Originally Posted by
dead meat
C5 is moving at full speed to get the 175 on their certificate. I think once that happens, United will give them 175's and they will slowly retire the 145. I don't foresee C5 being put out to pasture as long as they can staff a minimum of 40-50 planes. I have no idea how many planes they are currently flying or how many active pilots they have, just estimating the numbers they would need to maintain to remain viable.
Any idea where the 175’s will come from? It is my understanding that the bulk of them operating under the United brand are not owned by United, but by various regionals and therefore can’t be shuffled about. Any idea how many 175’s UAL actually owns, and where they’re currently flying? What business advantage would shifting equipment from the existing contractors to another company like C5 serve? UAX is going to shrink down to the existing number of 175’s and how ever many 550’s they want or can staff. TSA, ExpressJet, and Air Wisconsin were all let go. Where is the fiscal incentive to the corporate bean counters to shift desirable aircraft from current operators to those who only operate aircraft that are slated for retirement? The new FAA weights don’t help the 50 seat cause when they often can’t even take 50 passengers. I’m not trying to stir the pot, but genuinely asking from the perspective of those in power who will make these types of decisions. Why shuffle assets and keep the current number of regionals when they can retire undesirable aircraft and simply continue to do business with those already operating the 175’s?