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Mac Users: Need a Recommendation for a Blog Editor
For those of you out there who use a Mac, and who also blog, I need a recommendation for a new blog editor.
I’ve had it with Ecto.
That last post was about twice as long as it now appears on screen. The rest of it? Simply disappeared. Gone. Poof.
This is exactly what happened with our July 4th “Ode to a Hot Dog” column that I slaved over this year.
So that’s it. No more lost missives for me.
Drop me a note at hhegeman at planebusiness.com and let me know what you use.
The only other one I have used in the past was Mars Edit, and frankly, I wasn’t that impressed with it at all.
Thanks!
Slow Monday
Hello all. I’m sitting here twiddling my thumbs, waiting for this week’s issue of PlaneBusiness Banter to be posted. I’m done with my part. Just waiting for the editor person to give me the all clear to hit the “post” button.
Actually it’s a bit more complicated than that, but you get the idea.
Was just nosing around the airline news from this weekend and today. That certainly didn’t take long.
After last week’s news-a-minute pace — today seems slower than a herd of turtles.
For those of you who are PlaneBusiness Banter subscribers, (and if you aren’t you should be), this is our final earnings issue for the quarter as this week I take a long look at the earnings announced by our two Canadian things with wings — WestJet and Air Canada.
One thing I have to say for Sean Durfy, CEO of WestJet. He sure knows how to get your attention. He opened up the airline’s earnings call by saying, “Our focus right now is navigating the short-term environment to achieve our long-term plans of becoming one of the five most successful international airlines in the world.”
New Suggested File to Listen to on Your iPod or Watch on Your Computer
Thanks to our same reader from last night who suggested the theme song from “Jeopardy” while we all breathlessly awaited the news from the bankruptcy court.
Today? It’s another day, another tune.
Southwest Airlines’ Bid Not Accepted for Frontier Airlines
“We said all along that we would only move forward on this deal if it proved to be the right decision for our Employees and financially prudent for our Company,” said Gary Kelly, Southwest’s Chairman of the Board, President, and CEO. “We have a mission to preserve and protect our Culture and the best interests of our Employees, Customers, and Shareholders. This was a great opportunity that required us to act fast. A lot of people worked very hard with every intention of making this work. We were fortunate to be in a position to examine the acquisition to see if it was the right decision for Southwest Airlines. We chose not to amend our bid to remove the labor requirement, a key reason our bid was not selected. Our congratulations to Republic Airways and Frontier Airlines.”
There you go.
Go talk amongst yourselves about this turn of events. I’m going to go read some of your email pelts.
Kelly Says May Revenues “Quite Soft”
While April revenues were stronger, mainly because of Easter, Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly said this morning that May revenues are running “quite soft.”
Judge Strikes Down Mesa Air Group/Yucaipa Deal To Use “Aloha Airlines” Name
Thursday Federal U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Lloyd King disqualified Mesa Air Group as a co-bidder for the right to use the “Aloha Airlines” corporate identity.
You may recall that Ron Burkle’s Yucaipa Co., Aloha’s largest creditor, had put together a cozy little deal with Mesa Air Group last last year that would have seen Burkle drop the antitrust lawsuit that Aloha had filed against Mesa Air Group in which Aloha alleged that Mesa had attempted to drive Aloha out of business by starting up its lowfare carrier “go!” in Hawaii. In return, Mesa had agreed to enter into a “licensing” agreement in which it would pay Yucaipa for the right to use the “Aloha” name and brand.
There was just one little hitch to this deal.
It had to be approved by the bankruptcy judge handling the Aloha bankruptcy.
And here is where the plan came unglued.
In December, after Yucaipa bid the highest amount for the use of the “Aloha” name as part of the airline’s bankruptcy proceedings, (over Hawaiian Airline’s competing bid), Judge King blocked the deal as he questioned the motives behind the move by both airlines.
“How about all the people whose lives were devastated in this case?” asked King, noting that Mesa and go! were largely blamed for Aloha’s demise. “Doesn’t that count? Is it just the money?”
At that time, King postponed a hearing that would have given the okay to the proposed licensing pact, and instead set a new date of Feb. 19 — so that opponents and supporters of the deal would have more time to respond.
In March, Judge King threw out the sale of the Aloha Airlines name and other intellectual property to Mesa.
