Mesa Air Group Inc (MESA) 2023 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Thank you for standing by, and welcome to the Mesa Airlines Q3 Fiscal Year 2023 Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) This call is being recorded. If you have any objections, please disconnect at this time.

感謝您的耐心等待，歡迎參加梅薩航空 2023 財年第三季電話會議。 （操作員說明）此通話正在錄音。如果您有任何異議，請此時斷開連接。

I would now like to turn the call over to [Sean Lang]. Mr. Lang, you now may begin.

我現在想把電話轉給[Sean Lang]。郎先生，您現在可以開始了。

Thank you, operator, and welcome, everyone, to Mesa's earnings conference call for its fiscal third quarter 2023 ended June 30.

謝謝業者，歡迎大家參加 Mesa 於 6 月 30 日結束的 2023 財年第三季的收益電話會議。

On the call with me today are Jonathan Ornstein, Mesa's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer; Michael Lotz, President; and Torque Zubeck, Chief Financial Officer. Following our prepared remarks, there will be a question-and-answer session for the sell-side analysts.

今天與我通話的是 Mesa 董事長兼執行長 Jonathan Ornstein；麥可‧洛茨，總裁；托克·祖貝克（Torque Zubeck），財務長。在我們準備好的發言之後，將為賣方分析師舉行問答環節。

We also want to remind everyone on the call that today's discussion contains forward-looking statements that are based on the company's current expectations and are not a guarantee of future performance. There could be significant risks and uncertainties that cause actual results to differ materially from those reflected by the forward-looking statements, including the risk factors discussed in our reports on file with the SEC. We undertake no duty to update any forward-looking statements.

我們也想提醒參加電話會議的所有人，今天的討論包含基於公司當前預期的前瞻性陳述，並不是對未來業績的保證。可能存在重大風險和不確定性，導致實際結果與前瞻性陳述所反映的結果有重大差異，包括我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的報告中討論的風險因素。我們不承擔更新任何前瞻性陳述的責任。

In comparing today's results, we will be adjusting all periods to exclude special items. Please refer to our fiscal third quarter earnings release, which is available on our website for the reconciliation of non-GAAP measures.

在比較今天的結果時，我們將調整所有期間以排除特殊項目。請參閱我們的第三財季收益發布，該發布可在我們的網站上找到，以了解非公認會計原則指標的調節。

With that, I'll turn it over to Jonathan for his opening remarks. Jonathan?

接下來，我將把會議交給喬納森，讓他致開幕詞。喬納森？

Thank you, Sean, and thank you to everyone for joining us today.

謝謝肖恩，也謝謝大家今天加入我們。

As we have stated, fiscal 2023 remains a transition year for Mesa. We continue to focus on maximizing block hours and reducing surplus CRJ-900 assets and infrastructure. Although the adjusted pretax loss for the quarter was $29.1 million, this included approximately $15 million of surplus CRJ-900 related costs and additional $5 million related to the transition. Our third quarter block hour performance roughly tracked with our forecast of approximately 46,000 block hours.

正如我們所說，2023 財年對 Mesa 來說仍然是過渡年。我們繼續專注於最大限度地提高區塊時間並減少多餘的 CRJ-900 資產和基礎設施。儘管本季調整後的稅前虧損為 2,910 萬美元，但這包括約 1,500 萬美元的 CRJ-900 相關成本盈餘以及與過渡相關的額外 500 萬美元。我們第三季的區塊時數表現大致與我們預測的約 46,000 區塊時數相符。

Regarding our CRJ-900 transition, the work is largely complete, and we currently have a total of 24 CRJs flying in addition to 56 E-Jets.

關於我們的 CRJ-900 過渡工作已基本完成，目前除了 56 架 E-Jet 飛機外，我們共有 24 架 CRJ 飛機在飛行。

The transition from American to United was not always easy, but our people did an amazing job. During the quarter, we carried an additional 0.5 million passengers for United on its incremental flying. While regional air service continues to see strong demand, the industry at large has faced significant challenge in recent months with widespread operational disruptions driven by inclement weather and exacerbated by air traffic control staffing shortages. While we understand United's mandate to minimize cancellations for our passengers, we believe there is significant opportunity to further optimize scheduling, allowing us to increase our block-hour capacity overall.

從美國航空到聯合航空的轉變並不總是那麼容易，但我們的員工做得非常出色。本季度，我們透過增量飛行為美聯航增加了 50 萬名乘客。雖然支線航空服務的需求持續強勁，但整個產業近幾個月來面臨巨大的挑戰，惡劣天氣造成大範圍的營運中斷，空中交通管制人員短缺加劇了這項挑戰。雖然我們了解美聯航的使命是盡量減少乘客的航班取消，但我們相信，還有進一步優化航班安排的重大機會，使我們能夠提高整體的班次運力。

Our top priority at Mesa continues to increase pilot production to ensure our planes operate at maximum utilization. The aviation industry continues to see significant labor constraints, with an overall shortage of pilots exacerbated by an increasingly pervasive imbalance of captains and first officers driven by hyper attrition and impacting all carriers from majors to regionals.

我們在梅薩的首要任務是繼續增加試生產，以確保我們的飛機以最大利用率運作。航空業繼續面臨嚴重的勞動力限制，機長和副機長之間日益普遍的失衡加劇了飛行員的整體短缺，這種失衡影響了從大型航空公司到支線航空公司的所有航空公司。

Mesa is addressing our captain and first officer imbalance with our direct-entry captain program in cooperation with United. This effort has been supported by a new requirement in United's Aviate program that pilots must have 2 years of captain experiences before transitioning to United. In addition, unlike some carriers, Mesa has the ability to require qualified first officers to upgrade to captain.

梅薩正在與美聯航合作，透過直接進入機長計畫來解決機長和副駕駛不平衡的問題。這項努力得到了美聯航 Aviate 計劃中一項新要求的支持，即飛行員在轉入美聯航之前必須擁有 2 年機長經驗。此外，與一些航空母艦不同，梅薩有能力要求合格的副駕駛升級為機長。

We also continue to develop our in-house recruiting and training initiatives. In particular, the Mesa Pilot Development Program has worked very well. We now have 10 aircraft at our first location in Inverness, Florida. Currently, we have approximately 2,000 applicants with commercial pilot license who need to build additional hours to reach their 1,500-hour requirement. We have already graduated an initial cadre who have performed very well in training at Mesa.

我們也繼續發展我們的內部招募和培訓計劃。特別是梅薩試點發展計畫效果非常好。目前，我們在佛羅裡達州因弗內斯的第一個基地擁有 10 架飛機。目前，我們大約有 2,000 名擁有商業飛行員執照的申請人，他們需要增加額外的小時數才能達到 1,500 小時的要求。我們已經培養了一批在梅薩培訓中表現出色的第一批幹部。

Given the benefits of Aviate and MPD, in combination with our industry-leading pay scale at the top of the regional industry, we now have approximately 1,900 new hire applicants. While our pilot attrition over the last 6 months has been at pre-pandemic levels, the pacing item has now become the availability of upgradable first officers. A stable pilot base and a healthy pipeline remain essential to the turnaround of our business.

