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"www.dontflygo.com"
Male
78 years old
Hawaii, HAWAII
United States
Last Login: 5/2/2008
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| General | GO! AIRLINES
The Mesa Air Group launched go! Airlines in Hawai'i on June 9, 2006. The airline is based out of Honolulu flying the 50-passenger Canadair CRJ-200 aircraft. Original plans were to upgrade the CRJ-200 fleet to the larger CRJ-900 aircraft as operations are expected to grow. On April 12, ATI reported that CEO Jonathan Ornstein was in the process of finalizing a deal with Embraer to purchase the even larger ERJ-195 (up to 110 passengers) aircraft for go! Embraer could not confirm the news.
GO!EXPRESS (MOKULELE AIRLINES)
In the latest stunning case of multiple identities, on September 14, the Honolulu Star Bulletin reported part 135 air carrier "Mokulele Airlines" finalizing a deal to codeshare smaller interisland routes with Mesa's go! airlines. Mokulele Airlines was founded in 1998 by Kawehi Inaba of the Big Island. Last year, the company was sold to William Boyer (Boyer Industries LLC) of the mainland. Mokulele attempts to maintain that it is still a local airline. go!Express will fly a fleet of single-engine turboprop Cessna 208B Caravan aircraft (nine passengers).
HAWAIIAN AIR LAWSUIT
In 2004, Mesa Airlines became an interested potential investor in both Hawaiian and Aloha Airlines when the two airlines were in bankruptcy. As a potential investor, Mesa had the privilege of obtaining a wealth of highly confidential documents containing things such as marketing strategies, future plans for growth, and pages of financial data. The agreement in accessing these documents were that Mesa could not to use them for a period of two years. Interestingly, Mesa's intentions to penetrate the Hawai'i interisland market was officially announced in September 2005. A press release stated they had been evaluating the Hawaiian Interisland market since early 2004. A lawsuit was filed by Hawaiian Airlines in February 2006. Mesa denies the charges and has filed a countersuit. Mesa later changed their position on when their study of the Hawai'i market had originally begun, now claiming they had been considering Hawai'i since 1992. Hawaiian Airlines filed an injuction suit which will be heard on Septemeber 15, 2006. Hawaiian alleges that sensitive market studies were copied by Mesa verbatim. Both cases are pending.
Mesa Air Group Earnings Conference Call, January 25, 2006:
"... and remember we do have the benefit of looking at both Aloha and Hawaiian when they were in bankruptcy. Uh, we feel pretty strongly that the interisland business can be successful for a low cost carrier."
-- Jonathan Ornstein, CEO of Mesa Air Group (go! Airlines)
Just three weeks later after the lawsuit is filed...
Honolulu Star Bulletin February 15, 2006:
"... there has to be a basic sense of fairness. Mesa agreed contractually that they wanted to have a look at our play book, we gave them our play book and they agreed not to use the play book. Now they want to compete against us with the benefit of having in their back pocket our play book."
-- Mark Dunkerly, President & CEO of Hawaiian Airlines
Honolulu Star Bulletin February 15, 2006:
"The lawsuit is totally without merit. They clearly enjoy a position where they can overcharge, and saw our new fares were half of what they were charging and decided to pull out all the stops to prevent us from entering the market."
-- Jonathan Ornstein, CEO of Mesa Air Group (go! Airlines)
AIR MIDWEST CRASH
The Mesa Air Group's Air Midwest was found partially responsible for a Beech 1900 airliner crash that killed 21 people in Charlotte, NC on January 8, 2003. "Air Midwest" is one of the multiple identities flown by the Mesa Air Group.
ANTITRUST LAWSUIT
Mesa Airlines launched an attempt at a hostile takeover of Atlantic Coast Airlines (Independence Air) in the Summer of 2003, engaging in significant U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission violations. At the same time the employees of Atlantic Coast Airlines organized a grass roots effort to avert the takeover attempt. A lawsuit was filed. Within a few months the stock purchase plan was removed by Mesa.
