Originally Posted by
NuGuy
There was certainly no trouble "implementing the changes" when scope was going in the other direction, where hundereds of DAL and NWA pilots were laid off while Comair, ASA, Pinnacle and whoever else were hiring 100's of pilots a year.
Originally Posted by
forgot to bid
Add to the misery for mainline operations the attacks in 2001 (that came via hijacked airliners no less)...Hence, mainline lost jobs and regionals gained jobs...The question is what next? Shrink DCI, we see that possibly coming and ACL has mentioned Comair being in the crosshairs but what if DCI shrinks? Do we necessarily get the flying back and see an increase in our size?
Originally Posted by
acl65pilot
I prefer to say that the early outs accounted for the change in work rules and the other individuals that were thrown on the street were due to RJ's. Add to it that DAL's block hrs grew (All not mainline) and those pilots stayed on the street. DCI exploded.
I'd like to take a moment to defend Comair since these posts make it sound like we're awash with Delta's flying and money.
For what it's worth, DCI's "Explosion" was not Comair's "explosion":
March 2001 - 1350 Comair pilots.
September 2009 - 989 Comair pilots.
Comair's pilot group has shrunk by 27% since the strike in 2001.
True, Comair's pilot group grew by 120 pilots a year from 2001 to 2005, but Delta has since spread that flying amongst several new players in an effort to find even cheaper alternatives to Comair/ASA. Delta has sent 45% of Comair's fleet to the desert or "awarded" them to other DCI carriers.
So you have to look past Comair to find the guys flying all those Delta hours.
For example, start by asking yourself which regionals were unknowns in 2001 and today have grown large enough to be buying up other airlines, plus squirrel away enough of Delta's cash to spot US Airways the $300 million they needed to survive Ch11. Or airlines that had enough cash to help Delta to the tune of a half billion in 2005.
In any case, Comair's demise won't bring all those hours back to mainline. Delta has already laundered those hours to the other DCI carriers and apparently the Comair pilots are left holding the bag.