Originally Posted by
Blueskies21
Up to this point Delta has returned 100% of the saabs that have come due to the leasor.... so with that track record I wouldn't say it's a stretch to say they're going to park them all. I'm not happy about it but it looks like Mesaba will be a 600 pilot airline in two years.. based on what Delta has done to Comair I guess they just HATE wholly owned regionals?
As for recall... probably not for a long while.
Problem with pilot group is that they put too much emotions to situations such as this. DAL parking Saabs has nothing to do whether DAL hates its WO regional or not. You can't compare Comair situation to Mesaba. Two different scenarios. These are strictly business decisions based on cost and passenger feedbacks. We all knew Saab days were coming to a close when RA said as much in previous interviews that he intends to make XJ an all jet fleet airline by 2012. DAL management have also stated that turboprops do not meet their DAL stds.
That being said, it does not necessarily mean XJ will wind up cutting 50% of its pilot roster, although that is certainly a possibility. I just do not see it happening. Most people at XJ expect to see some replacement of Saabs for jets at some point this year or in 2011.
Additionally, it looks like DAL is poised to hire about 305 pilots this year and 600 to 700 in 2011, so that means a fairly brisk movement of 9 Mesaba pilots a month starting July or August of this year and on to 2011.