zippinbye

This from a DALPA "Jumpseat Alert" today:

"Pilots commuting on Shuttle America and Go Jet Airlines should have a backup plan."

I awoke to a similar message on Deltanet. I can't keep track of what regional flies for who, but cancellations, delays and general operational unreliability seem to be building industry-wide.

Googling delays and cancellations at those carriers does not provide the current specifics that have caused the company and union alert. But it does turn up some coverage of reliability problems at all the regional service providers. The numbers are dismal compared to their mainline associates. Even the industry darling Skywest is pretty shaky with on-time performance and cancellation rates relative to Delta mainline and others they serve. Perhaps I'm speculating a bit too much, but I'm thinking that pilot staffing issues are coming into play a bit more each day.

I say again (as I did with the 50 seat RJ situation during C2012), scope as it pertains regional feed could be self-resolving. 50 seat jets no longer viable? Major maintenance due on an unfavorable lease? Pilots not showing up to fly Delta-branded affiliates? Other bad business decision related to regional feed? Tough luck! You have the tools top fix the problem! And it does not involve dipping into your employees' pockets.

Higher paid Delta pilots operating reliable flights on the mainline could prove to be a good investment if current RJ trends continue. We should not be allocating a major dosage of negotiating capitol to create a win-win situation. No more big RJs operated outside of the mainline!

Sobchak

A lot of these guys may have flown their 1000 hours for the year.

capncrunch

I hope this trend continues and accelerates. The trajectory sure looks good from here...

Gjn290

GoJet is undergoing a change in scheduling and dispatch software this week. That's what their issue is. TSA and Compass will be doing the same in the coming months. Hopefully they get it all figured all out during GoJet's launch.

LOBO

It's also a manning issue according to others!!!!

Gjn290

Shuttle America is a manning issue. I can't speak about manning at GoJet, but I do know that GoJet is going through software changes that cause disruptions anytime an airline goes through that process. If it happens at Compass when we go through that process, I can attest to it not being staffing issues, as we've had no problem staffing so far.

Phuz

Which is why they had to offer a 10k signing bonus and recently agreed to a new TA that raises first year FO pay while also providing hotel rooms for commuters?? Every regional has had some trouble staffing, compass is not immune.

Shuttle America and GoJet both fly Delta Connection (among others) for those who are not privy.

I agree with Zip - outsourcing of RJ flying will likely resolve itself (IF) we do not agree to allowing management to up-gauge current RJ flying. Their current objective is to get more large RJs in exchange for fewer small RJs, this only perpetuates the outsourcing of Delta pilot jobs. If management wants to up-guage that flying, a 717 or equivalent sounds just fine.

zippinbye

Hopefully not! I'm not trying to be flippant or disrespectful to current regional pilots, but continued struggles to provide contracted feed to the mainline is good for the pilot occupation. Product/service quality and reliability can be significantly assured on the mainline. I hope to be witnessing a migration of capacity and pilots to the mainline very soon.

Army80

The puppy mills in flame out mode is a good thing for the pilot profession.

asacimesp

They have been able to maintain quality and reliability at mainline because they have made the investments in the operation/people/infrastructure to do so.... It's hard to have reliable service when you squeeze your "partners" into money losing contracts and rebid flying/station/ground handling every 2 years while also creating your own alter-ego companies to bid against them.

While I agree that more mainline flying is beneficial to us all in the long run... The Delta, United, and Americans of the world can't just throw their hands up claiming ignorance of how this all happened. Pilot shortage is part of it, but the airlines themselves have played a huge part in this mess. The Wall St focus on quarterly results has led to a loss of long-term vision in my opinion.