Skywest to fly for Airtran

Re: AirTran Pilots: Outsourcing Bad for Business (Skywest)

customers expect and deserve to be flown on AirTran planes with AirTran pilots in the cockpit.
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Yeah I'm sure the union's concerns are all about the passengers.
 
Re: AirTran Pilots: Outsourcing Bad for Business (Skywest)

Gonzo said:
Without passengers they have no job so yes my guess is they do care about the passengers.:D
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So unions do care about the business side? Is that why airlines are so profitable?
 
Re: AirTran Pilots: Outsourcing Bad for Business (Skywest)

Gonzo said:
Yes they care, but they don't run the company.
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Apparently Airtran's management figured out they can make more money by farming out the work to companies like Skywest who don't have to contend with labor unions.
 
Re: AirTran Pilots: Outsourcing Bad for Business (Skywest)

Killtron2000 said:
Apparently Airtran's management figured out they can make more money by farming out the work to companies like Skywest who don't have to contend with labor unions.
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Do you mean the same management team that has said in the past that there is no way to make money on 50 seat feed.
 
Re: AirTran Pilots: Outsourcing Bad for Business (Skywest)

Killtron2000 said:
Apparently Airtran's management figured out they can make more money by farming out the work to companies like Skywest who don't have to contend with labor unions.
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Why was it that they killed the AWAC deal with AirTran again?
 
Re: AirTran Pilots: Outsourcing Bad for Business (Skywest)

Gonzo said:
Do you mean the same management team that has said in the past that there is no way to make money on 50 seat feed.
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I don't know when they said that but it's obviously not their position today. It's totally possible that a 50 seater might not be as economical but again if you don't have to deal with the union it might make sense.

Polar742 said:
Why was it that they killed the AWAC deal with AirTran again?
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Who wanted to kill their deal with Air Wisconsin?
 
Re: AirTran Pilots: Outsourcing Bad for Business (Skywest)

Killtron2000 said:
I don't know when they said that but it's obviously not their position today. It's totally possible that a 50 seater might not be as economical but again if you don't have to deal with the union it might make sense.
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What does the union have do to with if a 50 seats can make money.

FYI: It looks like this deal is going to cost FL zero money. The problem is the cost to run a CRJ-200 is about the same as a 717.
 
E_Dawg said:
Yeah, I never really 'got' MKE as a hub either... it's not really on the way to anywhere, it's not a major destination in and of itself, it's too close to ORD, etc etc. Don't get me wrong I love WI, MKE, even been known to down miller lite on occasion, but as a hub I just don't get it...
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Because its an hour drive from Chicago and even shorter from the northern suburbs. When the people in the burbs gotta fly they can drive 30 min to O'hare or 30 min to MKE and if you have been into ORD lately you probably know why more and more people are choosing the latter. Especially when you factor in the amount of LCCs that are setting up shop there. Makes sense to me...
 
Re: AirTran Pilots: Outsourcing Bad for Business (Skywest)

Gonzo said:
What does the union have do to with if a 50 seats can make money.

FYI: It looks like this deal is going to cost FL zero money. The problem is the cost to run a CRJ-200 is about the same as a 717.
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Skywest can make a CRJ profitable where airtran can't make a 717 profitable. Which probably has everything to do with the fact that Skywest is non union. It also explains why the union is objecting to this but airtrans shareholders and management aren't.

Companies with unionized labor pretty consistently lose business to nonunionized companies in every industry.
 
Re: AirTran Pilots: Outsourcing Bad for Business (Skywest)

Lemme guess. Classic example is SWA, right?
 
Re: AirTran Pilots: Outsourcing Bad for Business (Skywest)

Killtron2000 said:
Skywest can make a CRJ profitable where airtran can't make a 717 profitable.
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Pretty bold statement considering they haven't even started flying them. Odds are pretty good they're just trying to get SOME money coming in rather than paying penalties on lease returns or having to pay the leases on them while they sit in the desert generating no cash.

Basically, previous poster was correct. The only thing AirTran is having to do in the deal is allow Skywest to sell tickets to their flying on the AirTran reservation system. It's a win-win for AirTran management. Skywest needed SOMEONE with an established route network to attract customers.
 
Re: AirTran Pilots: Outsourcing Bad for Business (Skywest)

Killtron2000 said:
Skywest can make a CRJ profitable where airtran can't make a 717 profitable. Which probably has everything to do with the fact that Skywest is non union. It also explains why the union is objecting to this but airtrans shareholders and management aren't.

Companies with unionized labor pretty consistently lose business to nonunionized companies in every industry.
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Doug Taylor said:
Lemme guess. Classic example is SWA, right?
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Killtron2000 said:
I thought they had their own union.
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Good thing RAH isn't growing. Also yes SWA has a union in fact they are the most unionized airline in the world.

Unions have very little to do with profit and management had a lot.
 
Re: AirTran Pilots: Outsourcing Bad for Business (Skywest)

A little reading for you:
http://www.wired.com/cars/futuretransport/news/2008/07/portfolio_0708

Strong Management
The public face of Southwest Airlines for a generation, hard-drinking, chain-smoking, always-leave-'em laughing Herb Kelleher, finally stepped away from the carrier earlier this year. Kelleher's bonhomie masked the discipline that Southwest has had throughout its history. The airline has always avoided fads and eschewed anything that increased costs or complicated the basic travel proposition. When it has changed—last year it ended its infamous cattle-call boarding process to favor its most frequent fliers and highest-fare customers—it has done so without slowing down the movement of aircraft. Management ranks are lean, but well compensated and, most importantly, productive. I once calculated that the top executives of Southwest generated 10 times more revenue per dollar of compensation than did the C-suite types at some of the network carriers.

A Relatively Happy Workforce
Network carriers have railed for decades about the power of their employee unions. But guess who's the most unionized carrier in the nation? Southwest, of course. The airline says that 87 percent of its employees belong to a union. Southwest has never had a strike, and now that the network carriers have whacked away at salaries and benefits, Southwest staffers are generally the highest paid in the industry. But since Southwest has about 30 percent fewer employees per aircraft than its network competitors, it has the lowest non-fuel C.A.S.M. (cost per available seat mile) of any of the major carriers.
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Re: AirTran Pilots: Outsourcing Bad for Business (Skywest)

Trip7 said:
So the rumors were true!

Rise of the Super-regional continues....
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You must have forgotten about Republic. But I wouldn't consider this the rise of a super-regional but one trying to keep from shrinking. I hope this works out for AirTran and SkyWest without costing more pilot jobs.
 
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