As we are all too aware, the current economic climate is forcing everyone from the average family to major corporations to re-assess their finances. The airline industry is no exception and the demise in recent weeks of several well know competitors only reinforces the need for analysis and where required, changes to be made.

Over the last couple of months, MetroAir management has been reviewing all aspects of our operations in a bid to remove all unnecessary expenditures and to ensure we avoid possible financial troubles in the future.

A comprehensive review of our fleet operation has clearly shown that various aircraft types are now becoming cost prohibitive. As such, the decision was made to phase these aircraft out of our fleet and implement a temporary delay in the delivery of our new orders to allow time for the market to stabilize.

The realization that higher maintenance costs on our B737-200’s had dramatically reduced profit margins for the aircraft was hard to take. The 732 had served us well but sentiment aside, we now had the ability to remove this aircraft from service as we had sufficient cover with our new and more efficient Airbus A319 and A321 aircraft.

It was however, our Long-Haul fleet that gave us most cause for concern. All three Boeing aircraft types on these routes were simply not as efficient and cost effective as they once were. Higher fuel charges and uncompetitive lease rates were impacting profit margins. Also, from an operational standpoint, they were no longer suitable for the route expansion we had planned in the future due to weight and range restrictions.

Our Previous Long-Haul Fleet.

- 5 x 767-200
- 3 x 767-200ER
- 2 x 747-200
- 2 x A330-200

Our Current Long-Haul Fleet.

- 10 x 757-200
- 4 x A330-200 (No.5 due May 2008)

By acquiring the 10 Boeing 757-200’s, we have in effect reduced the number of aircraft types in the fleet, thus drastically reducing and saving in maintenance costs. The 752’s better serve all future planned destinations as they have substantially lower operating costs and are more versatile should we require them for charter work. We are confident that our new 752’s will serve us favorably for the foreseeable future.

By utilizing our fleet, we have continued to support expansion into European and Asian markets whilst consolidating our domestic route network with our partner Allegius.

Although, we have had to make a substantial financial commitment to acquire the 752’s, we have re-couped $13 million from the sale of our five 762’s. We have also passed on the leases of the 200ER’s to a new client without incurring any financial penalty. Again we are confident the decisions we have made will prove correct and will be vital in the continuing growth and success of the airline.

Taking these actions will ensure our hard earned rank in the US Airline Industry will continue to be safe. Being proactive in this regard allows us to pass on such cost savings to our customers who will continue to receive the same high level of service expected from MetroAir.

Del
Chief Financial Officer

Audio version of this release can be listened to here:

 

 First 757 enters service, plus other news: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (114)

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ROMULUS, MI, March 28th, 2008 — Today MetroAir’s first 757-200 entered service from their home base at Washington Dulles Intl to their west-coast home at Ontario, California. The aircraft will be based at Ontario to fulfill transcontinental route requirements to Washington and Newark.

All 757s that will be based at Ontario will also serve these routes, along with service to Hawaii and Central America. However, the next three of these initial four 757s will be based at Washington Dulles, replacing the airline’s leased 767-200ERs on transatlantic routes to the United Kingdom and continental Europe.

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Meanwhile, the airline’s regional franchisee, Allegius, appointed a dedicated Hub Manager to provide the airline’s trainee and regional pilots with a more personalized management service. Sean Forehand accepted the role last week and has already settled in very well.

Tim Krajcar, the airline’s IT Manager, has been promoted to the [b]executive[/b] position of Chief Technology Officer. His hard work on the ACARS system is indicative of the immense skills that Tim possesses, and we look forward to seeing the results of further development on the financial management systems.

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With the excitement surrounding the 757-200’s entry into service, the more sombre news of the 737-200s’ retirement has been met with sadness. An icon of a previous era in commercial aviation, and mainstay of MetroAir’s burgeoning fleet during the airline’s first few years of operation, the 737-200’s contribution to the growth of the airline will mean that it certainly won’t be forgotten.

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And finally, a new promotional video for the airline…

Today MetroAir executives announced that decisions have been made regarding the airline’s medium and long-haul fleet strategy. Listen to the podcast below to find out more.

 

 MetroAir Announces Fleet restructure: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (153)

FAO All Pilots:

I am about to start the ball rolling on the latest round of inactive account removals. This will include pilots from both KIAD and KONT Rosters.

Any member who currently has an account showing as inactive in the last thirty days will be sent an email from myself in the next few days. If you happen to have one of these emails in your inbox, REPLY TO IT!

Any member who fails to respond within 5 days will have their account terminated!

I advise any member who doesn’t want to be included in this clear out to do one of the following:

1) File a Pirep within the next couple of days to return to active status.

2) Contact your Hub Manager for a Leave of Absence if you do not believe you can fly but want to remain on the roster.

The clock is ticking people, I see a lot of red names on the list, let’s do something about it.

MetroAir Virtual today announced major operation and staffing changes. This was announced during the MetroAir Holiday Bash in Detroit.

Enjoy.

 

 MetroAir News Announcement [4:54m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (180)

Friday night events are coming back! I hope we can all support this here at MAV and show the VATSIM community that we are the right stuff! Starting Friday, October 5th we will plan to have operations in an active ARTCC area along with ATA Virtual. MetroAir Virtual is in communications with ATA to partner in their Friday night VERTIGO events. Here are the details for the first event.