鑑於 Aviate 和 MPD 的優勢，再加上我們在區域行業中處於行業領先的薪資水平，我們現在擁有約 1,900 名新員工申請人。雖然過去 6 個月我們的飛行員流失率一直處於大流行前的水平，但現在的節奏項目已成為可升級副駕駛的可用性。穩定的試點基地和健康的管道對於我們業務的扭虧為盈仍然至關重要。

The pilot shortage created by counterproductive regulation continues to cripple the industry, and Mesa is not immune. To give you an idea of the impact, here are a few important facts. In spite of consistently adding pilots from January to present, we're still only flying at approximately 70% of our full utilization capacity, which we believe is consistent with other regional carriers in the United portfolio. To meet United's target utilization, we will need approximately 150 more pilots, primarily captains. Once we reach United's target utilization, which we consistently achieved prior to the pilot shortage, we will generate pretax margins between 7% and 10% in our base business. Given our current pilot outlook, as well as cooperation and support from United Airlines, we believe we will reach United's target utilization by the end of fiscal year 2024.

適得其反的監管造成的飛行員短缺繼續削弱該行業，梅薩也未能倖免。為了讓您了解其影響，這裡有一些重要的事實。儘管從 1 月至今不斷增加飛行員，但我們的飛行能力仍僅為全部利用率的 70% 左右，我們認為這與美聯航投資組合中的其他支線航空公司一致。為了滿足美聯航的目標利用率，我們將需要大約 150 名飛行員，主要是機長。一旦我們達到美聯航的目標利用率（我們在試點短缺之前一直實現這一目標），我們的基礎業務的稅前利潤率將達到 7% 至 10%。鑑於我們目前的試點前景以及聯合航空的合作和支持，我們相信我們將在 2024 財年末達到聯合航空的目標利用率。

While Mesa's ongoing transformation has not been easy, we believe United will continue to work closely with Mesa to ensure our future success. United has assured us that they understand the strategic importance of our relationship, and we are incredibly thankful for their ongoing support.

雖然梅薩正在進行的轉型並不容易，但我們相信美聯航將繼續與梅薩密切合作，以確保我們未來的成功。美聯航向我們保證，他們了解我們關係的戰略重要性，我們非常感謝他們的持續支持。

With that, I'll turn the call over to Mike.

這樣，我會將電話轉給麥克。

Thank you, Jonathan, and good afternoon to everyone.

謝謝喬納森，祝大家下午好。

First off, I'd like to note that we recently added 2 key operational leaders at Mesa. Lori DiMarco, our new Vice President of Maintenance and Engineering, brings over 33 years of aviation experience and maintenance oversight expertise to Mesa. We also hired Andrew Lotter as our new Vice President of Flight Operations. Andrew has over 25 years' experience in the airline industry and has significant background in pilot training. Andrew and Lori's talents will be key to ensuring Mesa can maximize our peak capacity and utilization going forward and continue to improve our operational performance.

首先，我想指出的是，我們最近在 Mesa 增加了 2 位關鍵營運領導者。我們新任維修和工程副總裁 Lori DiMarco 為梅薩帶來了超過 33 年的航空經驗和維修監督專業知識。我們也聘請安德魯洛特 (Andrew Lotter) 擔任新任飛行營運副總裁。 Andrew 在航空業擁有超過 25 年的經驗，並在飛行員培訓方面擁有豐富的背景。 Andrew 和 Lori 的人才將是確保 Mesa 能夠最大限度地提高我們的尖峰容量和利用率並繼續提高我們的營運績效的關鍵。

Operationally, we now fly the CRJ-900, primarily out of Houston and Denver, which was newly opened this spring. Initially, this had an impact on the CRJ-900 reliability, which has historically been supported by our Dallas and Phoenix maintenance bases. This realignment of resources has been completed, and we ran 99% completion factor for July and currently 100% in August.

在營運方面，我們現在主要經營 CRJ-900，主要從休士頓和今年春天新開幕的丹佛出發。最初，這對 CRJ-900 的可靠性產生了影響，而我們的達拉斯和鳳凰城維護基地歷來都支持這一可靠性。此資源調整已完成，7 月的完成率為 99%，8 月的完成率為 100%。

Next, I'd like to review our block-hour capabilities. In the June quarter, we flew 45,301 block hours, roughly in line with our estimate of approximately 46,000 that we had provided. Looking forward, we expect that our September quarter block hours is to be roughly the same or slightly higher than the June quarter. Our initial projections for fiscal 2024 are an increase of roughly 4% to 6% per quarter. Our block-hour production is highly dependent on our ability to upgrade first officers, attract direct-entry captain, and is based on our most recent attrition rates.

接下來，我想回顧一下我們的塊小時能力。在 6 月季度，我們飛行了 45,301 個區塊小時，與我們提供的約 46,000 個區塊小時的估計大致一致。展望未來，我們預計 9 月季度的區塊時間將與 6 月季度大致相同或略高。我們對 2024 財年的初步預測是每季成長約 4% 至 6%。我們的區塊小時產量高度依賴我們升級副駕駛、吸引直接進入機長的能力，並且基於我們最近的損耗率。

With regards to our regional fleet, the United CPA provides for 80 large regional jets. For the third quarter, the fleet mix consisted of 56 E-Jets and 24 CRJ-900s. However, we continue to focus on increasing the utilization of our Embraer-175 fleet. For our cargo operations, we continue to operate 4 737s at DHL, 3 737-400s and 1 737-800.

至於我們的支線機隊，United CPA 提供 80 架大型支線飛機。第三季度，機隊結構包括 56 架 E-Jets 和 24 架 CRJ-900。然而，我們繼續致力於提高 Embraer-175 機隊的利用率。在貨運業務方面，我們繼續在 DHL 經營 4 737 架、3 737-400 架和 1 737-800 架。

With that, I'd like to now turn it over to Torque to walk through some of the financial data.

現在，我想將其交給 Torque 來瀏覽一些財務數據。

Thank you, Mike. I'll take this opportunity now to review our financial performance and our balance sheet.

謝謝你，麥克。我現在將藉此機會回顧我們的財務表現和資產負債表。

For the third quarter of fiscal year 2023, revenue was $114.7 million, 14.7% lower compared to $134.4 million in Q3 2022. While contract revenue fell by $24.1 million (sic) [$24.5 million] year-over-year. These decreases were driven by lower CRJ-900 block hours and fewer aircraft under contract, partially offset by higher United block-hour rates for new pilot pay scale.

2023 財年第三季的營收為 1.147 億美元，比 2022 年第三季的 1.344 億美元下降 14.7%。合約營收年減 2,410 萬美元（原文如此）[2,450 萬美元]。這些下降是由於 CRJ-900 班次減少和合約飛機減少造成的，但美聯航新飛行員薪資等級的班次費率上升部分抵消了這一影響。

The decrease in contract revenue was partially offset by an increase in pass-through revenue of $4.8 million driven by pass-through maintenance expense with a net 0 P&L impact. Mesa's Q3 2023 results include, per GAAP, the recognition of $2 million of previously deferred revenue versus the recognition of $6.8 million of previously deferred revenue in Q3 2022. The remaining deferred revenue balance of $22.7 million will be recognized as flights are completed over the remaining term of the United contract.

