ClimbGuy

From what I understand bids were due on Dec 1. Does anyone know who/if anyone submitted bids. If so what where their terms? Thanks!

dax431

This just came in hot off the wire...the patient has a heartbeat....the prognosis is optimistic....

Press Release Source: FLYi, Inc.


FLYi, Inc. Announces Receipt of Expressions of Interest
Monday December 5, 5:28 pm ET


DULLES, Va., Dec. 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- FLYi, Inc. (Nasdaq: FLYIQ - News), parent of low-fare airline Independence Air announced today that it has received a number of expressions of interest from parties interested in participating in its court-supervised auction process. The various expressions of interest include proposals to acquire the company as a going concern, to invest in the company, and to acquire specific assets. The company is working with its financial advisors in consultation with its Creditors Committee to evaluate these expressions of interest and to consider alternatives that will maximize the value of the estate. As previously stated, the company believes that the value of its estate will be maximized in a going concern transaction, whether pursuant to an investment proposal or a going concern sale proposal.

ClimbGuy

So in short no one wants the whole company?

fwfdan

From the press release....

"include proposals to acquire the company as a going concern"

and they restate that that is what they want to do....

haddon90

i don't see flyi lasting that much longer. i don't think they have much common sense in their route network. starting service to san diego and then cancelling it? i believe at one time they had 5 roundtrips to knoxville. crjs to ORD? granted they've upgraded that route, but...i just don't see this company lasting past january.

DataBaseDude

I hope that they can make it. Speaking of routes though what's the frequency going out to Vegas and down to San Juan?

jaguar

It's down to crunch time.

uva185

I do a lot of flying out of CAE (Columbia, SC) on US Air. There have to be at least 40 Independence jets permanently parked at the airport. Kinda sad really.

ClimbGuy

It is one of those things where you are sad in the sense that crews (air and ground) thought it would work. However Independence got what was coming to them. They were always having sales, have a bad frequent flyer program, no elite status, 600 flights a day at one point. Honestly, at this point I hope they make it long enough so I can use my iClub award and after that I dont care.

DHAST

I don't understand why you think DH is "getting what's coming to them." Having sales isn't bad (WN does it all of the time), WN never offered elite status, 600 flights a day on its face is not excessive, and when it comes down to it, if there is no F class and seats are cheap enough, who cares about elite status?

What they're getting is the result of selling their product for less than the cost of producing it. Nothing more, nothing less. Their original business plan called for operating at a loss for at least a year. Excessive fuel prices in the last few quarters just about killed any chance they had to wait it out until the airbii arrived. That *was* their plan. Hang on until they got the airbii, then shed a bunch of RJ's. The RJ thing was a hold-them-over measure until the airbii came, but since the high fuel prices accelerated their spending, they couldn't hold on. BTW, at the prices DH was selling their tix, did they really need a FF program?

gleff

Yes, they do. It's called Companion Pass.

Which is a function of the market, they couldn't draw fares high enough given their cost structure. A short-haul high-frequency RJ carrier is simply not a low-cost carrier. Then they compounded the problem with the capacity that they you isn't crazy on its face (volume of flights at the get-go unsupported by either existing market or marketing outside of DC). And they didn't list flights in GDS' either, a cost-saving move but one which killed their traffic too.

And the original business plan was a silly one, so...

Blaming fuel costs is disingenuous. Their break-even load factor in 2Q was 107%. They would have lost $$$ if fuel was free.

If their 'plan' was to lose $$$ until Airbus aircraft arrived, then management deployed their assets poorly. They'd have been better off grounding the company until they could acquire different aircraft, or starting a separate new company to sell the RJs to and operate as a feeder carrier with them. And they should have gone out into the market and acquired different aircraft on a faster timeline, even if they weren't new from the factory.

Saying they didn't have enough cash to burn through in order to put their new plan into effect is silly.

sumo1222

Whatever the issues with the biz plan, Flyi is/was a refreshing alternative. I became a loyal flyer because the staff, service and flexiblity. $35 change fee is a heck of a lot better than the $100 everywhere else.

I booked yesterday on UA for trip this weekend and tried to cancel since I needed to fly into a different city and noticed Flyi offered another sale (which United matched.) I was literally a minute over the 24hour cancel/full refund and they wouldn't give in.

The change policies worked for me on Flyi.

jaguar

I agree FLYi was a very pleasant alternative to UA at IAD.

gleff

No question I liked FlyI's change policies.

JerryFF

If the plural of "bus" is "buses", why is the plural of "airbus" "airbii"?