You guys have been predicting "doom and gloom" at Air Canada for the better part of two decades....there is nothing, including a rise in fuel cost, that threatens the go forward stategy at AC at this point......everything is speculation by those "not in the know". However, speculate away, and underestimate the intelligence of CR and his team all you like. I'll let his former track record with this airline speak for itself. Whatever helps you sleep better at night I guess......brooks wrote:A tad naive. What makes you think that with a globalized economy some bigger foreign carrier doesn't step in and grabs a minority stake in WJ? Much easier to do given the lack of a union and all. Think about the bigger picture and not just your pretty toothpaste coloured 777 here. AC is still going to be in a ton of debt for the foreseeable future.Duke p wrote:Well sunglass emoji guy........you can claim anything you like.....rationalize anything. You, nor I are running either operation. To me the "proof is in the pudding". After 20 years of "slow and methodical" WestJet let AC keep a boatload of that "up for grabs market share" Clive told us all was ripe for the picking......Why???
I can't say........but I can say from first hand experience......is that we're full nearly everywhere we fly, we're hiring 300 pilots in the next year, we have a ton of new aircraft enroute, and a variety of new and interesting destinations. As a pilot, (not an expert fleet planner, marketing director or CEO), I can say that things are very bright at AC, and I haven't lost one minutes sleep wondering if CR has things sorted.
What I also know is one hundred widebodies is definitely greater than four. Make all the money you like. How much is going back into capital purchase....aircraft purchase to be specific? Airplanes with bums in seats make money. More airplanes make more money. Problem is you have to find profitable routes to deploy those aircraft, and AC beat WJ to the punch with new destinations, many a time.
If your claim is "we're more profitable with the aircraft we have"......that's nice. We have more aircraft, more variety, more interesting routes, and they've never, ever missed paying me on time. I don't anticipate any change there. The change I do anticipate are a ton of new hires over the next few years, fast tracking it to the left seat. As a pilot, that's what matters to me......guys junior, more large aircraft to advance on. "Slow and methodical" doesn't promote rapid career progression.........looking over at that left seat knowing its still far off must be easier to swallow knowing your part of a "super healthy" company, and not just a healthy one. Thinner margins haven't affected me personally one bit....but a rapid climb up the seniority list certainly has.
Make money, be "slow and methodical" perhaps just prior to my retirement off the 777, I'll be concerned.
Another issue that is often forgotten in this "you vs. us" debate, is the impending merger. If either company is in dire straights due to the other, don't think for a second that another Canadian/AC merger will not be forced on us by the Government. They want taxpayers, not people standing in the unemployment line......if necessary, it WILL happen. We at AC are better at mergers than you guys.....we've got more experience.
It would take nothing to fold the WJ 737 fleet in with our own..........trust me, you don't want us gobbling you up, so you'd better hope for two healthy carriers in this country.
At the end of it all we're just pilots....not decision makers (thank goodness....)......good luck to you, I'm sure your career will be as long and rewarding as mine.
DP.
Be careful not to eat your own words because 4 widebodies can quickly turn into 50 and then you might have a real threat at AC.
Enjoy the cheap fuel while it lasts.
Is that rumour of a "foreign power" coming in and revolutionizing WJ still floating around? The one where someone comes in and buys a bunch of widebodies, and has WestJet pilots fly them....then AC goes out of business and all the AC pilots are hired "junior" to every WestJet pilot??? Is that the one? It was Cathay last round.....who is it this round.....I've lost track. Trust me, no foreign airline is going to invest a "dime" without extracting a "dime and a nickel"....careful what you wish for.
Like I said, no one on this forum runs either company....no one is privy to the finer details of the "go forward strategy" of either company......it's ALL conjecture and wishful thinking......which is useless. Call me naïve, but a few posters on this forum drip with arrogance believing they could run either company better than those empowered by shareholders to actually do so. Neither management team is reckless, neither is "unaware" of low fuel prices, and it's potential rise moving forward. I will repeat what I said.......this "go forward plan" was formulated long before the fuel price drop....it is not contingent on it staying low........it's a ridiculous notion to think otherwise.
Realitychex.........you bring no new argument to the discussion.......the posters name changes, but the exact same argument remains.......this exact conversation already occurred 20 years ago, 15 years ago, 10 years ago, and five years ago.......I'll let the results of the past two decades and the growth, or lack thereof, of both companies speak loudly for me.....I need say absolutely nothing.
Enjoy your 737.
DP.