Originally Posted by
Hedley
Why would the 550 necessarily go to one company over another if G7 were to fail? Couldn’t they just as easily go to Mesa or SkyWest as they could go to Air Wisconsin? I’m not wishing harm to employees at any company, but in an industry where the legacies seem to be consolidating their regional feed, why would they keep it spread out rather than further consolidate it? Couldn’t we expect that equipment to be open for bidding? Why would United shift those assets to Air Wisconsin if Mesa for example were to do the job for less and allow further consolidation?
Money. Mesa has the airframes. SkyWest doesn't want them. Mesa doesn't want to operate them. They don't have the established infrastructure in place at the bases it'll fly from AND the leases are to UA - UA is paying the lease so it's way more revenue than operating the aircraft.
AW and GJ both have the infrastructure. UA told Mesa they like single fleet airlines. I could see AW getting them or perhaps even some of them. Mesa does not care where they go - but they are not going to operate them. Something drastic would have to happen for that to even be a possibility at this point.