Originally Posted by
ShyGuy
Yes to the above.
I'd say that's fairly accurate. There is no more money to be made in the regional industry in terms of buying them and then selling them or IPOing them. XJ was offloaded because Delta didn't want to own regionals unless it could really screw them into lower cost first. XJ gone, and Compass gone too. Next, they wanted a CEO yes man and Menke wasn't it. They got their yes man and the ensuing BK and forced concessions worked. Then they "bought" 9E corp and will get out of 140 CRJ-200s leases much earlier than previously planned. At this stage, and I hate to say it, but Gumm is a shut down guy. If you are Delta, right now you use Endeavor to force the other DCI carriers (SkyWest, ASA/ExpressJet, GoJet, etc) to force cost reductions (which very likely will be labor cost reductions) and then proceed to shut Endeavor down.
I don't see them shutting 9E down. Not that I wouldn't leave at the first opportunity, I just think they have made something that really benefits Delta.
I think in the next 6-8 months we will have answers to 2 important questions:
1. When Endeavor gets awarded more flying and airplanes we can put to rest the shutdown theory.
2. When 12 9E guys a month are sitting in DAL classes we will see the SSP coming to fruition.