I work in the industry and happened to hear an unsettling rumor last week (from a very credible source) that CalPac is unlikely to get off the ground due to a recent seemingly "insurmountable obstacle." Given my inability to confirm this information, I am tagging it as a bona fide "confident rumor," and would certainly appreciate any additional information floating around amongst the crowd.

Being a SoCal resident, I would love to see CP fly.. but I've always been heavily pessimistic about all four corners of the business model. If the rumor is true, it's a blow to the aspirations of the travelers who were less enthusiastic about commutes to LAX, LGB , SNA and SAN.

What's the rumored "insurmountable obstacle"?

their facebook page just posted 2 new job openings....

There was just an article in the new york times about the difficultly of starting up an airline. The CEO of CP was quoted several times in the article.

CP has indeed stated it will open 2 jobs soon. One of the jobs is for reservations. They will also be getting an aircraft delivered soon. As for the rumor, I hope it is false.

Not knowing much at all about this company I can tell you that one MAJOR problem they have is that they move so slow that by the time they get ready to fly, if ever, they will be out of money. This group of old men have a huge staff and a lot of executives on the payroll but no revenue at all coming in. There is a whole lot of talk always coming out of this airline but that's about it. This is one of the reasons that you don't see any of their competitors taking them seriously. If they ever get around to actually flying a passenger you will see the real airlines pound all over them. This airline is a joke and has no chance of being successful, its just a group of old men who have nothing else to do.

As a SoCal native, I'd love to see this operation get going and thrive. I have heard the FAA POI that they are dealing with is particularly difficult. Any solid info on this "insurmountable obstacle?"

[Edited 2012-05-28 19:44:10]

I also have to say that I know one of the original folks and he walked away... I never got the story, but I bet it had to do with needing an actual paycheck and not working for sweat equity. I am typically asked to work for free when it comes to setting up a new-airlines distribution/reservations system and I flatly refuse. An airline will have to spend at least $250k to get their systems in place, and that includes my fees (which are probably less than 5% of that). If an airline won't pay me $1500/mo to manage this stuff during start-up, how do I know they won't pay Sabre $40k for the e-ticketing upgrade/IET hub expense?

We love a good rumor as much as the next airline employee, but we haven’t found much substance in this one. CP Air has been adding maintenance staff for the anticipated arrival of our first Embraer 170 in the next 60 days. We are about to spin up our Navitaire reservation system and are adding support to get that going as has been listed on our jobs page. On the regulatory front, we continue to work with the FAA to refine our operations manuals and training programs.

We continue to make steady progress on the regulatory and fund raising fronts. It is no easy feat starting an airline these days, but our fully compensated team continues to work on making our airline a reality.

The CP Air Team

Quoting flycpair (Reply 10):

When should/do we expect the first flight of the airline? The distant future? The near future?

Cheers and best of luck to you and to the Airline    ,
KLAXAirport   

Gotta love it when an airline has an airliners account so they can discount rumors before they snowball.

Quoting F9animal (Reply 4): CP has indeed stated it will open 2 jobs soon. One of the jobs is for reservations. They will also be getting an aircraft delivered soon. As for the rumor, I hope it is false

Quoting flycpair (Reply 8): We love a good rumor as much as the next airline employee, but we haven’t found much substance in this one. CP Air has been adding maintenance staff for the anticipated arrival of our first Embraer 170 in the next 60 days. We are about to spin up our Navitaire reservation system and are adding support to get that going as has been listed on our jobs page. On the regulatory front, we continue to work with the FAA to refine our operations manuals and training programs. We continue to make steady progress on the regulatory and fund raising fronts. It is no easy feat starting an airline these days, but our fully compensated team continues to work on making our airline a reality.

And I join the optimists here! (I've learned to keep the faith while trying to be a fan of local pro sports in San Diego for over 60 years now!...   ) Hang in there Team CP Air!

  

bb

Quoting coopdogyo (Reply 10): Gotta love it when an airline has an airliners account so they can discount rumors before they snowball.

Or spin it so it doesn't look as bad as it really is, but I digress...

I think it's nice to hear directly from the airline. Honestly, lots of the people who post about CP are posting rumors.

Quoting coopdogyo (Reply 10): Gotta love it when an airline has an airliners account so they can discount rumors before they snowball.

