Yet another aviation thread.

Quote: Pacomartin

Your clients are probably not interested long layover that cut ticket price in half . But it may be cheaper if you are starting from one of these US Interjet destinations to fly to Mexico City and take a Sukhoi Superjet from Mexico City to SLP.
Dallas, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Nueva York, Orlando, San Antonio
Sukhoi Superjet
.

My clients just want to get in, get the job done in the fewest days possible and then get out, especially true for SLP
and
Even the nice touristy destinations, they just want to get in then get out
They're road warriors that hate and detest travel but gotta do what they have to do
Also the companies travel policy only allows business class 10hrs and up
Airline loyalty is very important because high frequent flier status often means upgrades

The Sukhoi superjet looks interesting.
Its probably safe but that type of equipment I need to make my clients aware
I'm sure most of my clients would balk at any Russian made plane when made aware unless that's the only choice

Quote: terapined

The Sukhoi superjet looks interesting.
Its probably safe but that type of equipment I need to make my clients aware
I'm sure most of my clients would balk at any Russian made plane when made aware unless that's the only choice

It's more a joint venture than a Russian production. Boeing even did consulting work on the design and testing phases, as I understand such things.

What i trust is Interjet's judgment. In ten years of operations, they haven't had a major incident. Moreover, their corporate philosophy is to provide a pleasant experience in flight (within the limitations of not offering much in the way of food), which most definitely includes not crashing the plane. So I think they wouldn't buy a plane that was not safe to fly.

If this plane were flown exclusively by Russian airlines pressured by the Russian government to do so, I'd worry. It's true the SJ hasn't made a big splash outside of Russia, but much of that is in the nature of competition. The regional jet market is considerably more crowded than the mainline narrow body market. Bombardier and Embraer are long-established manufacturers, for one thing, and others are trying to get in as well. There are other factors, too, including price, performance, fleet commonality, etc.

In fact, I was a bit surprised Interjet went for the Sukhoi plane. Given it carries 93 passengers(*), I thought they could do that with the A-319, or perhaps even the A-318, considering the 34" pitch. As their mainline plane is the A-320, that gives them full fleet commonality and no need to train pilots in different types. Further, Interjet owns and operates a large A-320 family maintenance facility in Toluca.


(*) Citation needed.

Wait, citation found! https://www.interjet.com/our-fleet.aspx

Quote: Pacomartin

Interjet Base fare $341.87 + Taxes $127.03 = $468.90
09 August, 2016 07:10 hrs 09:35 hrs Miami -Mexico City International Airport
09 August, 2016 19:00 hrs 20:05 hrs Mexico City International Airport San Luis Potosi

Ten hour lay-over? I know it reads like 9:25 hours, but trust me, your 7 pm flight likely won't leave on time.

I wouldn't recommend it. MEX T1 has a few amenities, but they all cost money, unless you have access to an airline lounge (and Interjet has none). Given that it's an international flight, you'd have to pass customs and immigration, exit to the main concourse and pass security again to board. Of course, you could take the chance to do some sightseeing.

It also means waking up at 5 am or so, before putting in a long, boring day of travel.

Quote: Nareed

Ten hour lay-over? I know it reads like 9:25 hours, but trust me, your 7 pm flight likely won't leave on time.

I understood his statement to say the corporate travelers fly coach unless the trip/flight is over 10 hrs, then they get to upgrade to business class. By staying on their preferred carriers they earn enough miles to upgrade their shorter flights.

Quote: DRich

I understood his statement to say the corporate travelers fly coach unless the trip/flight is over 10 hrs, then they get to upgrade to business class. By staying on their preferred carriers they earn enough miles to upgrade their shorter flights.

Interjet, Volaris, Vivaaerobus, TAR and Magnicharters are single class carriers in Mexico. Only Aeromexico has classes, and I am not sure if that is only for international flights.

I did preface this suggestion to say that his clients probably wouldn't be interested. It's a huge layover, but a substantially lower air fare.
MIA-SLP
American Base fare $741.00 + Taxes $141.45 = $882.45 (via Dallas)
Interjet Base fare $341.87 + Taxes $127.03 = $468.90 (via Mexico City)

My main point was that the connections to smaller Mexican cities through Houston and Dallas are always very expensive.

Volaris has a nonstop from Tijuana to SLP. The 1211 mile flight would be well under 3 hours. Cost is often about $100-$150 each way.