MAV Group Flight KONT to KSFO Friday October 5th Here’s how it works:
1. Flight must be flown in MetroAir event on VATSIM network.
2. Flight must be a regular scheduled Metro flight.
3. Bonus is equal to 40% of the actual flight time. A flight of 1 hour will actually count as 1.4 hours under this new system.

The VATSIM Event addition to the PiREP panel has been added and is now functional.

A319-131 Flight http://metroairvirtual.com/flightdetails.php?flightid=500
VATSIM preferred route POM7 AVE BSR BSR2 http://www.simroutes.com/fb2/Details.aspx?PlanID=2990

B737-200Adv Flight http://metroairvirtual.com/flightdetails.php?flightid=5
VATSIM preferred route POM7 AVE BSR BSR2 http://www.simroutes.com/fb2/Details.aspx?PlanID=2990

Flight time approximately 1:30
Pre-flight ops start at 2300Z
Planned arrival time 0100 - 0200Z

Participation in TeamSpeak will not be required but is highly encouraged for camaraderie as well as coordination. Participation on VATSIM will be required. Utilize your PID within your callsign. I.E. my PID is 1230 so my callsign becomes MET1230.

When filing your PIREP be sure and check both VATSIM and EVENT boxes for proper credit.
Also place MAV Group Flight in the comments box.
Waiver for CAT rating of Trainee is being considered at this time. I will post an update if this is approved.
ATA Virtual will be operating in the same general area for their Friday night VERTIGO event. In the future we hope to have destinations and departures with ATA as a partner airline in the VERTIGO events.

Let’s turn out for this come back of MetroAir Company Events and turn the skies GREEN!

Following the State of the Airline posted a few nights ago, a Q&A session took place. Enjoy.

 

 State of the Airline: Followup [22:19m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (147)

Event notices, Q&A with staff, and more. To make it a success we’re going to need you to submit questions; What kind of things have you been curious about?

Much has been made of various aspects of MetroAir recently; new fleet acquisitions, technical improvements and training developments, to name a few.

In particular, we talk about fleet types a lot. We’ve discussed the choice of the A319 vs the 737NG, the resilience of the 732A and the short-term 762 solutions. However the choice of fleet types, whilst involving a critical set of decisions, is eclipsed in its complexity by the issue of fleet utilisation.

It’s one thing to have the right aircraft for the job; ensuring that you have the right number of aircraft, and that they’re assigned to the correct routes at the correct times in the correct configuration is another matter altogether. Consequently, after a few months of this CEO’s frustration at considering all the necessary factors involved, we were fortunate enough to find Kim Gesch, a man who with his real-world experience brought to the table the expertise required to provide a comprehensive scheduling framework for MetroAir; one that accounts not only for demand-governing economic factors that dictate where our aircraft need to be, but also ensures that consideration is given to covering any issue or emergency that may take place.

Scheduling requires a huge amount of:

Ultimately, Kim’s role in MetroAir is not to be under-estimated, and so on behalf of the management team I want to thank him for his tireless efforts behind the scenes keeping MetroAir running, and running profitably.

MetroAir recently announced the retirement of its three leased 737-700s. As of writing this, one of them has already been returned to its lessor, with the other two to follow soon.

This has of course raised questions; why get rid of a next-generation aircraft while we still operate the much older 737-200s? Is MetroAir losing money? Is it shrinking?

A little background is needed.

We acquired the three birds last year after some strong months of business. We wanted a single-aisle aircraft that was efficient and could cross the continent with ease. Our 762s were cheap, but are somewhat less reliable, and generally too big for high-yield routes save for some of the thickest. They work well getting larger numbers of low-yield passengers to their holiday destinations in Mexico, Puerto Rico and Hawaii. However the 737-700s generally suit a different market; as such we placed them on our prime business routes, initially just out of Detroit. The remaining aircraft are currently flying across the continent as well as between Detroit and business centres such as New York and Washington DC.

So why get rid of them?

The 73Gs were acquired on dry-leases; that is, we acquired the aircraft on a longer-term basis, got them painted in our scheme and supplied the crew ourselves. The monthly lease rates were rather expensive; unlike the 737-200s which we paid for in full when they entered service (at approx. $1.5m apiece), we have to shell out for the 73Gs on a monthly basis. This was a necessary squeeze on profit margins before the A319s began to arrive as the aircraft’s higher performance enabled service on routes we couldn’t have operated successfully with our other fleet types.

The thinking behind the A319 choice over the 737-700 for major expansion has been explained in detail before. One of the negative outcomes of our choice of A319 is that operating the 73Gs is no longer as profitable as flying the same routes with the A319. The maintenance procedures, tooling and expertise required for the 73G as an “odd-one-out” in the fleet made it that way. Operating them also meant lower flexibility of flight crew, reducing operational efficiency.

In short, the reasons are rather clear. The A319 has comparable or marginally better commercial and operational performance. It is also cheaper to acquire in the long run with finance repayments being lower than the monthly lease costs of the 73G. The commonality benefits of operating 3 A319s instead of the 3 73Gs further reduce the cost of operations.

That leaves one other question. Why hold on to the 732As? Simple. No monthly repayments, therefore providing a low-risk aircraft with which to probe new routes and markets, specifically these days on the West Coast. Until they really start falling apart, you’ll be seeing them in our renowned Metro green.