Attn Dave. What Is The Plan For Pdt/alg?

[WOpropTrash]

Well Dave, what do you plan to do with PDT/ALG now that it's all going to hell? You didn't live up to you original promise, (along with many others) about the first wholly-owned to get concessions/new contracts from all labor groups, getting the RJ's. Why should anyone trust you now?

My guess is that you will slowly kill them off or let them die, rather than using them to their full potential, or selling them for some much needed cash, just to show who is boss! That's it, throw away all that is profitable just because there are cheaper pawns out there! You just don't get it, do you?

Let's forget all that and try a fresh start. These folks have shown they can make money. Why are you not using this to your advantage? You could have Q-400's operating very quickly, at a surprisingly low training/transition cost. It is a common type rating with the other Dashes. The many other operators who are CONVERTING THEIR RJ ORDERS to Q-400's can't all be wrong, in this high fuel cost era! We were way behind on the RJ thing, as all the competition led the way and stole our business. Don't miss the boat again! Adapt or die!! These planes are cheap to operate, and are not you father's turboprops.

If you are too short sighted to realize this, then the Piedmont name alone is worth a fortune!

My God man! Don't wait for opportunity to come up and hit you in the a$$. Do something proactive for a change!!!!!!!

I'm just a nobody, but your lack of vision is driving me crazy!

 

[fr8tmastr]

I think if "Dave" had any thoughts other than donwsize, the fabric of space and time would implode destroying the universe. The 400 is the perfect AC for our operations which is exactly why we will never see one.

 

[Frontier69]

It's just amazing to me that a Q400 will visit UQ next week. Employees are being invited to go for a "joyride". What a joke!!! The employees are being transitioned into Piedmont. So what's the point of it? Maybe to rub the pilot's noses into their own ####!!!! h34r:

 

[matika]

I don't remember his exact words, but when a WO employee brought this up in the webcast (alternative to RJs), Dave said something vague like they were "considering" it, or "taking a look at it," or the like. Very dismissive, I thought.

 

[Air conditioned]

Yeah, I remember that, too. Dave said, "I'm smiling as you say that, because we had been looking at them."

Was he smiling because it was funny?
Smiling because it was wishful thinking?
Smiling because the W/Os are one big joke to him?

I used to be at a W/O before going to mainline, and there are a lot of great folks there that are very dedicated and qualified that deserve a lot better than they are getting . Nuff said. :angry:

 

[robbedagain]

i would thin that the 400q would be able to operate into some of the mid or small sized airports whereas the rjs and the mainline jets cant get to?

 

[OldpropGuy]

Just went to the Q400 page at
http://www.bombardier.com/

This sounds promising:

"The Q400 offers passengers the highest levels of comfort while offering airlines some of the lowest operating costs per seat in the regional aircraft market. In a typical scenario, the Q400 requires under 30 passengers to break even. Every passenger after that is profit. All the speed and performance of a jet, with the economic thrift of a turboprop!

For airlines already operating smaller Q Series Dash 8 aircraft, there's another economic benefit in adding the Q400. Despite its increased capacity, speed and range, the Q400 has been certificated as a Dash 8, which means the aircraft can be flown by the same pilots. This provides Q Series family operators with substantial savings in pilot training costs, along with much greater flexibility in scheduling."

But then such would require leading edge management with top notch, leading-the-way ideas. We'll probably never see it here!

 

[aviator42]

From what I hear from the Bombardier reps is that the Q400 Demo iterary is supposed to fly to MDT next week, than continue to IAD ( can't go into DCA ) than to South America, than back to SBY. This aircraft is larger than the CRJ 700 and alot more comfortable. A previous post stated that some operators are converting RJ orders ( mainly options) into Q400 orders due to the aircraft economics of operation. The flying public follows fares, not wether it is equipped with fans or props.

 

[TBONEJ4J]

Comair is also looking seriously at the Q400.

Another train has left the station and once again US Airways has missed it. But there may be an opporunity to catch it at the next station, before Comair, ANA, Lufthansa, Augsburg Airways etc., etc., take up every last seat for the next ten years. Or is this just another Fad, like the RJ?!?

Where's the Vision Davey Boy? Can a BeanCounter ever have vision?

 

[ITRADE]

A previous post stated that some operators are converting RJ orders ( mainly options) into Q400 orders due to the aircraft economics of operation. The flying public follows fares, not wether it is equipped with fans or props.

I'm not sure I agree with this statement.

When I'm traveling or setting up one of the partners to travel down to RDU or somewhere, I'm always asked if the flight is a RJ or a turboprop. If the answer is turboprop, there are at least two or three partners that will NOT take that flight.

I could care less - actually prefer the flying feel of the turbos.

