Originally Posted by
MaxPowerSet
I can't help but wonder when I hear that 108 airplanes are going to leave the fleet over the next 13 to 14 months - how do you replace that much capacity in that short a time? If United or Delta just lets those planes go to the desert without any replacement how are they going to cover that flying and fill their main line aircraft at the hubs? While skywest can pull some airplanes out of the desert (through the loophole in our contract) they can only staff a very limited number. It seems to me like they are still trying to scare us into accepting something less than what we are worth as pilots. While that might work on John B, I would rather walk away than fly for anything less than what we have now.
Well its quite easy. First they never said leave the fleet, just that the contracts expire and they would try to 'correct the rates' under new contracts. There are 70 (40 SKW, 30 Mesa) 175's that are coming online, and they can add more. You could also see a a few of these 145's have new contracts with the reset rates but probably not many. The reduction of 50 seat flying is something United has been very vocal about. They are also under pressure to 'right size' their network as many analysts and investors believe that it is too large and unmanageable.
Not sure how it is a scare tactic, the contracts expire. If they were to say "we need to bring costs more inline or we will be forced to park planes," that would be a scare tactic. They certainly aren't going to extend the contracts at the current rates/terms so it's better to park the aircraft if they cant 'correct the rates.'