合約收入的下降被轉嫁維護費用增加 480 萬美元所部分抵消，淨損益影響為 0。 Mesa 的2023 年第三季業績包括，根據GAAP，確認了先前遞延收入的200 萬美元，而2022 年第三季則確認了先前遞延收入的680 萬美元。剩餘的遞延收入餘額2,270 萬美元將在剩餘航班完成後確認。曼聯合同期限。

On the expense side, Mesa's overall GAAP operating expenses for Q3 2023 were $154.9 million, up $20.7 million versus Q3 2022. This increase was primarily due to a $30.5 million impairment of assets held for sale. However, adjusted operating expenses were $131.2 million or 2.3% lower versus Q3 2022. This decrease was driven by an $8.4 million year-over-year decrease in aircraft rent attributable to the reclassification from operating lease to finance lease for certain CRJ-900s as well as depreciation and amortization expense falling by $4.8 million, primarily driven by lower depreciable base from the CRJ-900 asset impairment charge in Q4 2022. The decrease was also partially offset by higher flight operations expense to $51.6 million, $8.3 million higher year-over-year, primarily reflecting higher pilot pay scales.

在費用方面，Mesa 2023 年第三季的整體 GAAP 營運費用為 1.549 億美元，比 2022 年第三季增加 2,070 萬美元。這一增長主要是由於持有待售資產減損 3,050 萬美元。然而，調整後的營運費用為1.312 億美元，比2022 年第三季減少2.3%。這一下降是由於飛機租金年減840 萬美元，原因是某些CRJ-900 飛機從營業租賃重新分類為融資租賃折舊和攤銷費用下降480 萬美元，主要是由於2022 年第四季度CRJ-900 資產減值費用的折舊基數降低。這一下降也被航班運營費用增加部分抵消，達到5160 萬美元，同比增加830 萬美元。年，主要反映了飛行員薪資水準的提高。

Additionally, maintenance expense in this quarter was $51.1 million, $1.4 million higher versus Q3 2022. This is due to an increase in pass-through maintenance, partially offset by lower C check and engine expense. We expect maintenance and C check expense to be roughly consistent at this level for the next quarter.

此外，本季的維護費用為 5,110 萬美元，比 2022 年第三季高出 140 萬美元。這是由於直通維護的增加，部分被 C 檢查和引擎費用的減少所抵消。我們預計下一季的維護和 C 檢查費用將大致保持在這一水平。

On the bottom line, we reported a net loss of $47.6 million or a loss of $1.17 per diluted share compared to a net loss of $10 million or a loss of $0.28 per diluted share for Q3 2022. On an adjusted basis, Mesa's reported a loss of $27.2 million or a loss of $0.67 per diluted share compared to a net loss of $7.1 million or a loss of $0.20 per diluted share a year ago. The adjusted loss for Q3 2023 excludes a $30.5 million asset impairment loss, a $6.7 million gain-on-asset sales and a $2.9 million gain on investments in equity and a $300,000 loss on deferred financing costs related to debt retirement. Adjusted results from Q3 2022 primarily excluded a $3.9 million loss on investments in equity securities.

整體而言，我們報告的淨虧損為4,760 萬美元，或稀釋後每股虧損1.17 美元，而2022 年第三季的淨虧損為1,000 萬美元，或稀釋後每股虧損0.28 美元。調整後的基礎上，Mesa 報告了虧損淨虧損為 2,720 萬美元，即稀釋後每股虧損 0.67 美元，而一年前淨虧損為 710 萬美元，即稀釋後每股虧損 0.20 美元。 2023 年第三季的調整後虧損不包括 3,050 萬美元的資產減損損失、670 萬美元的資產銷售收益、290 萬美元的股權投資收益以及與債務償還相關的遞延融資成本損失 30 萬美元。 2022 年第三季的調整後業績主要排除了 390 萬美元的股本證券投資損失。

So looking at Q3 financial performance, there are several key items impacting the bottom line. The company's fleet still has 60 CRJ-900s, of which 24 are in the United CPA, leaving 36 as surplus. The CRJ-900 aircraft and an additional 20 CRJ spare engines continue to be a drag on earnings, estimated at roughly $15 million for the quarter. This cost primarily includes the expenses for depreciation, interest through wages and excess infrastructure. As we transition from the CRJ-900 to the E-Jets, one of our key focus areas going forward will be to continue to sell surplus CRJ-900 aircraft engines and inventory and shed infrastructure.

因此，從第三季的財務表現來看，有幾個關鍵項目影響著利潤。該公司機隊仍有 60 架 CRJ-900，其中 24 架在 United CPA，剩餘 36 架。 CRJ-900 飛機和另外 20 台 CRJ 備用發動機繼續拖累收益，預計本季收益約為 1500 萬美元。此成本主要包括折舊費用、薪資利息和多餘的基礎設施費用。隨著我們從 CRJ-900 過渡到 E-Jets，我們未來的重點關注領域之一將是繼續銷售剩餘的 CRJ-900 飛機發動機以及庫存和棚屋基礎設施。

Now let me walk you through some of these items. Of the 36 surplus CRJ-900 aircraft, we have purchased agreements on 14, the disposal of which will result in cost savings of approximately $3 million per quarter. We are also in negotiations to dispose of an additional 15 CRJs, which will deliver cost savings of approximately $2 million per quarter. The remaining 7 surplus CRJ-900s have not been disposed of and hold carrying costs of approximately $2 million per quarter. We also have 12 [olefin] engines that we are marketing. The sale of which will result in cost savings of approximately $2 million per quarter. Meanwhile, the disposition of 14 engines to United this past quarter will result in cost savings of approximately $1 million moving forward.

現在讓我向您介紹其中的一些內容。在 36 架剩餘 CRJ-900 飛機中，我們已購買了 14 架協議，處置這些飛機將導致每季節省約 300 萬美元的成本。我們也在談判處置另外 15 台 CRJ，這將每季節省約 200 萬美元的成本。剩餘 7 架剩餘 CRJ-900 尚未處置，每季持有成本約 200 萬美元。我們還有 12 台正在行銷的[烯烴]引擎。該產品的出售將導致每季節省約 200 萬美元的成本。同時，上個季度向美聯航出售 14 台引擎將節省約 100 萬美元的成本。

It's important to note that all these aircraft and engines have sold above their existing debt balances. We are also in discussions with United regarding their support in eliminating the cost of our surplus CRJ-900s as we transition the fleet.

值得注意的是，所有這些飛機和發動機的銷售量都超過了現有的債務餘額。我們也正在與美聯航進行討論，討論他們在機隊轉型過程中支援消除多餘 CRJ-900 飛機的成本。

Now let me turn to the balance sheet for the June quarter. As of the quarter end, cash, excluding restricted cash, decreased by $3.1 million from the March quarter to $48.3 million. Total debt was $566.3 million, down from $608.7 million at the end of the prior quarter. During the quarter, Mesa made debt payments of $40.6 million and the finance lease payment of $4.2 million.

