Originally Posted by
Wingtips
its more than a rumor that Skywest and Republic are not players anymore for AMR flying. You can find a few recent articles in which Skywest vaguely says someone came to them recently for flying and they could not do it for the cost that said company is getting the flying done for now, not even close. Republic flat out said it is done with AMR come March 2013. Transstates and AMR have a bad relationship, I would not expect AMR to ever lease them an airplane again.
Every regional has a big bone to chew right now getting all the FOs typed with ATPs, and adjusting for FT/DT. If they took on flying, and then could not complete the new flying and/or old flying, they get hit with some massive penalties. It seems to be more than a rumor that AMR might not have a real bite for bid out flying.
The swap of Eagle's smaller EMB's for larger RJ's (whomever the manufacturer), likely won't occur till next summer at the earliest. Parker and U could be in control by then and those new aircraft could go anywhere. Likely, some will come to the current Eagle and others will go to one or more of the current U feeders. Eagle will not disappear, but should expect to lose more smaller EMB's vs. gaining larger ones. Once Parker and U start calling the shots, expect a shakeout among the 10 regionals feeding the future AA/U. The current 600 aircraft and 6000 pilot count is too many, IMHO. If the combined mainline doesn't furlough, it will be at least stagnant for a few years and that will produce no movement for those pilots in the AA/U feed network up toward the mainline (likely including those at Eagle with AA seniority numbers).
Deals like this for pilots usually have an inital hangover complete with gas, bloating and heartburn. Let's hope it stops there and doesn't escalate to explosive diarrhea and projectile vomiting.