Originally Posted by
FlyingKat
Shy this same Delta management team allowed Comair (while it was wholly owned by Delta) to bid on RFPs for other airlines while they were owned by Delta. I don't know how to make it any plainer than that for you. Eagle at one time operated codeshares for Northwest on the west coast. If it makes money, they'll do it.
Delta allowed Comair to RFP to string the Comair pilots along on hope and faith. Delta never intended for a wholly owned Comair to get flying for other legacy airlines. Comair pilots had a history of "just sign this or accept this, and gasp, new RFPs and new planes!"
You can say the same thing for the entire industry but people still invest in it and buy companies. FFD makes the mainlines more money than revenue sharing. That is why the entire industry went FFD in the late 90s. Any industry analyst worth his salt will tell you there is going to be lot of consolidation of companies and certificates over the next five years.
FFDs in the regional industry is a dying model. The mainline is going to expose the regional to more costs than before. The regionals are no longer what they were meant to be, a cheap labor force that had constant movement. Now everyone at the regionals is basically topped out, 8-12+ year CAs and lots of 6+ year FOs. Long run, this high labor cost and FFD model is not sustainable. Delta is taking the first step at fixing it and the most proactive of the legacies. 5 years from now, regionals will start to disappear and many regional flights will be done by the 717 at Delta. The regionals will also not be able to get ATP rated pilots for only 23 grand a year. The only way to attract an already short pool of regional applicants is to offer more pay, and it will come to a breaking point where a regional just can't do it at a lower cost than a major. There will be more industry consolidation in the next 5 years, but the regionals will shrink in pilot numbers over that time.