現在讓我來看看六月季度的資產負債表。截至季末，現金（不包括限制性現金）較上一季減少 310 萬美元，至 4,830 萬美元。總債務為 5.663 億美元，低於上一季末的 6.087 億美元。本季度，Mesa 支付了 4,060 萬美元的債務，支付了 420 萬美元的融資租賃款。

During the quarter, we also closed on the sale of the remaining 20 out of the 30 spare engines that we agreed to sell to United in Q1 2023. This transaction generated net cash of $26.9 million, while paying down approximately $19.1 million in debt during the quarter. In addition, we returned approximately $8 million of the $10 million under the bridge loan provided by United. We have $26.3 million of scheduled principal and finance lease payments remaining in 2023. And after the repayment of debt associated with asset sales, we expect fiscal year 2023 year-end debt of approximately $490 million.

During the quarter, we also closed on the sale of the remaining 20 out of the 30 spare engines that we agreed to sell to United in Q1 2023. This transaction generated net cash of $26.9 million, while paying down approximately $19.1 million in debt during the四分之一.此外，我們也返還了美聯航提供的 1,000 萬美元過橋貸款中的約 800 萬美元。到 2023 年，我們還有 2,630 萬美元的預定本金和融資租賃付款。在償還與資產銷售相關的債務後，我們預計 2023 財年年末債務約為 4.9 億美元。

Notably, we expect our current transactions, involving our 14 surplus CRJs that we currently have agreements on, will reduce our debt levels by $74.3 million and provide another approximately $18 million in cash. Given ongoing uncertainties in the business, we will not provide any more specific fiscal year guidance at this time.

值得注意的是，我們預計目前的交易（涉及我們目前已達成協議的 14 個盈餘 CRJ）將減少我們的債務水準 7,430 萬美元，並提供另外約 1,800 萬美元的現金。鑑於業務持續存在的不確定性，我們目前不會提供任何更具體的財年指引。

With that, I'd like to now turn it back over to Jonathan for closing remarks.

說到這裡，我現在想把它轉回喬納森做總結發言。

Thank you, Torque. In sum, we knew this process would not be easy when we took dramatic steps at the beginning of the year to improve our operational and financial performance. We have rolled up our sleeves and made significant progress with our CRJ-900 transition and balance sheet actions. That being said, this is not the financial outcome that either Mesa or United anticipated. And as such, we've agreed to take actions together to correct that.

謝謝你，扭力。總之，當我們在年初採取重大措施來改善我們的營運和財務表現時，我們知道這個過程並不容易。我們已經捲起袖子，在 CRJ-900 過渡和資產負債表行動方面取得了重大進展。話雖如此，這並不是梅薩或曼聯預期的財務結果。因此，我們同意共同採取行動來糾正這個問題。

With that, I'd like to thank you again for taking your time to hear us today, and we look forward to answering any questions you may have.

在此，我要再次感謝您今天抽出時間來聽我們的講話，我們期待回答您可能提出的任何問題。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from Savi Syth with Raymond James.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自 Savi Syth 和 Raymond James。

I was just curious, the fourth quarter block hours are a little bit lighter than you had thought before. And just curious where your utilization is today and what pilot trends are kind of giving you confidence on the kind of the current outlook of as you get into the fourth -- into fiscal 2024 of seeing that level of quarter-over-quarter improvement in block hours.

我只是好奇，第四季的工作時間比你之前想像的少一點。只是好奇您今天的利用率在哪裡，以及什麼試點趨勢可以讓您對進入第四財年（進入 2024 財年）時的當前前景充滿信心，看到塊的季度環比改善水平小時。

This is Jonathan, Savi, thank you, and I'll let Mike chime in also at the end if he wants to. The quarter versus our projection was a little bit light. We did get impacted somewhat by some of the operational issues that everybody was impacted by. We did lose a few more people to Aviate than we had anticipated. We obviously are facing the same captain crunch, pardon that. But that we're all sort of short a little bit in terms of upgrading people. We do have the ability to upgrade people, and we have. But I think that those are probably most of the issue.

我是喬納森，薩維，謝謝你，如果麥克願意的話，我也會在最後插話。與我們的預測相比，該季度的情況有點輕鬆。我們確實受到了一些每個人都受到影響的營運問題的影響。我們因 Aviate 而流失的人員確實比我們預期的要多一些。我們顯然面臨同樣的隊長危機，請原諒。但我們在人員升級方面還有些不足。我們確實有能力提升人員素質，而且我們也確實做到了。但我認為這些可能是最主要的問題。

The other point of it is, we mentioned that we thought that there was maybe some more efficient scheduling. I think we have more block hours available to us in the CRJ flying. United took a particularly conservative approach in the transition. We think that as we've now gotten people and equipment and spare parts where they need to be, I think there's some more confidence in terms of that. That was not an insignificant reduction over what our crew max said we could fly.

另一點是，我們提到我們認為可能有一些更有效的調度。我認為 CRJ 飛行有更多的可用時間。曼聯在轉型過程中採取了特別保守的態度。我們認為，由於我們現在已經將人員、設備和備件送到了需要的地方，我認為對此更有信心。這與我們最大機組人員所說的可以飛行的數量相比，並不是一個微不足道的減少。

So I think that those -- one of the areas that we've talked about is we probably can fly more CRJ hours. And what's interesting is that when you do look at us compared to the other regional carriers, from at least what we can tell from the data we see, our actual utilization across the fleet, in other words total number of hours divided by the total number of aircraft in the CPA, is almost identical to the other operators. So it's not as if we're doing -- flying less and not holding our own. We're actually doing a pretty good job on pilots vis-a-vis the other carriers. But it was just a question of the transition in building up those hours. And now we have to continue to focus primarily on pushing up hours in the E-Jets, which, as you can imagine, is sort of the aircraft of choice going forward, to a large degree.

所以我認為我們討論過的領域之一是我們可能可以飛行更多的 CRJ 時間。有趣的是，當你將我們與其他區域性航空公司進行比較時，至少從我們看到的數據中可以看出，我們整個機隊的實際利用率，換句話說，總小時數除以總小時數CPA 的飛機數量與其他業者幾乎相同。所以，我們不是在做──減少飛行次數，不堅持自己的飛行。事實上，與其他航空公司相比，我們在飛行員方面做得非常好。但這只是建立這些時間的過渡問題。現在我們必須繼續主要專注於延長 E-Jets 的飛行時間，正如你可以想像的那樣，它在很大程度上是未來的首選飛機。

Do you want to add anything, Mike, on that?

麥克，你想對此補充什麼嗎？

No, I think we just had -- we did have fewer upgrades than we had planned. We are scheduling our FOs to upgrade as they qualify with hours, but we had fewer than we anticipated. But our projections going forward, that number starts to increase as we do more and more of these upgrade classes of our first officers. We also are going to have a pretty major emphasis on this direct-entry captain program in cooperation with United. That's been extended a couple of times, and we're going to come out with some -- at least try to capitalize on that program as well.

不，我認為我們的升級確實比計劃的要少。我們正在安排我們的 FO 升級，因為它們有資格獲得小時數，但我們的時間比我們預期的要少。但我們的預測是，隨著我們對副駕駛進行越來越多的升級課程，這個數字會開始增加。我們也將非常重視與曼聯合作的直接進入隊長計畫。這個期限已經延長了幾次，我們將推出一些——至少也嘗試利用該計劃。

And our next question comes from Helane Becker with TD Cowen.

