American to reassign a portion of Embraer fleet beginning in 2015
Envoy team:
American Airlines today informed me that it plans to reassign some of its Embraer E145 aircraft that are currently being operated by Envoy and place them with other operators. American has finalized agreements with Trans States and another regional carrier that will be announced in the coming days to operate at least 15 aircraft each.They anticipate that the first of these aircraft will transition beginning next spring. Additionally, American plans to transfer at least 20 more aircraft to Piedmont beginning in the first quarter of 2016.
American has made it clear that the reassignment of E145 aircraft is not a reflection on the quality of service that Envoy employees provide to its customers and the important role we play in American Airlines Group. The sole reason for moving these aircraft is that we have been unable in recent months to attract and retain enough pilots to operate the full schedule that American wants us to fly in 2015, given the number of Envoy pilots flowing through to American each month or leaving due to normal attrition. In today’s competitive environment, pilots seeking an airline career understandably apply to those regional carriers that are actively growing and expanding their fleets. We have the opportunity to expand our fleet if we reach a competitive, cost-effective agreement with our pilots.
Just as we have faced other challenges in our company’s history, Envoy will adapt and respond to these changes. We are working now to determine the exact timing and impact on our people, but it is clear we will need to adjust staffing in certain groups as our flying decreases and aircraft move to other carriers. Other groups, such as Customer Services, will not be impacted by the change.
Our maintenance and engineering organizations will be working very hard throughout this transition to ensure that all of the proper checks have been completed in order to transfer aircraft to other operators. We also are working to have Envoy continue to perform heavy maintenance on the 15 aircraft being awarded to Trans States.
I remain optimistic that we can work together to achieve the competitive costs that will strengthen Envoy and enable us to earn new business. In the meantime, we will continue to do what we do best – run a safe, reliable airline for our customers. We have built Envoy’s reputation on the quality of our service, and we will maintain nothing less than the highest standards of safety and professionalism going forward.
Thank you for all you do – for each other and our customers.
Pedro Fábregas, President & CEO