Anyhow, I too believe that the Q400s offer a terrific opportunity for US and other carriers. Those 30 - 40 minute flights from BWI to PHL or PHL to MDT really enjoy zero benefit from a RJ as 1) the operating cost of the RJ is higher than the turbo and 2) the short distance involves total ATC control and direction - hence lower operating ceilings and speeds.

 

[TBONEJ4J]

I'm not sure I agree with this statement.

When I'm traveling or setting up one of the partners to travel down to RDU or somewhere, I'm always asked if the flight is a RJ or a turboprop. If the answer is turboprop, there are at least two or three partners that will NOT take that flight.

This is the key to unlocking the Turboprop Marketing problem. Passengers think Jetstream or 1900 when they think Turboprop. If they think Q400, there will be far less resistance to the "Turboprop" aircraft.

Most people at one time thought flying on an airplane was a fundamentally dangerous thing to do. Now the greater part of the population does it on a regular basis. Increased safety, lower and more accessible fares allow experience to modify perception. Experience on the state-of-the-art Q400 will modify passenger perception of a Turboprop, perhaps to the point where those flying a Q400 will not even consider the word Turboprop appropriate for the aircraft they are flying. Because it doesn't agree with their concept of a Turboprop which implies cramped, noisy and serviceless.

US Airways is so focused on the cost side, no real attention is being paid to Marketing and Revenue generation. RJs are a pure marketing trick, where people accepted cramped conditions because they are mentally happy with a Jet Engine being attached to the claustrophobic tube they are in. A turboprop is just another powerplant, but a highly efficient powerplant normally used on smaller aircraft. The Q400 is no small aircraft, but it is a highly efficient, very fast, high utility Airline Aircraft. It's all about the Marketing.

Hey Dave, do you even know what Marketing means? Or did you skip that course because you wanted to take additional BeanCounter classes?

All the current profitable and almost profitable airlines know how to market their product. That is why they are where they are. No Marketing is why US Airways is where it is, and why it will go away sooner rather than later. :down:

 

[PropPiedmont]

If an ERJ-170 is not a regional jet, then a Dash-8 400 is not a turboprop. Does anyone realize that the 400 cruises at 350 knots? Check out these numbers from the Alaska Airlines website:

FLT 2437 PDX-SAC 1000-1130 0130 DH4

FLT 2491 PDX-SAC 0850-1015 0125 CJ7

FLT 394 PDX-SAC 1740-1904 0124 737

Looks like over a resonable distance that the 400 is about 5 minutes slower than a CRJ-700 and 6 minutes slower than a 737. Oh, and by the way there are more seats available on the 400 than the CRJ-700.

I'm afraid that if US Air did actually go out and purchase these aircraft the mainline union would go nuts and demand all the flying be done by themselves. Don't expect to see these at US Air.

 

[robbedagain]

I'm not sure I agree with this statement.

When I'm traveling or setting up one of the partners to travel down to RDU or somewhere, I'm always asked if the flight is a RJ or a turboprop. If the answer is turboprop, there are at least two or three partners that will NOT take that flight.

This is the key to unlocking the Turboprop Marketing problem. Passengers think Jetstream or 1900 when they think Turboprop. If they think Q400, there will be far less resistance to the "Turboprop" aircraft.

Most people at one time thought flying on an airplane was a fundamentally dangerous thing to do. Now the greater part of the population does it on a regular basis. Increased safety, lower and more accessible fares allow experience to modify perception. Experience on the state-of-the-art Q400 will modify passenger perception of a Turboprop, perhaps to the point where those flying a Q400 will not even consider the word Turboprop appropriate for the aircraft they are flying. Because it doesn't agree with their concept of a Turboprop which implies cramped, noisy and serviceless.

US Airways is so focused on the cost side, no real attention is being paid to Marketing and Revenue generation. RJs are a pure marketing trick, where people accepted cramped conditions because they are mentally happy with a Jet Engine being attached to the claustrophobic tube they are in. A turboprop is just another powerplant, but a highly efficient powerplant normally used on smaller aircraft. The Q400 is no small aircraft, but it is a highly efficient, very fast, high utility Airline Aircraft. It's all about the Marketing.

Hey Dave, do you even know what Marketing means? Or did you skip that course because you wanted to take additional BeanCounter classes?

All the current profitable and almost profitable airlines know how to market their product. That is why they are where they are. No Marketing is why US Airways is where it is, and why it will go away sooner rather than later. :down:

the only marketing this outfit has is the one that said goodbye to bwi goodbye to the west coast and say hello to swa in phl next month!!!! so it does appear that usair's mgmt doesnt even have a clue about what a marketing department really is