UAUA (United Airlines) Files Ch 11 BK

[jyl]

UAUA (United Airlines) filed Ch 11 bankruptcy just now. At least, according to media, and stock is halted too. No confirmation on UAUA website yet.

Hmm, I have a family trip in October and was going to use UAUA miles to buy the tix. Not sure if I should hurry up and use the miles now, or if should avoid flying United.

[jyl]

Oh, UAUA now denying BK filing. Weird. Sorry, was going to delete the thread/post but that button has disappeared.

[red-beard]

I would be more concerned if it was chapter 7. Chap 11 allows re-organization.

[MRM]

Wow. Trading has been halted. The stock opened at about $12.17 and last was listed at $.01. I wonder if it is listed at one cent because trading has been halted or whether that's an actual price quote. I'd put something into it at a penny.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Not to worry, I'm sure the government will step in with either a $50B bailout for them or simply take them over and back them with all the taxpayer money they're awash in.

I hate to say it, but UAL has been on life support for way too long as it is. In fact, pretty much the entire aviation industry has (one reason I got out a few years ago and went back to doing design work).

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by Porsche-O-Phile

Not to worry, I'm sure the government will step in with either a $50B bailout for them or simply take them over and back them with all the taxpayer money they're awash in.

I hate to say it, but UAL has been on life support for way too long as it is. In fact, pretty much the entire aviation industry has (one reason I got out a few years ago and went back to doing design work).

Commercial aviation Jeff, commercial aviation. Business aviation is doing quite well thanks to how bad commercial aviation sucks. The more delays and cancellation, the more jets we sell.

The airlines are like the US automakers, that's for sure. They continue to stand by their outdated business model, and every time they get in trouble the govt bails them out. A number of airlines like SWA have been profitable, but they've utilized some unique ideas to do so.

[Jim727]

http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=uaua

[HardDrive]

Wow. Now it appears this was all from a mistake at the Chicago Tribune! They ran a 4 year old story about their previous bankruptcy on their website. Man there are going to be some law suits out of this.

I checked the stock, and it was already back up to $9. I thought about buying, because it started the day at $12.50. But then I came to my senses.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

That is true to some extent - I know a few guys I used to fly with who are now with various fractionals or executives. There's definitely a market there - high end business travelers that don't want to deal with the hassle of someone else's schedule, being poked and prodded or paraded around a terminal lobby in their underwear by minimum-wage TSA schlubs, etc. But not everyone can afford this either.

A big key to SWA's success has been fuel hedging. But this will only go so far. Eventually high fuel costs will affect them too - but they've bought themselves a lot of time relative to their competition.

The smarter airlines are flying smaller, more efficient aircraft where they can (CRJs, etc.) with occasional larger equipment on very specific routes where there's demand for it.

United's model in general is one of the oldest and stodgiest in the industry. They still play games with 4 and 5-tier fare structures and try to nickel dime their passengers for every amenity once on board. This model is DEAD. For one, I can't stand flying on United for this reason. SWA (and JetBlue) with their "one class" model is much more palatable to the traveling public-at-large. Heck, even for business, JetBlue is pretty good (SWA is an annoyance on business trips though - seat pitch is too small and it feels like a city bus in many respects).

I wish them well, but they fundamentally need to change RADICALLY in order to survive - not just coming up with a new paint scheme or logo.

[onewhippedpuppy]

SWA also is groundbreaking by using the 737 for everything. Having the same aircraft saves a lot of money in parts spares, pilot and A&P training, and overall efficiency.