Originally Posted by
John Pennekamp
I would have to ask how long you have at Comair. If you have less than two years, it might be worth it to jump ship to Mesaba. They just announced they got the 15 -900s and their upgrade is what 2 years? Comair doesn't seem to be making a comeback anytime soon. For Mesaba and Pinnacle, the sky seems to be the limit. They seem the be The Chosen Ones in The New Delta.
I agree with most of what you have said except I am not sure if Pinnacle is one of the chosen by Delta. Mesaba is getting the 7 Freedom CRJ9s that is currently being operated by Pinnacle. Anderson interview indicated he wants to stay with wholly owned regionals for expansion. This is why it is somewhat puzzling why DAL seems to be turning away from Comair. Could be because Comair is overweight with 50 seat RJs. Don't know. Maybe you know better than most of us.
Upgrade time is changing even as we speak so don't know what it would be in two months for CRJ900 or Saab CA slots. Right now the upgrade into the Saab is quick (like less than 7 months) if you have the ATP minimums because they moved a bunch of Saab CAs to CRJ9 upgrades but the upgrade in the CRJ2 and CRJ9s have slowed to a crawl.
15 additional CRJ9 should make the movement a little faster.