United Airlines Bids to Buy FLYi Assets

[Busdrvr]

Good luck to all the ACA employees, and kudo's to those airlines that are hiring these guys. From the "been there done that" file, look at ALL you options. The cream will rise to the top, and if you excelled in this business, you can excel in others. My sincere best wishes. We unfortunately get so caught up in the rivalries and the "my company can beat up your company" crap that we often lose sight of the fact that there are some really good people and families who will go through some tough times due to some things that they had absolutely no control over.

 

[whlinder]

Perhaps an asset UA wants is FlyI's customer data? That has to be worth something to UA, giving it the ability to really judge how loyal their customers are, among other worthwhile info...

 

[magsau]

Perhaps an asset UA wants is FlyI's customer data? That has to be worth something to UA, giving it the ability to really judge how loyal their customers are, among other worthwhile info...

Loyal customers? You mean all those people that flyi provided service to for a few months then pulled the city from the rotation? Loyal customers? You barely had service for more than a year and most of the time you were jerking the customers around by reducing the schedule and or stopping service.

 

[KCFlyer]

Loyal customers? You mean all those people that flyi provided service to for a few months then pulled the city from the rotation? Loyal customers? You barely had service for more than a year and most of the time you were jerking the customers around by reducing the schedule and or stopping service.

You mean, customers who weren't flying United...nah...let Delta have 'em.

 

[Busdrvr]

You mean, customers who weren't flying United...nah...let Delta have 'em.

While this was likely just another feeble attempt on your part to attack UAL, the point was that UAL would be wasting money by "BUYING" FlyI's "loyal" customer base. The point is that UAL doesn't need to "buy" them, and they aren't "loyal." All UAL needs to do is provide good service, and the customers will come back to UAL.

 

[KCFlyer]

While this was likely just another feeble attempt on your part to attack UAL, the point was that UAL would be wasting money by "BUYING" FlyI's "loyal" customer base. The point is that UAL doesn't need to "buy" them, and they aren't "loyal." All UAL needs to do is provide good service, and the customers will come back to UAL.

It wasn't an attempt to attack UAL...just attacking the attitude that some seem to hold that there are customers who are not worthy of the service of UAL. According to the poster I was replying to, there are customers on Southwest that he would rather not have on his aircraft, that would include most residents of Kansas City based on some of his other posts. Other airlines might welcome them. Their money spends just as well as folks who live in Denver, San Francisco or Chicago.

 

[coolflyingfool]

All I have to say is that UAL better not be spending more than a couple of $MM on this, say $25 MM. For all the cutbacks everyone has suffered, UA wants to go out and spend money on an airline that is dying anyway. UA could be on the line for $500 MM to FLYI with the lawsuit, so don't give them anymore. The employees and retirees deserve the money, not FLYI! just my thoughts.........

 

[whlinder]

Loyal customers? You mean all those people that flyi provided service to for a few months then pulled the city from the rotation? Loyal customers? You barely had service for more than a year and most of the time you were jerking the customers around by reducing the schedule and or stopping service.

Whoa magsau, I don't work for FlyI, never have.

I wrote my original post poorly. "Their" customers refers to UA. Let me try again.

"Perhaps an asset UA wants is FlyI's customer data? That has to be worth something to UA, giving it the ability to really judge how loyal UA's customers are, among other worthwhile info..."

So what I mean is that UA should be able to cross reference purchasing history and habits of their own customers with any tickets purchased by those people on FlyI. Did they defect from UA for a $20 savings? $50 savings? Did they try FlyI once and then never go back to FlyI (sticking with UA)?

Getting that data would allow UA to determine what values customers place on Mileage Plus miles and flying UA. Knowing how your customers make purchasing decisions and the values they place on your service is pretty important. Getting that FlyI sales data will help UA figure out the answer.

 

[magsau]

You mean, customers who weren't flying United...nah...let Delta have 'em.

KC with the LF's UA has been having at IAD and system wide there is not very much room to accomodate the stranded flyi pax. Perhaps WN can stop in IAD with a broken plane and pick up the stranded flyi pax. Their LF numbers seem to indicate they could handle additional pax. Lot's of empty seats on those Herb TU&ds.

 

[ClueByFour]

KC with the LF's UA has been having at IAD and system wide there is not very much room to accomodate the stranded flyi pax. Perhaps WN can stop in IAD with a broken plane and pick up the stranded flyi pax. Their LF numbers seem to indicate they could handle additional pax. Lot's of empty seats on those Herb TU&ds.

Two notes:

1. UA's LFs in IAD are because of Indy Air. When IA shuts down, if UA jacks the fares back up to what they were pre-IA, you will see the LFs drop accordingly.

2. If WN's load factor (on average) was that of the legacies, they would be making even more money. Scary thought, eh?

 

[coolflyingfool]

So does this mean that the court rejected UA's bid if FLYI is shutting down? Or are they shutting down to acommadate UA's bid? just wondering.........

 

[dc3fanatic]

So does this mean that the court rejected UA's bid if FLYI is shutting down? Or are they shutting down to acommadate UA's bid? just wondering.........

The two are not necessarily independent. FlyI can accept a bid for assets and shut down. That's what liquidation is.

 

[whlinder]

FlyI the company, is still alive, in Ch11. However, they are shutting down flight operations on Thursday. I guess they finally figured out that they would lose less money by not operating flights than by operating flights.

 

[Farley]

KC with the LF's UA has been having at IAD and system wide there is not very much room to accomodate the stranded flyi pax. Perhaps WN can stop in IAD with a broken plane and pick up the stranded flyi pax. Their LF numbers seem to indicate they could handle additional pax. Lot's of empty seats on those Herb TU&ds.

Scary how much money they make with a 66% load factor, isn't it? I guess it goes to show you how irrelevant load factor can be.

 

[FWAAA]

Scary how much money they make with a 66% load factor, isn't it? I guess it goes to show you how irrelevant load factor can be.

Exactly. The key to airline profitability is to fill just enough of an airplane with just the right fares. Some full fares and some cheap fares. Flyi never found that point, of course. WN seems to excel at it. UAL might figure it out. In years past, UAL and AA excelled at it, but lost their way.