我們的下一個問題來自 Helane Becker 和 TD Cowen。

Question about the current portion of debt. I think -- and I have a clarification question. Torque, I think you said you had $26 million in debt repayment scheduled, I wasn't sure, is that calendar '23 remaining? Or is that just the fourth quarter? And then how are you thinking about refinancing that debt that's due over the next year? Or are you intending to pay it as it's due?

關於當前債務部分的問題。我想——我有一個澄清問題。 Torque，我想你說過你計劃償還 2600 萬美元的債務，我不確定，日曆 23 還剩下嗎？還是說這只是第四季？那麼您如何考慮為明年到期的債務進行再融資？或是您打算按期付款嗎？

Thanks, Helane. That's a great question. So debt remaining in 2023 is in the fiscal year, not the calendar year. So that's a comment on there, if that makes sense. And obviously, we're looking to -- we're working on selling assets and retiring debt that way. But if we do need to look at refinancing something, that's certainly something we would consider.

謝謝，海蘭。這是一個很好的問題。因此，2023 年的剩餘債務屬於財政年度，而不是日曆年度。所以這是一個評論，如果有道理的話。顯然，我們正在努力以這種方式出售資產和償還債務。但如果我們確實需要考慮再融資，我們肯定會考慮。

Okay. That's helpful. And then the other question I have, just on clarification on the purchase agreement and the potential for 15 more, the $3 million, the $2 million per quarter and the $1 million, that's not all per aircraft? That's just in the aggregate, the total amount, right? I know that's probably a dumb question, but I just want to make sure I get that right.

好的。這很有幫助。然後我還有另一個問題，只是關於購買協議的澄清以及另外 15 架飛機的潛力，即 300 萬美元、每季度 200 萬美元和 100 萬美元，這不是每架飛機的全部嗎？這只是總數，對嗎？我知道這可能是一個愚蠢的問題，但我只是想確保我回答正確。

Yes.

是的。

It's in the aggregate?

是綜合起來的嗎？

Yes, it's the aggregate.

是的，這是總量。

Yes. Okay. That's perfect. And then, Jonathan, so in the current FAA bill, it's clear that the FAA is going to let pilots fly a couple of -- or I guess, the negotiation still lets them fly 2 more years but not change the 1,500-hour rule. So it looks like that's going to be with us and continue to be with us for a while. Do you guys think about hiring retired captains from the other airlines that might still want to fly but that were kind of forced out during the pandemic and are maybe only 58 or 60 or 61 and nabbing them for another few years? Or does that not make financial sense?

是的。好的。那很完美。然後，喬納森，在當前的 FAA 法案中，很明顯 FAA 將允許飛行員飛行幾次——或者我猜，談判仍然允許他們再飛行 2 年，但不會改變 1,500 小時的規則。所以看起來這將伴隨我們並繼續伴隨我們一段時間。你們是否考慮從其他航空公司僱用退休機長，這些機長可能仍然想飛行，但在大流行期間被迫離開，可能只有 58 歲、60 歲或 61 歲，然後再讓他們工作幾年？還是這沒有經濟意義？

No, I think, look, we're looking at all the different possibilities. I mean, if people are direct-entry captains, people are qualified, I mean I think we're paying a $100,000-plus bonus to people who are bringing that. And we are going to announce shortly some new programs to further enhance that in order to get the direct-entry captain or what they call high time first officers.

不，我想，我們正在考慮所有不同的可能性。我的意思是，如果人們是直接進入的隊長，那麼他們就是合格的，我的意思是我認為我們將向那些帶來這種資格的人支付超過 10 萬美元的獎金。我們很快就會宣布一些新計劃，以進一步加強這一點，以獲得直接進入的船長或他們所說的高級副駕駛。

Right now, we have almost, I think, 2,000 applicants who have qualifications to be pilots. The problem with that, of course, is that everybody is basically struggling to find captains. And the reason why the captains are gone is because the more qualified FOs through this hyper attrition that we're facing, due to the shortage, have all moved up.

現在，我想，我們有近 2,000 名擁有飛行員資格的申請人。當然，問題在於每個人都在努力尋找隊長。隊長們離開的原因是因為我們面臨著因短缺而面臨的過度減員，更合格的FO都已經升職了。

I think that what we've done is to say, "Look, let's just create a pipeline," which we do through MPD. We have the Aviate program, which then guarantees the jobs to the United. Aviate, thankfully, was restructured. That now requires those folks to become captain. They can no longer sit in the right seat and wait to become hired by United. They have to have what basically equates out to at least 2 years of time as a captain.

我認為我們所做的就是說，“看，讓我們創建一個管道”，我們透過 MPD 來做到這一點。我們有 Aviate 計劃，該計劃可以保證美聯航的就業機會。值得慶幸的是，Aviate 進行了重組。現在要求這些人成為隊長。他們不能再坐在正確的位置上等待被曼聯聘用。他們必須有至少兩年的隊伍長時間。

Once that kicks in -- and they did give -- and they grandfathered some of the existing people, but once that kicks in, I think the industry will start to right itself because folks will be out there saying, "If we hire you, you're going to have to accept an upgrade when you're capable of doing it." And particularly at Mesa, as a result of our participation in Aviate, and I think 85% of our pilots are signed up for Aviate, will, in fact, get upgraded rather than being lifetime first officers.

一旦這種情況開始發生——他們確實付出了——並且他們對一些現有的人進行了祖父待遇，但一旦這種情況開始發生，我認為這個行業將開始自我糾正，因為人們會在那裡說，“如果我們僱用你，當你有能力的時候，你就必須接受升級。”特別是在梅薩，由於我們參與了 Aviate，我認為我們 85% 的飛行員都註冊了 Aviate，事實上他們將獲得升級，而不是終身擔任副駕駛。

Back in the old days, that expression was well known as up or out, you didn't have a choice. I think that you're going to see that more and more frequently in these programs where the pilots will, in fact, be put in a position to upgrade. And I think that will ultimately solve this issue regarding upgradable first officers. But it will take time to wash through the system.

在過去，這句話眾所周知，「up or out，你別無選擇」。我認為你會越來越頻繁地在這些項目中看到飛行員實際上將處於升級的位置。我認為這將最終解決有關可升級副駕駛的問題。但清洗系統需要時間。

And clearly, that's the thing that we're preparing by having this stream of pilots coming in, all of whom never reached upgrade and are in the Aviate program. So it will take time. And that's why in Mike's projections, we think that we can get there by the end of '24, fiscal '24, we can be at our targeted block hours, which will generate the kind of margins that we need because, clearly, the situation has to change. There's no doubt about that. And thankfully, we have United that agrees with us and knows that things need to be done right now to see us through to that point. And I feel very confident that they'll do that.

顯然，這就是我們正在準備的事情，讓這群飛行員加入，所有這些飛行員都從未達到升級，並且都在 Aviate 計劃中。所以需要時間。這就是為什麼在麥克的預測中，我們認為我們可以在 24 世紀 24 財年年底之前實現這一目標，我們可以達到目標時段，這將產生我們需要的利潤，因為，顯然，情況必須改變。毫無疑問。值得慶幸的是，曼聯同意我們的觀點，並且知道現在需要採取行動才能讓我們走到這一步。我非常有信心他們會做到這一點。

Your next question comes from Andrew Didora with Bank of America.