Judge King, emphasizing that the auction to buy Aloha’s intellectual property should have been a public process, blasted the attorneys conducting the auction for refusing to allow Honolulu Advertiser reporter Rick Daysog into the proceedings. Daysog wrote a letter to the court voicing his complaint about his being excluded from the proceedings. King ruled that the auction must be reheld.
Which brings us to Thursday.
According to a report in the Star-Bulletin dated May 15, King said he was denying a renewed motion by Aloha’s Chapter 7 trustee, Dane Field, to conduct an auction for Aloha’s intellectual property rights because Yucaipa had a deal to license the Aloha name to go! for 10 years.
“Standing alone, with no connections to Mesa and appropriate assurance that no interest in the Aloha IP would ever pass to Mesa, there is no apparent cause to deny Yucaipa the ability to credit bid,” King wrote.
However, he said that since the trustee’s motion and the asset purchase agreement do not identify Mesa as a co-purchaser or even mention the license of the intellectual property which Yucaipa is obligated to give to Mesa, “cause exists to deny the credit bid.”
“This court has an independent power and duty to examine the propriety of a proposed sale of property of a bankruptcy estate, and it cannot allow its authority to be misused in a way that would reward Mesa for its misconduct,” King said.
USAPA Loses; Former America West Pilots Prevail in Seniority Fight
Hello everyone. As I type this I am sipping a bourbon and seven with a twist of lime at the Mississippi Airports Association Conference in Natchez. Yours truly is the kick-off speaker for this event tomorrow morning… So pardon any typos as this is an iPhone post.
But I just received word the jury in the federal trial in Phoenix involving former America West pilots and US Airways East pilots has found USAPA “responsible” for adequately representing the rights of the 1800 former America West pilots.
To cut through the legalese… This was a civil trial.. Not a criminal one. As such, this is the same as “guilty.” it was a unanimous decision by the nine-member jury.
As readers know — this is all about seniority. Or rather, how the US Airways East pilots refused to accept the blended seniority award that was handed down as part of the ALPA guidelines.
As I said recently in PBB, I assumed this was going to be the outcome of the trial…. But now what?
This is not going to make both sides kiss and make up … And forget what has happened.
But hey… At least for tonight … The former AWA pilots can celebrate. Have one on me guys!
Continental Airlines Pulls the Cord on Mexico Capacity
This morning Continental Airlines announced that it was cutting capacity on its flights to Mexico by 50%.
As we noted here last week, 5.3% of Continental’s total passenger revenue is derived from Mexico flights. The airline has more flights scheduled to Mexico than any other airline, with an average of 450 flights per week.
The new schedule begins Monday.
The airline said that service to all of its 29 Mexican destinations will continue. However, the frequency of flights has been cut, and on some routes regional aircraft will replace larger aircraft.
Happy Birthday Barbara Jean Austin!
I can’t resist. Today is the birthday of one of my favorite people. Some of you in the DFW Metroplex media market know her as Barbara Austin. Some of you in the New Orleans media market know her as BJ Austin. Some of you just know her as the eternally optimistic child-like small person with the red hair and maniacal laugh who asks very tough interview questions of her prey. Whoever that happens to be at the time.
BJ, who is currently working at KERA, after a long association with KRLD in Dallas, and I have known each other for 30 years. Ugh. That’s almost embarrassing to admit.
She is not only one of the most delightful people on the planet, she is one hell of a good reporter.
And she is a fantastic waitress on roller skates. Which is no doubt a side result of having been a professional dancer for many years in New York.
Another lifetime. New Orleans. My second entrepreneurial adventure. Restaurant in the Quarter. BJ was working at WGSO, the all-news station in New Orleans, reporting on the antics of the Mayor Morial administration while serving up food and drink at night to hungry tourists. And yes, one night she wore roller skates.
Then there was the night she and another employee of mine, Larry Hart, put on a performance of “The Gin Game” for our regular customers.
You get the picture. She’s one of my most creative and intelligent friends. And she is one of the best reporters anywhere. Not only that, but somehow in the midst of all this — she and husband Jack raised a most creative and intelligent son, who I was honored to hear play at the Meyerson a few years back with his award-winning high school band.
Happy Birthday Ms. Austin. The world would be a much better place if more adults were like you.