Originally Posted by
Ernst Kessler
Yes Pinnacle senior guys are a lead anchor, but the biggest problem is the inefficiencies. Pilots who are seat swapping only to not fly for 4 months while they are paying others 200% due to short staffing is more of the real issue. Pay differences of only 5-10 per hour isn't really that large in the grand scheme of things. Jet fuel is the real drag. The simple fact that the true CASM is considerably more than RASM is a deal killer.
Pinnacles big problem is they have way too many CRJ-200's with a handful of 900's. 200's simply are not profitable. Delta can't keep on flying routes that are a financial drain year after year. Tickets are bought no more than 6-9 months in advance. I see Delta winding down the 200 operation quickly. You just can't keep running an unprofitable branch of an operation.
It is really not the 200, that plane makes money under the right circumstances. The issue is none of the legacy carriers have done any significant hiring in the last 10 years. This creates 2 problems. One is that pilots are stuck at regionals for a long time, thus increasing their seniority and pay. Second, once said pilots get to that top payscale at the regional they start to get in the mindset of "its not worth it" when they look at the paycut and QOL hits they would take if they went from RJ Captain to Mainline FO.