您的下一個問題來自美國銀行的安德魯·迪多拉。

Torque, just a question on the cost savings from the sale of all these incremental CRJs and engines, just trying to understand what the cash flow impact of that would be. So from a cost savings perspective, is that mostly D&A? Or is that a combination of D&A, is it interest expense? Are there some other cash operating costs that you have on these aircraft right now? Just trying to get a sense of the cash flow benefit.

扭矩，只是一個關於銷售所有這些增量 CRJ 和發動機節省成本的問題，只是想了解這對現金流的影響是什麼。那麼從節省成本的角度來看，這主要是 D&A 嗎？或是 D&A 的組合，是利息費用嗎？目前這些飛機上還有其他現金營運成本嗎？只是想了解現金流的好處。

Yes. We're primarily looking at elimination of the interest and depreciation. That's the biggest piece. But also when you have aircraft, unless they're in storage, you have to maintain them. And there's a certain amount of expenses associated with keeping them active. And so the sooner we can get these sold, the biggest piece is certainly the interest and depreciation, but there's also some other cost savings that we probably see on the maintenance side just because we have few aircraft to work on and maintain.

是的。我們主要考慮消除利息和折舊。這是最大的一塊。但當你擁有飛機時，除非它們處於儲存狀態，否則你必須維護它們。保持它們的活躍需要一定的費用。因此，我們越早出售這些飛機，最大的部分肯定是利息和折舊，但我們可能會在維護方面看到一些其他成本節省，因為我們幾乎沒有飛機可以維修和維護。

And I also think, too, Andrew, one of the things that Torque mentioned and I think it really is important to restate again, is that we have not sold anything that we haven't generated cash from the sale. And so I think that it took a little while of us to convince United and convince other parties. But all of our sales, even the aircraft that we sold that had 100% run-out engines, were sold at above our debt balance. And so when you look at all these sales, not only do they take expense off of our income statement and improve our cash flow, but they also will generate cash. And Torque can walk through that, but it's not an insignificant amount of cash. We've actually built up a fair amount of equity in all these aircraft and, in particular, in the engines.

我也認為，安德魯，托克提到的一件事，我認為再次重申確實很重要，就是我們沒有出售任何我們沒有從銷售中產生現金的東西。所以我認為我們花了一些時間來說服曼聯和其他各方。但我們所有的銷售，甚至是我們銷售的發動機 100% 耗盡的飛機，都是以高於我們的債務餘額的價格出售的。因此，當你查看所有這些銷售時，它們不僅會從我們的損益表中扣除費用並改善我們的現金流，而且還會產生現金。 Torque 可以解決這個問題，但這並不是一筆小數目的現金。實際上，我們已經在所有這些飛機上建立了相當多的股權，特別是在發動機上。

Got it. Okay. That's helpful. And then, Jonathan, you mentioned about 150 more pilots you need to reach kind of the United's targeted utilization rate next year. I guess, like what are the milestones needed? Or like what are some of the things we should be on the lookout for or goals that you have from a pilot perspective, just to give us more confidence as we move through fiscal '24 that you're on track for meeting this goal?

知道了。好的。這很有幫助。然後，喬納森，您提到您還需要大約 150 名飛行員才能達到美聯航明年的目標利用率。我想，需要什麼里程碑？或者從試點的角度來看，我們應該專注於哪些事情或您設定的目標，只是為了讓我們更有信心在 24 財年實現這一目標？

Yes, Andrew, look, I can't even begin to tell you how frustrating the fact that Mesa's numbers are where they are. And we are, in fact, flying utilization at the same levels as other carriers, the other operators of large regional jets. So that, in itself, is frustrating. But we need 150 pilots, which again, just seems that 150 pilots is 150 people that we need to find. Now obviously, we have the issue of retention, and we do lose captains, obviously, as we go. We actually lost a little bit more than we had anticipated earlier. But that was just due to an issue with Aviate, which has since been resolved. And I think that we're going to have to rely on bringing in some of the direct-entry captains, although you can count the number on one hand how many we need per month to make these numbers.

是的，安德魯，聽著，我甚至無法告訴你梅薩的數據是多麼令人沮喪。事實上，我們的飛行利用率與其他航空公司、大型支線飛機的其他業者處於相同水準。因此，這本身就令人沮喪。但我們需要 150 名飛行員，這又好像 150 名飛行員就是我們需要找到的 150 個人。現在顯然，我們面臨著保留問題，而且我們確實失去了隊長，顯然，隨著我們的發展。事實上，我們的損失比我們之前預期的要多一些。但這只是由於 Aviate 的問題造成的，該問題現已解決。我認為我們將不得不依靠引進一些直接進入的隊長，儘管你可以用一隻手數出我們每個月需要多少人才能達到這些數字。

And then we absolutely need to ensure that our first officers who are coming up for upgrade are capable and able to upgrade, which we're putting a lot of energy into that as well, so that we have qualified people. Because the fact of the matter is, we're not going to upgrade anyone who's not capable. So I think that that's probably the biggest area is just, once we get the Aviate program kicking in where pilots will be required to upgrade, I think all that helps, which is why we feel confident that we can get to that number once we have the benefit of that as well.

然後我們絕對需要確保我們即將升級的副駕駛有能力並且能夠升級，我們也在這方面投入了大量精力，以便我們擁有合格的人員。因為事實是，我們不會升級任何沒有能力的人。所以我認為這可能是最大的領域，一旦我們啟動 Aviate 計劃，飛行員將需要升級，我認為所有這些都會有所幫助，這就是為什麼我們有信心一旦我們達到這個數字這樣做的好處也是如此。

So between those three, just the natural upgrade of people who would be coming along, the Aviate program kicking in requiring people to upgrade and the direct-entry captain positions should give us enough oomph, assuming attrition levels stay where they are, that we should be okay. As I mentioned, we've actually reduced the number of FOs that we hire pretty significantly as everyone else has. And now we're focusing strictly on direct-entry captains or high time FOs in terms of our new hires.

因此，在這三者之間，只要人員自然升級，Aviate 計劃就要求人員升級，直接進入機長職位應該會給我們帶來足夠的吸引力，假設人員流失水平保持不變，我們應該好好地。正如我所提到的，與其他公司一樣，我們實際上已經大幅減少了我們僱用的 FO 數量。現在，我們在新員工方面嚴格關注直接入職的船長或高級FO。

Anything else, Mike?

還有什麼嗎，麥克？

No, I think, Andrew, just as far as gauging where we are, we'll know each quarter based on how many block hours we're flying because our partners aren't holding us back on pilot block hours.

不，我想，安德魯，就衡量我們的情況而言，我們每個季度都會根據我們飛行的飛行時間來了解，因為我們的合作夥伴不會在飛行員飛行時間方面阻礙我們。

Yes. I mean, initially, we would have probably hoped to have been a little more aggressive on the CRJ. But obviously, with everything going on in the industry, the majors are a little reticent. The delays and cancellations get a lot of attention from the government and from the press. So I think they were a little conservative, which is understandable. But I think now that we've proven that these aircraft can fly reliably, I think there's more room in the CRJ schedule, for example, which would help significantly.

