hurtle is that we live in a capitalist system and it is illegal to create a monopoly. The free market is needed to protect the consumer. If ticket prices were forced upwards I think the business traveler would stay home and use more email and electronic conferencing. The leisure traveler would drive or also stay home. The results would be a greatly reduced airline system and maybe our children would be able to get a flying job but we would be permanently squeezed out.

The gene is out of the bottle. Consumers will not stand for $3000 round trip tickets from LA to NYC.

SkyHigh

Purple Poolie

People will pay whatever it costs, $3.50 a gallon for unleaded has not slowed down the tide of SUV's at the pump. Exxon/Mobil is getting richer by the second, why can't an airline CEO see that? Raise the prices, for if you build it, people will come!

RedeyeAV8r

You mean like the merger between Exxon and Mobil............or BP and Ammoco? and $80/barrel oil and $4.00 a gallon gas?

Get your facts before you speak son!