Ray Neidl Quotes (107 Quotes)

The US Airways route system fits very nicely with the United Airlines system. If this deal goes through, it would turn the airline industry on its head.

I think it's the yawn of the century so far. My theory is one of the reason they're doing it is to try to win back business travelers they lost during the (1998) strike.

Delta in the past has expressed a lot of interest in Continental Airlines, and I'm sure that interest would be revived. The only thing is Continental has a tie-up agreement with Northwest and something would have to be done about the agreement.

I still think there are better things to come heading into the summer season. Airline stocks tend to trade ahead of the season.

Happy days aren't here again, but this is a real surprise and shows that the industry is coming back a little bit stronger than we were suspecting.

It's going to be tough. He's got to keep good labor relations, but they've got to cut more in the labor area.

The bankruptcy court doesn't think TWA is viable as a stand-alone carrier and neither do I. It would need a massive infusion of capital, it'd need a completely new game plan, and it'd need massive concessions from labor, which it's not going to get.

I'd say third quarter of next year will be the first time we'll see industry-wide profits. It depends on how strongly the economy comes back, and in the case of Delta and Northwest, if they can get additional concessions from their unions.

With globalization and the rate we're going at, it could happen as soon as three to five years. I don't think it's ready for prime time. A lot of things have to be cleared up before that happens.

The cover-up is usually worse than the sin. The union leaders were embarrassed and understandably so. Don was a sacrificial lamb. He made a mistake and he's paying the price. It's unfortunate because American is losing a really seasoned executive.

I think there's an overreaction here, ... Everybody's getting crushed today, but I would interpret it as being a United problem.

The airlines had been too conservative in increasing fares. It's long overdue.

Air travel is usually one of the first big hits of a slowing economy, but these guys don't believe the economy is slowing. It's only going to be a good quarter.

To a large degree it (the cut in commissions) is helping offset the fuel prices. You're talking about some big bucks there. That's 3 percent of revenue to people who book 80 percent of your flights.

They're going to lose some of these customers. If they can solve their problems by September, the problem will be limited. If it goes past September, they'll have trouble winning back the higher yielding customers.

It is good for Continental and good for the flight attendants. Continental got the cost structure it needs. That is what the company needs to make it.

In worst case the company caves completely to the union,

I will still bet there's no strike, one or the other. These airlines are too big to allow a strike for any period of time.

I think the street overreacted to fuel costs and Y2K. But this is not to say that estimates won't come down for the first quarter. Fuel prices are even higher now and it's very difficult in short term for carriers to control that cost.

They're probably looking at what's happening with Northwest and Delta and probably realizing they have to get their contract cost structure down as well.

If the recent spike in oil prices sticks, it could also impact demand for air travel through a decline in consumer buying power and confidence.

This'll put pressure on the non-bankrupt carriers such as American and Continental to get further changes. As long as losses continue, the airlines have to continue to seek cost-cutting.

He has been pretty active with these emergency boards, ... If there is a strike, I think it's highly probable it will be short. If there is no intervention, I think it could drag out for the weekend. At this point I'm assuming logic would prevail, it wouldn't go on much longer than that.

I wouldn't be surprised if it passed. Maybe the machinists are just trying to send a message to everybody, ... Also, the machinists are a big part of the skilled workers and maybe some of them thought they could do just as well if they left United -- if United were to go out of business.

Now that the marriage has taken place, the honeymoon ends quickly. Now comes the hard part in making this airline work, ... If they pull this off successfully, then the value will go up. If they don't, the value will decline.

For the past five years or so, business class has been taking the place of first class. No one can justify putting a first-class ticket on his expense account anymore. No one's willing to pay that much of a premium.

We believe that there is much upside potential both on the cost-cutting side ... and on the revenue side.

The big carriers are unfairly being hit with some of the increased security costs, but even absent that, the losses would be pretty close to where they are now with or without 911. This was something going to happen to them no matter what happened.

I don't think American would have extended unless they got assurances from union leadership they had the votes. It was a flawed process to begin with.

They've gone down the right path. They just have to go a little further.

Long-term to me, ... is a year in this business. If we're going to have a recession, you should probably lighten up on your airlines, because they're still cyclical. But there has been a lot of restructuring in the airlines, the way they run their business. I think they will come through the next recession.

I've never seen the industry so optimistic in the past four years as they are now. Unfortunately, some storm always comes up to rain on the parade.

They'll still be a seasonal and cyclical play. It's the nature of the industry.

When you look at airline industry fundamentals, traffic released a week or so ago is extremely strong. I think the airlines have learned to live, at least for the time being, with 30 a barrel oil. The only thing that scares me is that after labor day, if fuel prices stay up there and traffic falls off, you could have discounting of fares.

I think every contract is different, but I'm hoping this will smooth the way for other contracts,

I think any agreement can be gotten around, and I think that story proves it.

At 1.50 a share, the stock is already trading at bankruptcy levels and will probably continue to trade in that area in the event of, and after, a Chapter 11 filing,

This is the real hidden cost that is going to the consumer.

You need cooperation because this is a service business.

They're wearing off, but anybody else would kill to have these fuel hedges.

If there's a bright light for the company, I'm sure management will try to be turning it on, but I don't see it.

Airline stocks have been having a rally because they're expected to lose less money next year than they did in 2005. That's not a solid reason to buy on a long-term basis, but those who bought in September have done very well.

Cost is the name of the game and I'd like to see that a little bit lower.

If your employees are disgruntled they can still do damage to you, no matter what the court orders. But all of this is going to make it harder for United to win back its good business customers, which they've been trying to do.

As they grow, it's obvious they'll be crossing each others' paths.

Any amount of savings at this point is desperately needed by the airlines. With the tremendous pressures on airlines, this is one of few areas where they can actually reduce costs. With online purchasing of tickets, more and more channels are becoming available for consumers. If travel agents go out of business, it'll make the system more efficient. It's a hard statement to make, but it's true.

They can get so much more productivity without a third party acting as an intermediary. The unions will probably get the right to hold a vote, but I think there's a good chance Delta will keep the unions out. Last time there was a vote by mechanics, to my surprise it was overwhelmingly voted down.

We were expecting weakness but it came even weaker than we feared. The key thing is business traffic is way off.

It's going to speed up the reformation and the restructuring in the industry. Those who make the right decisions in those areas are going to be the survivors. Adapt or perish.

Operating two products under the same name has never worked. They've learned a lot from operating a low cost product and now in bankruptcy they can incorporate that into their main line product.