United Airlines has found a soultion to Mesa's staffing problems......

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) - United Airlines, Inc. could ground 100 planes if fuel prices go so high that the flagship carrier of UAL Corp. needs to further trim its growth, said its chief financial officer late Wednesday.


Speaking to investors at an investment banking conference, UAL Chief Financial Officer Frederic "Jake" Brace said the Chicago carrier and its rivals have two major ways to deal with crude-oil prices approaching $100 a barrel:

"Either the industry passes on higher fuel prices or we're going to have to lower capacity," he said in the presentation, which was Web cast.

"We have a lot of flexibility in our fleet," he said, adding the carrier has more than 100 aircraft that it could ground or sell if oil prices get too high. It also has 13 narrow-body planes it plans to take out of service next year.

As far as fares, he said the industry "has done a pretty good job of raising fares, it will need to do a better job at raising fares to offset the price," of fuel.

Like other major carriers, United Airlines has been reining back its domestic flight offerings to make sure more seats are filled when it puts a plane in the air. Those cuts to capacity, which have been echoed by other large carriers, have helped it raise fares, a key element to the airline industry's nascent recovery.

In the third quarter, United Airlines said its traffic fell 0.3% but it cut its capacity even further, by 1.5%, driving up its load factor - or percent of seats filled. Its yields, or average fares, surged over 8%."
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My .02

Guess those 200 new hire pilots UAL just hired, and are just now hitting the line, will need to put in for the Regional F/O positions (they just quit from).

Wow, can you imagine, going from a 3-7 year CPT at a regional, at a ball park of 65-85 per flight hour, to goto United as an F/O with a 35./hr pay, then to be told weeks later, here's your furlough notice.....Go to Mesa they will take you at starting pay!

Guess this will help Mesa since they have plenty of openings!!!! Hope those guys/gals have a good personal bankruptcy attorney.