Our first flight just left!

After reading up on a few things...

ALL of us should want the type of management that they have at ExpressJet at our airlines.

I really hope it works out for them.

Bob, how far up in the Northeast do they expect to go?
 
Velocipede said:
Why would you worry? Its a whole different experience flying in a sweet corporate charter than in an airplane with 50 seats. Not much room to stretch out in an RJ. THAT'S why you won't get a whole lot of repeat biz on LONG legs.
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I don't think you understand the type of customer we are going after here. We reportedly asked a few clients if they would like an aircraft configured with fewer seats and the overwhelming response was "no." They want as many seats in there as possible to get the most lift for their dollar.

Mike
 
Seggy said:
Bob, how far up in the Northeast do they expect to go?
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This question was just asked on the last CEO-Pilot conference call... his response (paraphrased): "At no time in the near future will we be touching the NE. The market is already over-saturated. Our focus is on under served communities for the time being."

Makes sense to me... As I got to thinking about it... our routes are really southern "fair weather" routes... We won't be looking at 3 hour ground stops and blizzard conditions causing airport closings along 90% of our routes. That's not a bad thing now that I think about it.

XJet_Route_Map.JPG


Bob
 
Thats cool. And now I can get the jumpseat hookup out of ONT by saying that I know Bob and he says that it's ok if I hop this flight!:sarcasm:

I really wish that AMF would persue some more jumpseating agreements with more companies. It would make life much much easier.
 
Captain_Bob said:
Let's hope so... it's looking kinda barren in there right now... ;) I take it the metal shelves on the left equals our "bag-room". Doh!

PICS:
1. Crew-room... ala prison-esque painted cinder block walls. ;)
2. E-Ticket Machine
3. Gate
4. Ticket Counter
Click to expand...

Bob, when were you in S.A.?
 
Velocipede said:
Have you reviewed the financial performance of B6 lately? They aren't lighting it up, especially considering the competition is currently profitable.
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B6's financial performance is bad lately because of what they faced last year and over the winter. I'll give you that. My question is, where are all the people who said they wouldn't last 5 years? They just had their 7-year anniversary.
 
FlyChicaga said:
bwade,

How are things shaping up in the SAT domicile? Any crew room construction, etc.? I'll be there in three weeks! I have a feeling my schedule is going to be pretty crappy for the first few months, not to mention a tough commute. Hopefully there are some cheap hotels around the airport!
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Wait...JetBlue and SAT? I wanna do some of that, man! How'd you do that?

Side note: I hear JetBlue is really pleased with what we were able to do for them. That's good for our reputation.
 
bwade210 said:
Your proving your ignorance on this site daily my friend! I am currently at the ticket counter in SAT and have just checked in the last 7 pax bound for ONT. Every passenger I checked was a customer flying us on the 2nd leg of their trip. Each of these seven that I checked in had nothing but great things to say about our service, the A/C, and the amenities. These pax went so far as to say that they are bragging to their friends about how wonderful of an airline we are! ;)
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SEVEN happy customers? Oh, then, pardon me. You can really build an airline with those kind of numbers. Face it. Without the legacys providing passengers for your 204 other airplanes, Xjet would be toast. Just like FlyI...

P.S. How come no one wants to answer my question about Xjet CASM? Do you even know what it is?
 
Velocipede said:
SEVEN happy customers? Oh, then, pardon me. You can really build an airline with those kind of numbers. Face it. Without the legacys providing passengers for your 204 other airplanes, Xjet would be toast. Just like FlyI...

Yeah....that's right, I helped 7 happy customers. I did'nt say that we only had seven pax on the flight just that I helped 7. Nice try, but I think you need to stay off the "tree" :bandit: . We have 12 pax inbound today from ONT and 13 outbound headed back to ONT. I think that is pretty good for an airline that has been operating for all of 6 days. Don't you? Do you think that you know everything about the airline industry and what makes good business sense for an airline simply because you know what CASM stands for and means? :cwm27:
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bwade210 said:
We have 12 pax inbound today from ONT and 13 outbound headed back to ONT. I think that is pretty good for an airline that has been operating for all of 6 days. Don't you? Do you think that you know everything about the airline industry and what makes good business sense for an airline simply because you know what CASM stands for and means?
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WOW!!! Let's see...12 outbound and 13 inbound. That means for two trips halfway across country, you flew 75 EMPTY seats. Yeah, you're making the big bucks on that operation. You'd better pray EVERY NIGHT that CAL doesn't return any more of the 205 jets they're paying you to operate.