是的。我的意思是，最初，我們可能希望對 CRJ 採取更積極的態度。但顯然，隨著業界發生的一切，各大巨頭都有點沉默寡言。延誤和取消引起了政府和媒體的廣泛關注。所以我認為他們有點保守，這是可以理解的。但我認為現在我們已經證明這些飛機可以可靠地飛行，我認為 CRJ 時間表中有更多空間，這將有很大幫助。

The one thing that I will tell you that both United and Mesa underestimated was the sensitivity to our numbers based on just a few aircraft flying. So I think that as we get that resolved and future schedule changes are already addressing that, I think we'll be in far better shape just with the existing crew staff that we have, and that's without increasing any numbers.

我要告訴你的一件事是，美聯航和梅薩都低估了我們基於幾架飛機飛行的數字的敏感度。因此，我認為，當我們解決這個問題並且未來的時間表變化已經解決了這個問題時，我認為我們現有的機組人員的情況會好得多，而且這還不需要增加任何數量。

Our next question comes from Michael Linenberg with Deutsche Bank.

我們的下一個問題來自德意志銀行的麥可‧林伯格（Michael Linenberg）。

Jonathan, just getting back to that target block-hour number for United by the end of next year, I think you or Torque mentioned 4% to 6% per quarter. Now is that a year-over-year number? Or is that sequential from where we are today on a block-hour production basis?

喬納森，回到明年年底曼聯的目標塊小時數，我想你或託克提到了每季 4% 到 6%。這是同比數字嗎？或者說，這與我們今天在區塊小時生產基礎上的情況是連續的嗎？

Sequential.

順序的。

Okay. And then with respect to with your first officers, and I want to go back and just kind of touch on the point that you made that you have the ability to upgrade pilots to captains, I think, unlike your competitors. And you talked about they get to -- or they're scheduled for an upgrade. I think at a lot of carriers, it's on a voluntary basis. Do you see a falloff or high attrition in first officers when they get to that point where they're supposed to upgrade to captain, where they elect to not become a junior captain, and decide at that point in time to break from the company and maybe go elsewhere? Is that a potential breakpoint? Or is that an issue that you've been seeing?

好的。然後，關於你們的副駕駛，我想回顧一下你們提出的觀點，我認為你們有能力將飛行員升級為機長，這與你們的競爭對手不同。您談到他們將要進行升級，或者他們計劃進行升級。我認為在很多運營商中，這是自願的。當副機長達到了他們應該升級為機長的程度，他們選擇不成為初級機長，並在那時決定脫離連隊並也許去別的地方？這是一個潛在的斷點嗎？或者這是您一直看到的問題？

No, we haven't really seen it. The numbers are not that big, so it would be hard to really put a finger on it. But I don't think we have people saying, "Oh, gee, I'm going to be forced to upgrade. I need to go somewhere else." Because most of those folks -- remember, 85% of our pilots are in Aviate. They do not want to leave Aviate just because they may have to upgrade. And we work with people, but I think the fact of the matter is, no, it hasn't been a problem. And again, once the Aviate requirement kicks in entirely, we clearly -- I firmly believe this issue will go away.

不，我們還沒有真正看到它。數字並沒有那麼大，所以很難真正掌握它。但我不認為有人會說：“哦，天哪，我將被迫升級。我需要去其他地方。”因為大多數人 - 請記住，我們 85% 的飛行員都在 Aviate。他們不想僅僅因為可能需要升級而離開 Aviate。我們與人合作，但我認為事實是，不，這不是問題。再說一次，一旦 Aviate 要求完全生效，我們顯然——我堅信這個問題將會消失。

The problem also, to be frank, we created ourselves, because the first officer pay went up so much, I have FOs coming up to the airport saying, "Gee whiz, I've never even dreamed of making this much money." And the fact of the matter is being an FO is, in itself, not a bad job. I mean our pay for starting FOs is $100 an hour. So I think we created a little bit ourselves, maybe the differential should have been greater between FO and captains. But it is what it is, and we'll deal with it.

坦白說，這個問題也是我們自己造成的，因為副駕駛的工資上漲了很多，我的財務總監來到機場說：“天啊，我從來沒有夢想過能賺這麼多錢。”事實上，擔任 FO 本身並不是一份糟糕的工作。我的意思是，我們起始 FO 的薪水是每小時 100 美元。所以我認為我們自己創造了一點，也許FO和隊長之間的差異應該更大。但這就是事實，我們會處理它。

I do think that United making the change in Aviate will be what will really make things work as well as the fact that all the new people coming in are well aware of what's going on, and I think that will help us down the road as these folks are put in a position to upgrade.

我確實認為曼聯對 Aviate 做出的改變將真正讓事情順利進行，而且所有新加入的人都清楚地了解正在發生的事情，我認為這將幫助我們走上這條路，因為這些人們可以升級。

Okay. And then just the last one, just on completion factor. Clearly, you look at the difference between your controllable completion factor and your total completion factor. And I just -- you look at the daily data. And the fact is you can see that your partners, in this case, your partner, in many cases, are telling you that you have to cancel, right, that they're going to dispatch, I don't know, the flight to London rather than a flight to Presque Isle, Maine. What sort of financial impact, though, is that having on you? You're doing well on a completion basis, at least on a controllable completion basis, but it's got to put airplanes and crews out of sync, and it's got to have some sort of cost. Is that a margin point or 2 where you're getting hit every quarter because you're being told to stand down and not cancel the flight by your partner?

好的。然後是最後一項，只是關於完成因素。顯然，您會看到可控完成因子和總完成因子之間的差異。我只是——你看看每日數據。事實上，你可以看到你的合作夥伴，在這種情況下，你的合作夥伴，在很多情況下，告訴你你必須取消，對，他們將派遣，我不知道，航班到倫敦而不是飛往緬因州普雷斯克島的班機。但這對您有什麼樣的財務影響？你在完成的基礎上做得很好，至少在可控的完成的基礎上，但它必須讓飛機和機組人員不同步，並且必須有某種成本。是不是每季你都會受到打擊，因為你的伴侶告訴你要停下來，不要取消航班？

Yes, I think the bigger issue is not the day-to-day cancels that we have. And look, I mean, we all had operational issues. The transition could have gone a little bit smoother. There was a little bit -- there was a point in time when I think some aircraft will probably move too quickly out of Dallas to Houston. I think those kinds of things probably were more of it. The bigger issue that we have is just being able to fly to crew max. We're doing -- we're flying to crew max on the E-Jets right now, but I think we could fly to crew max on the CRJs. And I think if we have scheduled this E-Jets more efficiently, we could create spare aircraft just by putting more hours per shell on each aircraft, and that would ultimately then create more spares.

是的，我認為更大的問題不是我們每天的取消。我的意思是，我們都遇到了營運問題。過渡本來可以更順利一些。有一點——在某個時間點，我認為有些飛機可能會太快從達拉斯飛往休士頓。我認為這類事情可能更多。我們面臨的更大問題是能否達到最大載客量。我們正在做——我們現在正在E-噴射機上飛行到最大載員量，但我認為我們可以在CRJ上飛行到最大載員量。我認為，如果我們更有效地安排這架 E-Jets，我們只需在每架飛機上投入更多的時間來製造備用飛機，最終就會創造出更多的備用飛機。

So I think that there are solutions to this that, working with United, we're able to do. I don't think the problem is the day-to-day cancellations. It's just the planned block hours. Those numbers have to go up. And as you can imagine, United has been fairly conservative given all the attention that completion rate and on-time performance has been given by the government officials as well as the press right now.

