atooraya

If you go to Vegas, you'll easily see 10-20 allegiant planes sitting on the ramp as well. Are they going out of business too?

Also, Virgin America has an aircraft utilization of about 12.5 hours a day. During this 1Q2013 however, it's supposed to be reduced to save on losses.

johnso29

I'm fairly certain VX has lease payments to make for those brand new A320s. I don't know for sure, but I think Allegiant probably owns their MD80s. That would give them much more flexibility WRT fleet utilization. 12.5 hours per day for utilization is a little low for brand new airplanes that require lease payments.

gatorbird

Allegiant bucks the trend of low-cost carriers and buys MD-80s outright for cheap then flies them when demand is high (like not on Tuesdays). Pretty sure VX doesn't own the Airbii outright nor got them for a song.

gatorbird

I can't speak for VX's work rules therefore will not attempt to compare the two; however, I would be willing to put our (NKs) work rules up against anyone's.

I have heard that VX's line schedules have high day off counts-- maybe due to low block counts across the board? I don't know, can only speculate. I would like to know their work rules in regard to month-to-month transition conflicts, vacation bid conflicts, notification of junior assignments, etc. You know-- the stuff that supplements an hourly rate.

johnso29

And that's why Allegiant can afford to park airplanes weekly, while VX can not.

SUX4U

So, how popular will this job opening be for current RJ captains compared to RJ FO's? Would be interesting to see what type of back grounds people are applying with to make the jump to Virgin with all the potential hardships on the horizon...

Golden Bear

So... Fixed massive capital lease payments, but intentionally generating less revenue to offset losses? Do you even see how crazy that reads when you type it? According to this business model, they should drop down to 10 or even 2 hours a day to REALLY save money.

How's that old joke go? Losing money on every sale, but making up for it on volume?

Moby Dick

Looks a lot like the old Eastern Airlines formula for success. Look where that got them.

VX was founded to provide U.S. domestic feed for VA. Now that VA is partnered with DAL, what is the rationale for VX's existence? There is none.

Branson will be pulling his money out soon. Even he can't afford to pour money down a rat hole forever.

ShyGuy

No apologies needed, thanks for clarifying. The comments on airplanes parked are trying to imply that the planes are sitting around all day not doing anything. That is not the case. As already addressed, gate space is tough in SFO. Our airplanes routinely go to the intl ramp parking spots for the night, where they get MX checks and then are towed back to the gate for morning launch flights. I do think the new guy that is ex-Alaska and ex-Wesjet is doing what he thinks is best for the company. The first quarter cutback is only for the first quarter. Starting Apr 1, the schedule goes back to 100% normal operation. This guy launched the successes of Alaska and Westjet in the past decade. He seems to have a good grasp of how to run an airline, which is more than others leading the ship.

Where do you come up with this? That is utterly a false statement. VX is owned by several entities. Branson owns the maximum allowed under US law, which is 49%. The rest of the 51% (majority) is US-owned with investment group Cyrus capital. Before Spirit IPOed, wasn't it owned by two different investment groups? Black canyon something? This is the same thing, except Branson owns 49% and Cyrus capital (USA company) owns the majority. Next, the controlling share issue. Branson owns the maximum allowed for a foreigner controlling share: 25%. 75% of the controlling share is owned by American citizens. There is NO illegal ownership from foreigners at VX! VX had to prove its case and show lots of internal information, and even fire Fred Reid, to be approved by the DOT.

Your statement is silly. Just as claiming that a Virgin Atlantic pilot is now pi$$ed that Virgin Atlantic is now an illegally foreign owned carrier, due to the 49% buyout by Delta. Delta has not done anything illegal, it bought a 49% of Virgin Atlantic. Branson has 49% of Virgin America.

And for the last part, I think the decision being made now with the new VP are more financially responsible than before. Losing the money VX has with 52 airplanes over 6 years (2007-2012), how can you go down the same road with another 60 over the next 7 years? You just can't, so they are making changes. The growth slowdown will help the bottom line. Route changes are slowly coming, and you should see that in the next year.

There is no denying that Spirit is profitable. But it's how it gets there. Inside, your planes look like a NYC subway train with ads everywhere. The marketing department uses some of the lowest, vulgar, and subliminal advertisement ever known for a scheduled passenger airline. Check out the oil on our beaches. Weiner sale (with a hotdog). MILF sale. Go bust (with women in bikinis). And like Ryanair, no press can be bad press. Yes, it works, but not something I'd say I'm proud to be a part of. But at the end of the day, profitability pays your paychecks. For that reason alone, I would have gone to NK in a heartbeat if they had called.

ShyGuy

Whatcha talking about Wolis? Maybe VX reserve qualifies as on par with Mesa, I can't comment on that because I was only on reserve for one month. But even as a junior lineholder, I get lots of time off, can manipulate my schedule, and get good vacation time.


Not if VX codeshares with the other Virgin carriers and Skyteam members.