And, for the record, I looked up your CASM in the latest XJT 8K report...$.1166. In an industry that is marginally profitable at $.075, you're going to be HURTING if CAL stops paying your bills.
 
What I think a firm number of you folks are missing is that people may like the service but very few are willing to pay any extra money to fly on XJT versus Southwest if the difference is greater than say $40, all other things equal. People loved FlyI too. This is where CASM comes in to play. You guys have to admit you are taking the FlyI route on some things (of course the obvious 50 seat RJs, but also to provide superior service and customer "friendship" as I like to call it). However, providing these amenities comes at a cost. To a lot of people, a two hour flight doesn't necessarily need XM or memory foam or whatever. As long as they get there (as cheap as possible) they'll be happy. Now on transcons, that might be different, but I doubt that people going from SAT-ONT care enough to shell out the extra money for "premium service"
 
Look out, Chris! You're trying to use fact and reason on "true believers." It won't work. I tried it once on FlyI guys and got the same response.

I was kind enough not to say "I told you so" when their airline collapsed. The CPA is the only thing keeping Xjet afloat.

A 12 cent CASM? YGTBSM!
 
Velocipede said:
WOW!!! Let's see...12 outbound and 13 inbound. That means for two trips halfway across country, you flew 75 EMPTY seats. Yeah, you're making the big bucks on that operation. You'd better pray EVERY NIGHT that CAL doesn't return any more of the 205 jets they're paying you to operate.

Well..... like I said, we have only been operating for 6 days! I really dont think pax loads of 12 and 13 are bad. If we're looking at those kinds of numbers after say 3 months then we might want to reconsider other routes.
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You'd better pray EVERY NIGHT that CAL doesn't return any more of the 205 jets they're paying you to operate.

Just out of interest, who do you work for? (like I really need to ask)
 
You guys have to admit you are taking the FlyI route on some things (of course the obvious 50 seat RJs, but also to provide superior service and customer "friendship" as I like to call it)

Show me an airline operating domestically or internationally today in the year of our lord 2007 that does not claim to offer these things to their customers Chris. Such a generalized comment seems a bit ignorant in this case don't you think? That's kind of like saying all parents bringing children into this world out of wedlock are sinners. But then again...."the truth only hurts if it should."
 
Velocipede said:
Face it. Without the legacys providing passengers for your 204 other airplanes, Xjet would be toast.
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Your arguement is true and factual... for EVERY regional carrier that exists today. They'd all be toast without their "legacy". Great observation... :rolleyes:

We had the option to be like EVERY regional carrier that exists today and submit to the poor contractual demands that CAL wanted us to in order for us to have the "privilege" to fly for them and continue to have our livelihood based on someone else's success... or we could have simply given the planes back and caved in by furloghing people in the thousands... However, in the words of our CEO: "We had a choice to make... we could choose to be a glorified staffing agency... or we could choose to be a real airline... all things considered, I choose the latter."

Damn straight we'd be toast without CAL & DAL... But... if one is going to start a new airline... you've got to admit... it's a great way of doing so by having someone else pick up the bill instead of going deeper and deeper in debt like FLYi did... or like the legacies continue to do... ;)

Every start up business starts out with costs that are greater than returns... especially an airline. We know this... you know this. Your pessimism and keen business sense are duly noted... Our optimism and desire to continuosly work improve a risky operation is also duly noted. We're not asking for you to give us cred... we just asking that you please be patient while we make an attempt to change things for the better in the aviation industry... and give us a small amount of props for at least "trying".

Happy Easter. :)

Bob
 
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