I think it is nice to hear directly from someone within the airline, and in particular a person who also provides his name and position. Rumors and gossip, especially those posted in a widely respected and popular public forum such as airliners.net, can potentially do harm to the airline's reputation, so I don't blame them/him for having a presence here. I want to hear CP Air's "spin" on their own affairs. Yes, it'll be glossed over in the name of good PR - but use that gloss to balance out the gossip, which is always exaggerated to the other end of the spectrum. Somewhere in between, most likely sits the real situation. Start-ups are always a game, and we all know this industry is full of shady start-up players, but I think I would be MORE suspicious if they stayed silent and failed to represent themselves.

Quoting UAL747DEN (Reply 5): its just a group of old men who have nothing else to do.

Attributing slow progress/managerial incompetency because of their age is just plain bad karma! Someday in our careers we will find ourselves with far more professional years behind us than ahead, and I'd like to think that we would be respected for our knowledge, years of experience, and good intentions instead of the speed at which we are perceived to move things forward! I use the example of Usto Schulz, who was already well into his 80's when I was lucky enough to work with him in Jetblue's early days. Usto IS aviation safety. To see him walking down the hall you might've wondered what that "old dude" was doing in the office, but to see his resume and to see him action was a humbling experience. He was there to help build the foundation that become the FAA. He may not have been able to run down the hall to a meeting, but he could most definitely use his knowledge and outright history to move things forward. And man did he ever! There were those of us who, at that time, were young managers in our 20's and 30's and we thought we invincible...but Usto always left us in the dust and always gave us a run for our money. I remember attending a meeting years ago, when a well-respected and seasoned POI was debating with Usto over the interpretation of a particular FAR. Usto listened intently to the POI's point of view, but his reply was direct and calm, "Let me tell you that I sat at the table and helped write this very rule years ago. And your interpretation was not what we intended its purpose to be." You can't get better experience than that! I don't know anything about the management team at CP beyond what is provided in their online bio's...but I certainly wouldn't assume that this airline's slow progress or potential for failure can be attributed solely to its leadership team being a bunch of "old guys" with nothing better to do. If that were the case, I'm sure they would be smart enough to find big bank or other big corporation to work for that would give them guaranteed shiny golden parachutes to pad their fall from grace with a nice cushion of cash!

Quoting flycpair (Reply 8): We love a good rumor as much as the next airline employee, but we haven’t found much substance in this one.

And we love solid facts and detailed explanations, but we haven't found much in this one. Weak as water, this diversion. I don't know if the rumors are true, but your explanation is as squishy as the rumor.

What type of aircraft are they supposed to be using?

I hope they make it through, it's nice to see a fresh airline on the market

Quoting ContnlEliteCMH (Reply 15): And we love solid facts and detailed explanations, but we haven't found much in this one. Weak as water, this diversion. I don't know if the rumors are true, but your explanation is as squishy as the rumor.

Care to elaborate? What specifics are you seeking? What specifics of the rumor -- note, rumor, the oxymoron of specific -- do you find more substantial than the press releases of the company?

Also LOL on "love solid facts" when this attack is base on a rumor. I don't get it.

-Rampart

Quoting rampart (Reply 19): Care to elaborate? What specifics are you seeking? What specifics of the rumor -- note, rumor, the oxymoron of specific -- do you find more substantial than the press releases of the company? Also LOL on "love solid facts" when this attack is base on a rumor. I don't get it

   Right there with you rampart.

bb

Quoting KLAXAirport (Reply 9): When should/do we expect the first flight of the airline? The distant future? The near future?

I'll be in San Diego over the July 4th holiday and San Marcos Christmas to New Years.

It'd be great to be on the first flight to *wherever.*

I'd reserve now if I could.   

Quoting flycpair (Reply 8): We love a good rumor as much as the next airline employee, but we haven’t found much substance in this one. CP Air has been adding maintenance staff for the anticipated arrival of our first Embraer 170 in the next 60 days. We are about to spin up our Navitaire reservation system and are adding support to get that going as has been listed on our jobs page. On the regulatory front, we continue to work with the FAA to refine our operations manuals and training programs. We continue to make steady progress on the regulatory and fund raising fronts. It is no easy feat starting an airline these days, but our fully compensated team continues to work on making our airline a reality. The CP Air Team

Thank you! I appreciate the update, and I am very excited to see CP airborne soon. I hope the negative posts don't steer you all away from posting here. I apologize on behalf of the negative a.netters.

Quoting TupolevTu154 (Reply 17):

Quoting TupolevTu154 (Reply 17):

Thank you, don't know how I missed that...