Randy on CNN Today
 

Randy appears at 4pm EDT on CNN Headline News today (9/06/02) to discuss the airlines' policy/rule changes.

Email questions for him to chuck&[email protected].

From: [email protected] (Roberts, Chuck )
To: ***************

Thanks for writing. I'll make sure Randy gets asked that question.

Chuck Roberts

-----Original Message-----

Sent: Friday, September 06, 2002 3:02 PM
To: chuck&[email protected]
Subject: Question regarding airline changes


To what benefit is the charge of 100.00 for stand-by on the same day?

This is the biggest fair hike in the history of commercial aviation. Once the
plane leaves the gate those seats are worthless. If this is not a case of
collusion on the part of the big 6 than nothing is......why did the
government bail them out????

Mike

Randy was asked right out why DL, a financially healthy airline, would follow the restrictive policies put forth by the ailing carriers, and although he stated that the question was a good one, he really had no meaningful answer to it!

Who said DL was a financially healthy airline?? Last I heard DL was loosing money and is predicting losses for all of 2002 and 2003. DL may be better off than UAL and U, but to call DL financially healthy is a stretch.

This in no way is my endorsement of DL's latest changes. I think it is a bad idea.

There is a big difference in the balance sheets of the various airlines, and despite the fact that DL is not currently turning a quarterly profit, they are probably the financially best off airline in the country.

I would say that 2.8 billion in the bak makes us financially better of than every other airline.

It's the balance sheet that counts!

So diesel33, off the record, how do you really feel about all of these changes?

One thing you forgot to mention is that the $2.8 billion is borrowed money!!

Off the record, I too am sorry that these changes took place at the big D. I quit reading the news re: all the changes on Monday (I forgot it was a holiday) and was thinking that DL was going to resist these changes and possibly lure many customers over from US and everyone else that instituted difficult changes.

Out of the two changes I can truly understand the "use it or loose it" aspect. I guess I relate it to a ballgame. yes I agree you can sell your Mets, Pirates, Braves, etc baseball ticket, but that's just my opinion.

As far as both rules are concerned (use it or loose it and the $100 fee for standby) I would rather see some Priceline like fares offered by the airline's that have these restrictions.

[This message has been edited by diesel33 (edited 09-07-2002).]

Use it or lose it would be understandable if there were no oversells, like a ballgame or a theatre event. Obviously, in those situations, an unused ticket has no future value. A guaranteed hotel room will be charged if you no-show, but you can cancel until 6PM generally. To be truthful, they were making lots of $$ with change fees from me. If I need to change a return flight day and the flight is open, where was the harm to DL in charging me $100 for the privilege of changing the day? Now, a day change on the return would mean a full Y fare (even if the original ticket was a sky-high B or M fare!). Faced with that, WN is going to do very well with their maximum systemwide fare of $299. Diesel, I still think DL and the other majors have some major tinkering to do with the basic business model, and getting more restrictive and more punitive IS NOT a step in the right direction.

Like I said a week or so ago, Diesel, I am sure Uncle Leo is proud of you http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif

i keep seeing this, and i think it's wrong. here's the relevant rule:

i read that to say that i can change any onward segment for only the change fee, as long as i do it before the ticketed date of *that leg*, not the whole ticket.

am i wrong?

Last I checked, Mets didnt charge 490 + for a seat!

Wall Street hasn't forgotten all that long term liability, and that's why DAL's market cap is so much smaller than WN's.

So Mikey,

are you attempting to argue that DL is not the most healthy airline, financially speaking, among the majors?