Originally Posted by
Lighteningspeed
I think we are all speculating at this point but merger between the three is unlikely. Morelikely scenario would be Compass merges with either Mesaba or Comair and then sold off. DAL would raise cash and have the rest to whipsaw against. Merging Mesaba with Comair is unlikely because both has too many senior pilots who would object to the merger whereas merging Compass with Comair or Mesaba would be relatively easy.
Last I heard there are 35 to 37 more 76 seat RJs for bidding in the DAL system. DAL has B777 on order and NWA has B787 on order.
Early buyout for senior Mesaba pilots makes sense for the management as Mesaba has many senior pilots who has at least 20 years in with Mesaba and getting close to age 60 or over.
I'd be shocked to see more Than 10 pilots (out of almost 1200) take this early retirement.... This isn't anywhere close to the buyout offered to the Delta guys a year or two ago..... If Southwest hadn't suspended classes maybe some of those poolies would have taken it but then again if that were the case the company likely wouldn't be offering the early out...