So long, Champion Air

[Dont call me Shirley]

http://www.twincities.com/allheadlines/ci_8758791

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1206997059...=googlenews_wsj

A sad day for their people. I used to work at a station that handled Champion Air charters from time to time. The crews and dispatchers were a fine bunch.

(And checking in their passengers - be it Cancun-bound college students or lady bowlers returning to Wisconsin - were a break from the usual routine)

 

[jimntx]

That is sad. I know several of their f/as from here in STL.

 

[Kev3188]

Sad indeed, but certainly not suprising...

The fact that they're still flying 727's coupled with the loss of both MLT vacation and NBA charter flying has had them on borrowed time for awhile now...

 

[robbedagain]

good luck to all of their employees rising fuel costs wonderhow much longer it will be before anyone in the darn govt will realize they got a crisis going on

 

[Ch. 12]

good luck to all of their employees rising fuel costs wonderhow much longer it will be before anyone in the darn govt will realize they got a crisis going on

My guess is they (gov't) won't realize until January and somebody that isn't just trying to fatten big oil's pockets gets into office.

Good luck to all...These are not good times for the industry.

 

[eolesen]

good luck to all of their employees rising fuel costs wonderhow much longer it will be before anyone in the darn govt will realize they got a crisis going on

Is it really a crisis, or just failures predicated a poor business plan?...

Champion's decision to continue to fly 727's is surely a pretty big contributing factor... They could have found something less thirsty by now, but chose to stay with the fully depreciated equipment that was declared obsolete by just about every other airline in North America...

Aloha? They were losing $5M a month, due in part to the aggressive pricing environment, yet Hawaiian wasn't losing that much and they operated in most of the same markets.

Maxjet? Again, a flawed business plan.


Government can't control what the price of oil is on the global market, especially when you have other countries whose economies support paying the higher prices. I wouldn't expect any political candidate to be able to do much about that, either. Unless, of course, we decided to invade Mexico and Venezuela and take over their reserves....

 

[robbedagain]

how about tapping into our own reserves

 

[Ch. 12]

how about tapping into our own reserves

or better yet, became less reliant like the other countries that can afford the higher prices. That is exactly why Bushie let the situation get this out of hand...so that we could "tap into our own reserves". Funny thing is that the infrastructure development would cost that much more and the yield is not as great as has been exaggerated. Why not be even more proactive and #1 stop giving extreme tax breaks to big oil since they aren't passing them on to consumers nor using them to increase refining capability as was the initial "purpose" of the breaks and #2 develop alternatives such as Brazil's use of sugar cane for ethanol. Instead, we have recalled the electric car and made it prohibitive to research new sources of fuel. We shouldn't further our dependence on the black gold. That would be wreckless.

 

[eolesen]

how about tapping into our own reserves

Reserves aren't the issue. It's production. The libs and tree-hugging special interest groups have made it next to impossible to build new refineries in the US, and there's not much incentive to go thru the red tape to try and expand the existing ones.

The same special interest groups who stand in the way of expanding oil production also stand in the way of expanding nuclear power and high speed rail, both of which seem to work just fine in Europe and keep a lot of people off the road and out of the sky.

 

[Ch. 12]

Reserves aren't the issue. It's production. The libs and tree-hugging special interest groups have made it next to impossible to build new refineries in the US, and there's not much incentive to go thru the red tape to try and expand the existing ones.

The same special interest groups who stand in the way of expanding oil production also stand in the way of expanding nuclear power and high speed rail, both of which seem to work just fine in Europe and keep a lot of people off the road and out of the sky.

Clinton actually passed a bill that allowed oil companies to build refineries on phased-out military bases and made such refineries exempt to EPA scrutiny. Since then, a total of zero oil companies have pursued. Why? B/c that would bring down prices of fuel. Plenty of oil is out there...that is not the problem (i.e. we don't need to drill for even more). The problem is that the oil companies refuse to expand their infrastructure.

I agree with you completely that we need high speed rail. The issue there is that America (formerly the USA until Bush Jr decided to take over all of "America") has always protected big oil. Rockefeller started the boom but since then the shift has gone to the Middle East. Seems kind of dumb, then, that we protect the interests of other countries. But nothing will change for some time to come. Bush is to entangled in the industry he is working to make richer and the oil lobby is the most powerful. USA will be a short-lived "empire" brought down by their reliance on and disinterest in getting away from one little resource ... oil.

 

[castlebravo]

Correct me if I am wrong, when Champion shuts down isn't this the end passenger travel on 727's in the United States?? What about the Pan Am clipper Boston Maine airways? My first ride on a 727 was on a Pan Am 727 LAX to IAH back in the early 80s. 727 has always been a favorite, truly the end of an era!

 

[Kev3188]

Boston-Maine is long gone, so that should do it for 727 pax flights....

 

[Dont call me Shirley]

Boston-Maine is long gone, so that should do it for 727 pax flights....

To think that a tyoe that was so common not that long ago would be gone.
I always got a kick out of sitting in an aft window seat and seeing the wing seeming to spilt in half when those triple flaps were extended and listening to those mighty JT8Ds.

 

[mga707]

To think that a tyoe that was so common not that long ago would be gone.
I always got a kick out of sitting in an aft window seat and seeing the wing seeming to spilt in half when those triple flaps were extended and listening to those mighty JT8Ds.

It was such a thrill last summer to get to fly on a 727 again, down in Ecuador (AeroGal, Guayaquil-Baltra RT, on a -227 delivered to BN in '76), five years after what I was certain would be my last 727 trip, on DL!

 

[Dont call me Shirley]

Today is Champion Air's last day of operation. Let's wish their people the best.

Also the last day of passenger 727 flights in the US.