FRANK LORENZO JR.
In 2002, the Mesa Air Group started a new completely non-union airline under the Mesa umbrella. This airline was called "Freedom Airlines". Mesa attempted to transfer all assests from the existing Mesa Airlines over to Freedom Airlines to break existing union contracts. The Airline Pilots Association (ALPA) called Jonathan Ornstein's move "much in the way that Frank Lorenzo did under the umbrella of the Texas Air Corporation." Frank Lorenzo is the man responsible for multiple airline bankruptcies in the 1980's and 90's earning him the title of the "most hated man in the airline industry".
NUMBER ONE
According to the Department of Transportation, last year Hawaiian Airlines led the nation with top ratings in airline performance. Hawaiian took number one in on-time performance, fewest flight cancellations, and best baggage handling service. Aloha Airlines has also been rated with top performance awards by several private travel critics.
What has Mesa led the nation with?... In January 2006 the Bureau of Transportation Statistics reported Mesa being the Number 1 US carrier with the highest percentage of canceled flights. At least they're number one for something.
 | | Books | Wings of Paradise: Hawaii's Incomparable Airlines by Peter Forman (2005)
Hawaiian Airlines: A pictoral history of the pioneer carrier in the Pacific by Stan Cohen (2000, 4th printing)
Kennedy's Hawaiian Air: Hawaii's pioneer airline by Ray Thiele (1994)
50 Years of Aloha: The story of Aloha Airlines by Bill Wood (1996) | | Heroes | Bruce Bennett, Mark Dunkerly, David Banmiller, Rob Mauracher, Peter Forman, Howard Dicus, Stacy Loe |
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| Status: | Single | | Body type: | 0' 0" | | Zodiac Sign: | Scorpio |
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SAVE ALOHA AIRLINES
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Hawaiian vs Mesa goes to Trial 9/25 9:30A
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Deleted files at heart of Hawaiian v. Mesa trial
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Mokulele's goExpress! fleet taking shape
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About me:
go!
= Mesa Air Group (Phoenix, AZ)
To steal an airline.
This is a campaign against go! Airlines iflygo.com and Mokulele Airlines in Hawai'i. go! Airlines is another one of the multiple identities of Mesa Airlines based out of Phoenix, Arizona. Mesa Airlines launched "go!" (Airlines) in Hawai'i on June 9, 2006. Mokulele Airlines will codeshare lower-density markets in Hawaii flying Single-Engine Cessna Caravans using the name "go!Express". go! airlines sparked an intense $39 air fare pricing war between go!, Hawaiian, Aloha, and Island Air.
$39 fares seem great, right? Doesn't $59 roundtrip fares seem even better? WRONG. Think again. Cheap is only cheap for a reason. How could they afford to bring the prices down so low and make a profit? Well for one, think about the reduction in services through non-union jobs, lower wages, less benefits, and poor working conditions. This could also mean the casualty of hundreds -- possibly thousands of quality unionized careers in Hawai'i. The end result could have a catastrophic effect on our island economy.
Mesa's go! Airlines may run at least one of our local airlines out of business by pushing air fare prices below what is even profitable. Mesa boasts having in excess of $300 million in cash. Their extensive mainland codeshare operations with United & US Airways alone generates about $20-25 million in profits each year from guaranteed revenue. Mesa (go!) can afford to lose money while our local carriers are fresh out of bankruptcy clinging to survival.
At least one of our local carriers may fall victim to Mesa's (go!) severe underpricing. Think of it as if our local airlines were having their throats slashed and a predator is waiting for the first to bleed to death. Just know that these $39 fares will not be around forever. If one of our local carriers fold, air fare prices will return to their normal levels and we will be left with having to fly on go!
This is
Predatory Pricing, which is ILLEGAL!
