Originally Posted by
iaflyer
As much as I'd like to have DCI airplanes at mainline Delta, I can't see it happening - here's why:
Cost.
While some of the pilot group would like to have the EMB-175s, CRJ-900, CRJ-700, the 50 seater, etc at mainline, the pay rates we would have to accept are far too low. I'm not just talking about the rates that other airlines are currently flying them at.
I'm talking, really low rates to pay for all the other costs that Delta would have to absorb. The DCI airplanes right now are maintained by mechanics being are probably paid less than they are at Delta. The planes are dispatched using dispatchers who are paid less than Delta dispatchers. Cleaned by people making less than Delta cleaners (maybe, they might use the same people). The Flight attendants make less than Delta flight attendants. The gate agents are paid less than Delta gate agents.
Also, each of those employee groups are paid the same whether they are working on a CRJ50 or a CRJ-900 (say, at Pinnacle which fly both I think). Pilots get paid more for a bigger plane - other employee groups don't.
So - let us say Delta said, "let brings over the CRJ-900 to mainline". Pilots will be paid the existing rate that we're paying at Pinnacle. We'd ***** and moan, but in the end, we'd understand that it's the competitive rate. Now other employee groups don't get paid more or less for different sized airplanes. The cost of repairing the CRJ-900 would be at mainline Delta costs - not DCI costs. Same for dispatchers, cleaners, and flight attendants.
So - the cost of dispatching, maintaining, serving drinks, etc on the former DCI plane go up, but the pilot cost would be the same. Well - unless the pilot group can convince the other labor groups to be paid less for flying the CRJ-900, the pilots are going to have to take the cost hit for the airplane to remain profitable.
Who else would take the hit? Management isn't going to operate the plane at a loss just to have more pilots on the payroll. Honestly, people aren't going to pay more to fly a CRJ-900 because it's operated by Delta employees vs DCI employees so we can't raise revenue. Most pax don't even know how the whole code-share system works anyway. The other labor groups aren't going to switch to being paid less to work on a CRJ-900 because it's not in the way their pay system is designed.
So - we might have to work for much less than what current DCI pilots are paid if we want the airplanes at mainline, in order for these sized airplanes to be profitable.
This is what I feel ALPA is saying when they say, "you don't want to work for the pay rates that will bring the plane to mainline."
This one is good, I disagree with most of it and here is why.
Most regional feed operates at a loss. From Delta or American's perspective regional feed is an onboard loss. This is very similar to a telephone company maintaining phone lines, installing fiber optic networks and the other plethora of expenditures associated with providing the entire service. What regional flying does provide is feed. Therefore regional feed in conjunction with larger transcon routes and international routes will typically operate at a profit. I once took a course that analyzed the costs of an American 767 conducting a transcon flight from LGA to LAX. After all things considered, the flight operated at a profit of just under $200, or about $40 an hour for each hour of the flight. Had it not been for cargo below deck the flight would've lost several thousand dollars.
From our perspective the overall operation has to stay profitable, not necessarily the feed. Typically the only people that generate a profit from regional flying are the actual companies providing such flying as they operate under a fee for departure. Therefore, when contrasting a contract feed partner in which Delta must guarantee a profit for their operation vs an owned subsidiary, the owned subsidiary can actually operate at a loss and in the larger picture, provide a savings to Delta. Either guarantee someone else a profit or take a smaller financial hit and record the loss on your own books.
For the most part Delta has contracted out most of the support infrastructure associated with flying. Whether the cleaners in DTW are cleaning a DC-9 vs an E-175, the costs are likely similar. Furthermore, rolling such feed into a larger operation would allow existing dispatchers and schedulers to pick up the existing equipment types without having to mirror an entire operation because it's operated under another certificate.
When considering all the factors associated with regional feed, mainline pilots are not operating the aircraft because of our hourly wages, DCI is operating the equipment as a future insurance policy against labor unions. It's all about divide and conquer. In my humble opinion, ALPA is way off on their approach to recovering this flying.