所以我認為，透過與曼聯合作，我們能夠找到解決方案。我認為問題不在於日常的取消。這只是計劃的阻塞時間。這些數字必須上升。正如你可以想像的那樣，鑑於政府官員和媒體目前對完成率和準時表現的關注，曼聯一直相當保守。

Our next question comes from Savi Syth with Raymond James.

我們的下一個問題來自薩維·賽斯和雷蒙德·詹姆斯。

Just 2 quick ones based on the questions so far. Just do you have kind of a target you can give us for cash or something like that, maybe cash and debt, when all of this is done? I appreciate the kind of the fiscal year-end debt level that you gave. But given that a lot of the sales are happening by kind of calendar year, I was wondering if you can give a little bit of color of where this all ends as you get through some of those sales. And if I might, just also, what was the revenue mix of kind of cargo and lease in this quarter now that most of it is focused on United flying?

根據到目前為止的問題，只有 2 個快速答案。當所有這些都完成後，您是否有一個目標可以給我們現金或類似的東西，也許是現金和債務？我很欣賞您給予的財政年度結束債務水準。但考慮到很多銷售都是按日曆年進行的，我想知道當你完成其中一些銷售時，你是否可以給出一些關於這一切結束的顏色。如果我可以的話，請問本季貨運和租賃的收入組合是多少，因為大部分都集中在美聯航航班上？

Well, on the revenue piece, I think the United portion is going to be like 97%, and the cargo will be 2% or 3% on debt distribution. As far as cash, we don't have any -- we're not putting out any projections. It's really going to be highly dependent on not only the sales of most of these surplus assets, but the timing of them. Obviously, the quicker we can get rid of some of these 900 assets, the more benefit will be to us. So we're just not putting any long-term projections on cash right now. And it will be highly dependent on when we sell these surplus 900 assets that we have, aircraft engines, parts, whatnot.

嗯，在收入方面，我認為聯合航空部分將佔 97%，而貨運部分將佔債務分配的 2% 或 3%。至於現金，我們沒有任何現金——我們不會做出任何預測。這實際上不僅高度依賴大部分剩餘資產的出售，而且還取決於出售的時間。顯然，我們越快擺脫這900項資產中的一些，對我們來說就越有利。因此，我們現在不會對現金做出任何長期預測。這將在很大程度上取決於我們何時出售我們擁有的這 900 項剩餘資產，包括飛機引擎、零件等。

Yes. And even when we close on the aircraft that we're already contracted for, I mean, that is not an insignificant number in itself.

是的。我的意思是，即使我們關閉了已經簽訂合約的飛機，這本身也不是一個微不足道的數字。

Is there a certain target you want to kind of keep cash at that you don't want to kind of go below?

您是否希望保留現金，但又不想低於某個目標？

I'd say our target is as much as possible, but I'm trying to think what -- Mike, do you have any idea where are we -- I think -- let me answer that. Obviously, we're in constant discussions with United. United is well aware of the situation. We had Board participation for the first time with United at its last Board meeting, which I thought was incredibly productive. I think that we all understand that the problem needs to get solved, and that it's going to take cooperation from United to do that, which they have made it incredibly clear that they intend to do, that Mesa is an important part of the family. We are certainly part of the balancing of all the equipment.

我想說我們的目標是盡可能多，但我正在思考——麥克，你知道我們在哪裡嗎——我想——讓我回答這個問題。顯然，我們正在與曼聯進行不斷的討論。曼聯很清楚目前的情況。在上一次董事會會議上，我們首次與曼聯一起參加了董事會，我認為這次會議非常有成效。我認為我們都明白這個問題需要解決，並且需要曼聯的合作才能做到這一點，他們已經非常明確地表示他們打算這樣做，梅薩是這個家庭的重要組成部分。我們當然是所有設備平衡的一部分。

I mean, if you look at it, the 2 other operators of large regional jets operate about the same number of aircraft that we do. We actually operate a little more than one of them. So I think that United understands that and knows what needs to be done to help get this fixed, and we'll do what it takes to ensure that our cash balances are at an adequate level that we can operate the business without being what I would call cash strapped. We do operate a little bit differently than the other operators in terms of cash. We've historically done that. But nonetheless, I think we all feel that we need a healthy balance in order to operate the business on a day-to-day basis at the level that United requires us to do.

我的意思是，如果你看一下，其他兩家大型支線飛機運營商運營的飛機數量與我們大致相同。實際上，我們經營的不僅僅是其中之一。因此，我認為美聯航明白這一點，並且知道需要採取哪些措施來解決這個問題，我們將盡一切努力確保我們的現金餘額處於足夠的水平，以便我們能夠運營業務，而不會像我想像的那樣打電話現金緊張。在現金方面，我們的營運方式確實與其他業者略有不同。我們歷史上就這麼做過。但儘管如此，我認為我們都認為我們需要健康的平衡，以便按照曼聯要求的水平日常運營業務。

I'm showing no other questions at this time.

我目前沒有提出其他問題。

Okay. Well, let me just wrap up in conclusion. Again, we're not particularly pleased with these numbers. We know that things have to change. I mean the good news is that we feel we have a very strong partner to help make that happen with us. They've been very supportive, will continue to be supportive. We didn't mention much about the cargo business, but the cargo business has actually been consistent, steady this quarter. I think there could be opportunities down the road in terms of cargo. But nonetheless, our focus has been primarily just on -- continues to be on the whole pilot situation.

好的。好吧，讓我總結一下。同樣，我們對這些數字並不是特別滿意。我們知道事情必須改變。我的意思是，好消息是我們覺得我們有一個非常強大的合作夥伴來幫助我們實現這一目標。他們一直非常支持，並將繼續支持。我們沒有過多提及貨運業務，但本季貨運業務實際上一直保持穩定。我認為在貨運方面未來可能會有機會。但儘管如此，我們的重點仍然主要集中在整個試點情況上。

And I think it goes without saying that if things were different in terms of regulation, none of this would be happening right now. And I think at this point, all we're doing is focusing on getting through this bubble to the point where we can get back up to the target utilization which -- by the way, I think it's fair to add that target utilization is actually below where we had been operating in the past and that our financial results will reflect numbers that, in the past, we were able to achieve even at lower utilization rates than we were.

我認為不言而喻，如果監管方面有所不同，那麼現在這一切都不會發生。我認為在這一點上，我們所做的就是專注於度過這個泡沫，直到我們可以回到目標利用率——順便說一句，我認為公平地說，目標利用率實際上是低於我們過去的營運水平，我們的財務表現將反映過去我們即使在利用率較低的情況下也能實現的數字。

So I think that the targets are doable. I think we have the means in place. And most importantly, I think we have the support that we need from United to make all this happen.

所以我認為目標是可行的。我認為我們有適當的手段。最重要的是，我認為我們得到了曼聯所需的支持來實現這一切。

So thank you very much. We will talk to you next quarter. We appreciate your time.

非常感謝。我們將在下個季度與您交談。我們感謝您的寶貴時間。

Thank you. That does conclude today's conference. You may disconnect at this time, and thank you for joining.

謝謝。今天的會議到此結束。您此時可能會斷開連接，感謝您的加入。