Originally Posted by
Airsupport
no i agree. I never said pinnacle was safe from the chopping block. But I can say that them sourcing it out is cheaper than doing the flying themselves. If not they (all airlines) would have stopped years ago and brought everything in house to save money. They haven't and they dont want to. They sold ASA and still gave them a contract to fly because it was cheaper if Skywest took the company and they just paid skywest some money and let them handle running the airline. Comair has had a for sale sign in their front yard for a long time. Remeber Pinnacle was wholly owned by northwest and we were sold off. It cost more to manage, run, and handle the everyday business of an airline than it is to just pay a contract fee and handle it themselves.
How many other major airlines own their own regionals? Is Delta the only one? There is a reason for that.
Delta sold ASA to Skywest because they needed the cash not because it's cheaper. And they gave Skywest/ASA a great long term contract to facilitate the sale. Delta needed the money for the BK.
I did not see a For Sale sign at Comair