Compare that to three hours to DFW then a layover for 1-2 hours, and 1.5 to San Louis Potosi
1235 mile LAX-DFW
771 miles DFW-SLP

You may find it worth it to drive the 2 hours from LA to Tijuana, especially now that you can park on the US side.
==========================

http://www.vedomosti.ru/business/articles/2016/02/09/627909-sukhoi-superjet-podesheveli
This article in Russian says the Sukhoi Superjet costs $27-$28 million (maximum of 103 seats, but Interjet puts in only 93 seats)
A Bombardier CRJ1000 can carry 104 seats but costs $49 million
An Embraer E190 can carry 106 seats (1-class, 31 in) and costs 46.2 million (2012 prices)
An A318 can carry maximum of 136 seats but costs $75.1 million

A318 first order July 2003. Relative to other Airbus A320 family variants, it has sold in only small numbers with total orders for only 80 aircraft placed, with the order book currently being empty. Primary users are Air France, Avianca, Avianca Brazil, and TAROM

Bid headlines about Airbus beating out Boeings at the two recent major airshows as far as billions in "sales"... some of which might be viewed as 'delivery slots' or 'bargaining chips'.

I guess for these long distance international flights we are here to stay with Boeing and Airbus and perhaps some upstart contenders.

But as electric flight matures and planes become super quiet runways will again be IN cities and flights will take people where they want to go instead of to NEAR where they want to go. This will mean that the planes will be short hop and medium hop planes that are simple to operate and simple to maintain.

Long range comfort and luxury flights will still be important but I think some of those "sales" may be in jeopardy.

Quote: Pacomartin

Only Aeromexico has classes, and I am not sure if that is only for international flights.

All flights, as far as I know, including on the regional "affiliate" (division is more like it) Aeromexico Connect. I've seen the Clase premier seats on the 737 several times, and once on one of the Embraers.

Quote:

I did preface this suggestion to say that his clients probably wouldn't be interested. It's a huge layover, but a substantially lower air fare.

the clients, and I suppose the seller, may not be interested. The clients' CFOs might be :)

Quote:

This article in Russian says the Sukhoi Superjet costs $27-$28 million (maximum of 103 seats, but Interjet puts in only 93 seats)

Interesting. but I wonder whether those are list prices or sale prices, or a mixture. As far as I know, no one pays the list price. That's why airlines negotiate plane purchases with the manufacturers (I suppose other factors, such as delivery times and technical support are also discussed).

I'm waiting for Boeing or Airbus to acquire one of the regional manufacturers someday. As it is, it would net them little, since most regionals are not bought by the major carriers who buy the bigger jets. But the regionals are affiliated with the majors. Still, one way to defuse the "threat" from the C-Series to the smaller narrow bodies would be to buy Bombardier.

Quote: Nareed

I'm waiting for Boeing or Airbus to acquire one of the regional manufacturers someday. As it is, it would net them little, since most regionals are not bought by the major carriers who buy the bigger jets. But the regionals are affiliated with the majors. Still, one way to defuse the "threat" from the C-Series to the smaller narrow bodies would be to buy Bombardier.

One of the problems with this is they would have to start paying the same or similar union wages to those companies if they bought the smaller manufacturers. I think that is the main reason the big airlines subcontract the regional jet routes.

Quote: Nareed

the clients, and I suppose the seller, may not be interested. The clients' CFOs might be :)

I may look at this more closely and put something together for the clients travel manager. He is kind of caught in the middle, trying to save money but keeping the travelers happy. Its not unusual to hear road warriors complain about cheap travel management policies.

Quote: terapined

I may look at this more closely and put something together for the clients travel manager. He is kind of caught in the middle, trying to save money but keeping the travelers happy. Its not unusual to hear road warriors complain about cheap travel management policies.

FWIW, on my 20-30 or so flights with Interjet, only once did I have a "problem" I could attribute to the airline. For some reason I couldn't reserve a seat or print a boarding pass the day before. So I had to stand in line at the counter, and the agent committed the mortal sin of not asking what seat I wanted (he almost gave me a middle seat!!)

I've experienced delays, but those are inevitable nowadays. MEX is notorious for delays piling up throughout the day, so that flights leaving after 6 PM rarely push back, much less lift-off, on time.

The leg room is huge, for economy, and the coffee is decent. For a short flight, the tiny snack and whole can of soda is sufficient. The booze, one drink per customer, is complimentary. I don't suppose your clients check bags (I've never checked a bag on a business trip), but if they do, they can pack two, weighing about 100 lbs. total.

the downside is that for a longer trip, especially early in the morning, the tiny snack isn't good enough. I recommend having breakfast beforehand. Also there's no entertainment available, no power ports to charge your devices, and no WiFi at all. Electronic devices can be used gate-to-gate, but they must be set on "airplane mode." Laptops can only be used above 10,000 ft.

If you want info on Volaris and AM, let me know. Though my experience there is limited.