Originally Posted by
djrogs03
I got an email from a buddy last night going through transition training at Pinnacle from the XJ to the 9E side of things...this is what he had to say
"first we all got kicked out of CASS. Getting two days off before training took over 20 emails. They got the name wrong of one of the guys for training and canceled his pay. The contact phone numbers they gave us were some random personal cell phone of someone unrelated to the company in memphis. Most of us only got $20 pay checks. Pinnacle didn't pay any of its bills to its suppliers, so all we have are photocopies of the "important stuff". We've been kicked out of our hotels. Almost all of the instructors have quit. The one we did have, had to excuse himself for a minute when he started crying. He didn't know any of the answers to our questions. About half of the guys here have failed their check rides....mostly for bogus stuff like missing FMA calls, etc. The flows, profiles, and calls are all jacked up, and we've had a different instructor each lesson and all have said to do it a different way. Hahaha. On the plus side I did get a set of wings for my blazer!"
I was also in DSM the other night talking to a Mechanic on the XJ side and he was saying they are in dire need of parts, hence why we are having a larger number of aircraft down for MX, the company just doesnt have the money...he said they used to always carry two spare engines for the 900 and they have been completely scrapped for parts...
Not to mention the unions noneffect on payroll issues...
the end is near or so it seems
Pretty much what I have been experiencing as well. Only insert 9L for 9E. 3 weeks ago I thought we would see parking Saabs and restructure with United and Delta. Now I think there is a serious chance Pinnacle Corp is a goner, but we'll see. This is starting to really remind me of the whole Indy Air deal. First the CFO quits, then the company can't pay its bills and can't get credit for anything. Now a rumor of a white night (Skywest) is floating around. Just replace Branson with Skywest and it is deja vu all over again.
However even Independence Air paid its people properly to the end.
I hope for everyone here that only the Saabs get parked. My gut is telling me Pinnacle will be lucky to hang onto the Pinnacle 200 and Mesaba 900/200 flying and there is a good chance the company liquidates. The reason for this is I don't see how Pinnacle is going to get financing to get through bankruptcy on its own. If the Qs and Pinnacle 900s go back to Bombardier, what assets do you have to get Dip financing with? Delta owns all the other aircraft. Why should anyone finance us in bankruptcy when they could let us liquidate and buy the pieces they want?
Hope this works out for the best for everyone, but things are starting to look pretty bleak right now.