I heard months ago that Direct might be losing the Virgin planes. Well, it looks like (thanks Harry), they have. Click here.
At the same time, I have heard Direct Air has been doing well out of ORH this summer. Losing the Virgin planes, no matter how you look at it though, hurts.
Same Time Next Year
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It’s been nearly a year since I wrote about the problems that come from
having 11 bosses who are not on the same page about anything, as well as
suggestion...
5 months ago
19 comments:
Virgin took the planes back because they are expanding their domestic routes. The ORH planes will most likely now be based out of BOS.
Bill,
The greatest advantage Direct Air has is the fact that they do not own the aircraft.
Allegiant left because they could make more money with their equipment somewhere else.
If Direct Air finds another location where they can make more money, they don't have to pull the equipment from Worcester to service another route. They call the airlines and say "Who wants to rent me a plane to fly from X to Y?".
Direct Air also does not need to worry about the equipment going unused five days a week. It's not their equipment. Nor do the need to worry about not filling seats. They can swap the equipment out for something smaller.
Sure, it would be nice to be able to fly to Florida in a Virgin plane, but in the long run, I'm happy knowing that Direct Air isn't franticly trying to figure out how to absorb a lot of overhead.
The real question is: Did Direct Air lose Virgin, or did Virgin get under-bid?
Good point, JSF... but Virgin America is a world class, first class operation ... with a billionnaire behind it. Cities are beating themselves up to get them to fly into their airports. There is a certain prestige to it. With VA not going into ORH, we are now again viewed as a 2nd tier or better yet 'Spag's Mentality' stereotype. I wish Direct Air the best, I honestly do ... but we just lost an ace at the table.
When you used to go to Direct Air's website their tagline was 'Fly in First class luxury' and 'the latest state of the art..."(with interior cabin views of Virgin America's Airbus aircraft. You no longer see that on their website.
I can and will use Direct Air. I wish, however that Virgin America was still associated with them, though. Then again, if the load factors remain high, possibly Direct Air could lease JetBlue or Virgin America planes once again?
Harry T
Worcester,MA
Fond memories...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmuNKtCutnk
Harry T
Worcester,MA
So instead of a world class, first class operation like Virgin America (with a billion $$$$ behind it), we now have the following servicing Direct Air out of ORH:
Falcon Air
USA Jet
XTRA Airways
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falcon_Air_Express
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USA_Jet_Airlines
http://www.usajetairlines.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xtra_Airways
http://www.xtraairways.com
Once again, I wish Direct Air nothing but the best and I can and will fly them ... I'm just making a point here. Falcon Air is in bankruptcy , XtraAir is in an ownership battle, etc. No such issues with VA ... you build allegiance and repeat business with top not service and equipment.
Harry T
Worcester,MA
I stand corrected, Virgin AMerica is STILL using interior shots of Virgin America's Airbus aircraft:
http://www.visitdirectair.com
...even though they aren't using them anymore. Maybe they should update their website?
Harry T
Worcester,MA
I still think that the tickets are a little be high compared to Boston, specially now with inferior planes. Also Direct Air still not advertising around the area, what's up with that??
How come I don't see any airline flying to a Hub city from Worcester?
Only wish our new airport director could somehow get JetBlue to come to ORH. Their planes are the best of any low cost carrier i have ever flown. They would have no problems filling up seats.
Go Robert! Let's hope JetBlue does come to ORH, I fly them at least twice a year...
Harry T
Worcester,MA
Article from 2007...
http://news.airwise.com/story/view/1172265726.html
Harry T
Worcester,MA
Folks, I think we have to look at Direct Air business model here.
IMO, all DA is doing is acting as a ticket booking agent/charter flight operator and short term renting (or leasing) excess capacity from other carriers.
No one is asking the question What happens when other carriers run out of excess capacity?
Business ( Virgin, etc) do not purchase assets (aero-plains) that cost smillions of $$$$$ to rent them to their competition.
It is a poor business decision to apparently rent (or lease) short term the assets you need to operate your business. It always better over the long run to own your own assets which are critical to your business i.e. airplanes being being critical to the air travel business.
Big question not being asked here is why does DA not own their own planes. Evidently FOR NOW it's less expensive to rent them..........or they cannot finance the purchase of these big birds....which to me raises serious questions about their long term viablity.
It is much more costly for a small carrier to maintain their own fleets. A new airline could simply not afford to purchase a new airplane. Many of them are flying old MadDogs (MD-80 series). While they are a workhorse, they are long in the teeth and require more maintenance. The ones that are let go by the mainline carriers are real high cycle units.
On the other side of the coin is a carrier like AA who loves their MD-80's. They have long been paid for, and AA has their own maintenance facilities. So for them it is cheaper to do the maintenance then it is to buy.