Don't let go! Airlines (Mesa Airlines) ruin our proud kama'aina airlines. When making your interisland travel plans, be akamai! Support Aloha Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, and Island Air... go local!
For more in-depth information,
visit
the Mesa Lies blog!
See also the
Airlines of Hawaii blog by Peter Forman!
Be sure to visit the H.E.R.O. website:
www.dontflygo.com
Lastly, visit the Boycott Mesa website:
www.boycottmesa.com
Please help spread the word Hawai'i!
Aloha!
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Who I'd like to meet:
From the Honolulu Star Bulletin March 16, 2006:
"The low fares we published (as low as $43 one way) were half of what (Hawaiian) charged. We're trying to do a good thing here."
-- Jonathan Ornstein, CEO of Mesa Air Group (go! Airlines)
From the Pacific Business News March 31, 2006:
"Yeah, they (Hawaiian and Aloha Airlines) responded to our $39 fares, but how many seats can they sell for $39?... I don't think they can do it for long. We can fly planes empty and cover it. The Hawaii operation costs about $20 million to $25 million a year -- we can lose that much money. We can cover it." -- Jonathan Ornstein, CEO of Mesa Air Group (go! Airlines)
Pilot Recruitment Presentation to HCC Aviation Students April 4, 2006:
"We're not trying to kill other airlines... but if it happens, it happens." -- C.D. Lauritsen, COO of go! (Airlines)
E-mail exchange between Mesa CFO Peter Murnane and consultant Mo Garfinkle (as published in the Honolulu Advertiser September 16, 2006):
"If (Aloha) stays in business, then this project does not make sense. We definitely want to give them the last push." -- Peter Murnane, CFO of Mesa Air Group
From the Honolulu Star Bulletin September 26, 2006:
"There’s a predator out there, and we’re looking for the best utilization of our asset... No one’s making money with $19 fares no matter what kind of aircraft they operate, and no matter what they tell you." -- Rob Mauracher, CEO of Island Air
WHERE DO THEY GET THIS MONEY?
Approximately 99% of Mesa's consolidated passenger revenues are derived from operations associated with code sharing agreements with Delta, United, and U.S. Airways. United and U.S. Airways were recently in bankruptcy. Delta remains in Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
CODESHARE? REGIONAL AIRLINE? ... CONFUSED?
A regional airline is an airline that generally flies smaller types of aircraft (about 50 seats or so). A codeshare agreement allows regional airlines to provide contractual air service for larger airlines. A regional airline such as Mesa will provide a larger airline an airplane and a crew to fly those routes that a larger airline does not want to fly on their own. The regional airline benefits from the larger airline by having the larger airline cover them for things such as fuel, landing fees, marketing, reservations, and insurance costs. Regional airlines also fly under the banner name of the larger company. They are guaranteed revenue, enabling them to become large cash-flow machines.
HOW DO REGIONAL AIRLINES SAVE SO MUCH MONEY?
One way regional airlines are able to save money over larger "legacy" carriers is they benefit from relying on lower employee wages and benefits to reduce overhead costs. Regionals typically run on a mostly non-union workforce. Generally, employees are younger and tenure (length of employment) is not very long. This means already low wage rates and pension plans do not accumulate and weigh significantly on a regional airline. On the other hand, an airline such as Hawaiian & Aloha employ a generally longer-tenured unionized workforce with industry-level wages and benefits. Many employees at Hawaiian & Aloha also retire their working careers with these companies. Retirement pension obligations in turn cost our airlines more money.
MESA'S IDENTITIES:
Mesa Airlines
Freedom Airlines
Air Midwest
United Express
U.S. Airways Express
Delta Connection
go! (Airlines)
AIRLINES ACQUIRED BY MESA:
Aspen Airlines (1990)
Air Midwest (1991)
WestAir (1992)
Crown Airways (1994)
CCAir (1999)
Midway Airlines (2004)
Mesa will NEVER be Hawaiian. Mesa will NEVER have Aloha.
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