Quote:
Originally Posted by LoneStarMike
I do agree that Toluca is not yet a destination for San Antonio, but IMO I think it's a very real possibility and I think you may see it happening sooner rather than later.
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Agreed, and your research is impressive. But it doesn't change the fact that SAT does not have Toluca as an international destination, as you said they did in your post I referenced.
Have they filed the app with the feds? Yep.
Have they received initial approval from the feds for the Toluca-SAT route? Yep.
Has the federal approval process concluded yet? No.
Has the city of San Antonio or department of aviation made any type of announcement regarding the route or airline yet? No. (and there is a reason for that - having to do with counting eggs before they hatch).
Does Interjet have a single employee on the ground here in SAT? No.
I haven't looked at the data to see what percentage in a given period of initial route approvals that translate into actual serviced routes, so I cant counter with a over/under likelyhood on this. But there is a HUGE difference between, in your second post "a very real possibility" and the actual addition of Toluca as new international destination as you claimed in your first post; that difference at this point is still speculation- regardless of how sexy the interiors of their newer planes are, age of fleet, etc.
At the end of the day, tentative route approvals and boisterous press releases all count for $hit until they have signed gate lease agreements with SAT, staff assigned here, and have planes on the tarmac here.
I wouldn't trust the $16 in my nephew's piggy bank to any airline right now, foriegn or domestic. There's not a damn one of them in fantastic shape (not even southwest- which has about 22 months left on it's current fuel hedge contracts and then will be paying the same price the rest of the airlines are for fuel. If fuel prices stay high past that point, they'll be in the same damn boat as the rest of the industry and no amount of folksy home-spun charm or alleged unique management style will save them, and their CEO has even said that they will start losing money this fall - for the first time since 1991.) These new international startups arent any different- they arent immune to fuel prices. They are able to expand now because it's all investor and venture capitalist funds paying the bills. New money dosen't mean $hit in business- cause it's always borrowed money and says nothing about sustainability. But I'm on a tangent here...
Back to the lecture at hand....
It's still speculation, no matter how it's dressed up or how cool we think it would be. Cause wishing something doesnt make it so. If it did, the second Vidorra tower would have started already. At this point, that $hit just be speculation too.