JetBlue went with Embraer E Jets - which are just fantastic. They seat 100 people so per FAA regs they are only required to have 2 stewards. I think the magical number is more than 125 pas and you have to add a third. That is big overhead.
Direct air is most definitely doing the right thing by leasing.
Direct air should go with E-Jets. They are perfect to fly anywhere, specially all the airports direct air flies to.
They should try JetBlue, I heard they are leasing some E-Jets to the Brazilian airline Azul which is owned by David Neeleman.
I guess I dont understand why it is more costly for a small carrier to maintain their own fleets vs. a larger carrier.
Often larger carriers are all union while smaller cariers are not. Maintence costs that are incurred are passed on by the Lessor in addition to any overhead teh lessor has to carry to support the maintenace operations as well as the fact teh lessor also has to make a profit on their leasing(rental) opeations. The age or kind of plane is not really an issue...regardless who does the maintaince, the same maintence is going to have to be done to each size & each brand name plane. I believe routine maintenace procedures on aircraft is probably even mandated by teh gub'mint?
If I am pipeline company doing site work or replacing municipal pipelines I may on ocassion rent an extra excavator from the likes of a Nations Rent company if my business workload is heavy, however I dont rent all my large pieces of equipment...I buy them outright...the objective being to ultimate rid myself of monthly paymenns for my equipment and own it "rent free" as it were.
I do understadn what youre saying re a samller start up being less able to buy planes outright......but that then begs the question............what am I doing in the commercail flying business if cant qualify to carry the monthly nut on the equipment needed for a viable airline operation.
If air trtavel ever picks up again and Virgin et al are able to fill their planes on their own.......I then sugeest they will be less inclined to lease (rent) to a charter airline b/c they no longer have excess capacity.
If Direct wants to fly from anotehr location or expand in Worc and they call up their lessors, the lessors could very well say at some point that we dont have any more planes to lease. What then or the leasing price goes up so much, it becomes unprofitable.
BTW i have $50 that says Zoback knows who Wil Wil Wo Wo is...of course I cant prove it.....but..... If he didnt know he wouldnt be publishing him. And if he thought Bill & Jahn were the same person, he'd be publishing Jahn on ocassion, too.
I know he wouldnt publish me in the past b/c I used trash the Banal District which clearly was unacceptable to his former bosses.
WTH......Now we going to have Canal District possibly w/no Canal......and Blackstone Visitors Centre is not going to be in the (Blackstone) Canal District....this is making less and less sense....and Jimmy Mc saying the area needs a face lift............hey it's an industrail/commercial zone......whaddaya expect?
Talk about the need for a face lift.....anyone see Havana Jim's saddened mugshot in yesterdasy paper as he stood in front teh masses touting Obama-care. Could be a few sleepless nights down there in West yarmouth this August for James??? Hopefully he a hotline to the Vineyard to boost his vacation spirits
I was at SFB today and rushed to see the DirectAir plane at the gate. I was a bit upset seeing the XTRA Airways plane at the gate.
That does suck!
The certification process for Part 121carriers is pretty brutal. It is cheaper for Direct Air to operate as a Part 380 carrier, especially in today's environment. The airline has a management staff that can be counted on fingers. That is as lean as one can be.
Age and type of plane makes a HUGE difference in maintenance cost. The more cycles an commercial aircraft has on it, the greater the maintenance as stipulated by both the manufacturer and the FAA. In addition to the "routine" stuff, high cycle aircraft require extensive stress checks and often have to reinforce the aircraft. If not you get things like the southwest jet blowing a hole in its roof. The mainline carriers do not get rid of their aircraft until they have zero value left. That is the point where the maintenance cost exceeds the cost of leasing or purchasing. So any new carrier will either have to pick up brand new planes (massive startup cost with deep pockets a-la virgin), buy old planes (higher maintenance - allegiant), or lease. Leasing is by far the way to go for a start up. All direct air has to worry about is hitting specific load factors, everything else is done by the lessee.
Robert all these maintenace costs get passed on to the lessee. Dittos for the cost of new planes as well. They have to.
If I Lease you a bulldozer for huge excavation project, all my costs plus a profit get passed onto the leessee.....or the lessor is in bankruptcy court sooon
I have flown Direct Air about 20 times from niagara falls to myrtle beach and i was lucky enough to get the Virgin Air Bus twice. The fantastic plane made up for the terrible customer service of the DIrect Air agents. Now that the planes are gone, no online check in, and unable to reserve seats ahead of time, i do not think i will fly them in the future. The mid day flight are impossible to work around anyhow. Good luck to anyone who bought the vouchers.... I will not be surprised if they are bankrupt before you use them....
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