AA to buy Airbus instead of leasing them.

[MetalMover]

Kind of off topic (so sad-me bad) but did anyone go to training in Toulouse?
I had a great time there!
Just asking, maybe I should start a new thread if there is any interest...
B) xUT

No, Airbus(Manufacturer) school was in Miami.

 

[xUT]

No, Airbus(Manufacturer) school was in Miami.

Too bad...
Miami is not a bad place to visit on company per diem either.
But Toulouse...
B) xUT

 

[Flying low]

Anybody hear any rumors of hangers in Tulsa being measured for modification to fit the airbus?

 

[AA Tulsa Mechanic]

Anybody hear any rumors of hangers in Tulsa being measured for modification to fit the airbus?

Not a rumor it's true.

 

[AA Tulsa Mechanic]

We're supposed to be doing the light c's and mid checks.

 

[Flying low]

Not a rumor it's true.

  

We're supposed to be doing the light c's and mid checks.

Good to know, thanks.

 

[Ramp Rogue]

If AA i going to purchase Airbuses, make sure that they don't have the dreaded taper on them. They are a complete headache. Without the taper, much more could be loaded in the aft of an Airbus. And the load plans would be much easier to do. Just a heads up in case someone that is in that department is reading this.
 
Rogue

 

[Bob Owens]

Sorry, but this is quite normal and a smart move. AA buy them with cash while they're profitable, and can always do a sale or a sale-leaseback later if they have a need for cash later.

I agree. When they need cash or have a need for debt, when the value of the assett drops then they sell them, sign a long term lease and call it debt and say they cant afford raises for workers. They need to do something with all that cash, then later they will sell them and lease them back, they do it all the time. That's how airlines can cut their labor force by 40%, slash wages by another 40% , increase Revenue by 30% and still claim they need concessions in bankruptcy from the workers.
 
Lets say they buy an airplane for $100 million, they borrow the money and pay interest and fees in the millions on that money to banks and they can claim as much of the depreciation as they want whenever they want. So even though they are making money they offset the profits through paper losses. They have the $100 million in debt to cry about to their workers as they say they cant pay them and are investing in "their future"-in the meantime funnelling millions in revenue every year to the banks through fees and interest. Then later after claiming all the depreciation and paying off the Loan instead of having an unencumbered assett where they can maximize profits they sell the plane to another bank and sign a lease for more than what they are getting from the sale of the plane-so the unencumbered asset instead generates debt, so the bank still gets their  share of the revenue our labor produces, an ever growing share as our share dwindles. Of course the airline will claim they "need the cash" but that too is a fabrication. With hundreds of transactions going on at all different times its hard to trace, but in order to generate a need for cash the bank writes in covenants such as "In order to not be delinquinet on this loan for $800 million at no point can your cash level drop below $1 billion.  In other words the carrier is forced to carry debt and pay interest not only on $800 million they cant use but another $200 million on top of that. (Would you pay interest on cash you have to keep as cash?)  That's how carriers with billions in cash in the bank, and billions in revenue every month can claim they are broke (and claim they cant pay $10 million a month to meet their obligations to retirees).  In the meantime as revenues climb they still keep finding ways to hide it and we keep being told we need to give up more to save our jobs. 

 

[MetalMover]

In the meantime as revenues climb they still keep finding ways to hide it and we keep being told we need to give up more to save our jobs. 

Hey, that's the TWU's line!