Eat Mor Chikin!

It looks like we did not have to wait long from the last entry for the news storm to hit.  Several big announcements were unloaded on Thursday and the ripple effects were felt all across the company.  Obviously the biggest announcement was the forthcoming shutdown of Lynx Aviation beginning in April and concluding in September.  A prepared announcement was read to employees at Lynx headquarters by Cam Kenyon and also webcast for all employees. It was very touching to hear the emotion in Cam's voice and good to see that he genuinely cares for his employees.  With RAH, this is becoming more the exception than the rule.  Penny Parker from the Denver Post even picked up on this story in her column:

"Meanwhile at Lynx's Westminster headquarters, employees gathered in a room where Cameron Kenyon, Lynx's interim president, read a prepared statement.
Wayne Heller, Republic Airways' chief operating officer, was spotted "chomping on his chewing gum the whole time. I don't think he looked anyone in the eye," my spy said."

I can just see it now, Wayne Heller smacking on his gum, resisting the urge to blow bubbles, longing to leave so he can make his flight back to Indy for a Chick-Fil-A sandwich and day dreaming about waffle fries. Apparently his love for Chick-Fil-A is legendary according to the Indianapolis circuit of RAH.

I feel terrible for the Lynx employees.  While it may be argued that the Frontier employees were not given a fair shake in their relocation announcement/timeframe, they were at least given something.  They had the option of keeping their current jobs at their current pay.  Why are the Lynx employees not getting this same or a similar offer? There are plenty of positions that Frontier employees did not accept that would be perfect for Lynx employees who may wish to relocate to Indianapolis.  I guess they will just have to apply and be invited to a "preferential interview". 

Another classy move by RAH in giving the Lynx employees almost exactly the minimum 60 days notice as required by the WARN Act before throwing them out on the street.  I wish the Lynx employees the best of luck in their "preferential interviews". I realize that Brian Bedford stated from the beginning that it would be hard to justify an 11 aircraft fleet, but 60 days notice is ridiculous and a slap in the face of many employees who worked 60 hour weeks starting up Lynx and making it a top notch airline. 

Not all of the news Thursday was negative. Seven new cities and frequency increases to several other cities were announced.  New service  includes new nonstop service to Branson MO. Grand Rapids MI, Long Beach CA, Madison WI, Newport News VA, Santa Barbara CA, and seasonal nonstop service to Green Bay WI.  Frequency increases included a third daily flight to LaGuardia, and a fifth daily flight to Portland, OR, San Francisco, and Seattle. Most of the new service will be with Republic E-190 equipment.

It appears that the plan is to grow "away" from Southwest and in some cases even United.  Also interesting to note is that there were no announcements concerning growth in Milwaukee.  I suppose this confirms the theory that the Milwaukee market is severely under-performing. I would not be surprised if some of the Airbus that have been deployed to MKE are re-deployed back to Denver in time for the summer.

I also heard that Frontier's advertising agency Sticky Grey was turned loose this week.  I have not seen any announcements confirming this, but if it is true, it's very disheartening. For eight years, Grey has created an award winning advertising program that is truly loved in Denver and known nationally.  If this turns out to be confirmed, it is my opinion that this is the death blow for the Frontier brand, and may actually be the first step in the branding and marketing decisions that are due to be announced in the near future.

I can't wait to see which road Mr. Bedford decides to go down next.