It won't be till late May before a contract proposal is put forth, so not sure if a vote could even take place before Lane rules on termination.

Getting it to pass is still a tall order as many who perceive themselves above the job cut line either way, may not bite on AMR's rotten apple.

 

Geezz...American Eagle a well known name.. I want what your smoking... Regional airlines are the ghosts of major airlines. "what airline do you work for?" .....uhh...insert regional____...

.."hmm. never heard of it"....we do work for AA/UAL/US/DALetc ... ."Ohhhh thats cool"


Everybody is speculating on whats going to happen, who cares. Were not in control. Some will probably lose their job, and for some nothing will change. I never want to see a pilot lose their job... unless its go-jets/mesa or something like that.
Bottom line is what ever happens, regionals need to stop bending over and taking ****ty contracts. Business is about making a return on investment, making money and drinking beer. Period.

 

Consolidation is exactly right. Who will go where and who wins or loses is the question.

 

The only certainty is that ALL pilots involved will suffer. The only winners are the executives and the crony system they support. 5-7 years from now, this is going to be one nasty looking career for most. As it stands now, the average major airline captain is middle-middle class and will be lucky to actually see half of their pensions.

Those who are working at one day becoming a major airline captain will be lucky to make as much as a good plumber, HVAC guy or retail store manager. In today's dollars, that's $100K/year and a run-of-the-mill 401(k). Actually as large RJ's proliferate (and they will), the majority of pilots today will go no farther then a domestic E-190 captain getting their arses kicked for less then that.

The downward slide continues and some THINK they will be the winners (and they WILL in the short-term), but eventually they will end up the losers too, in the long-run.

 

U and AA WILL merge and you're right, how many seats and who gets them when the music stops is a major question. On the mainline side, at least there's hope due to retirements. The combined entity will have about 1800 retirements in the next 5 years or so, due to age 65, but certainly more including early-out's and medicals. I'd guess 2200 or so. That MAY negate the requirement for less pilots and furloughing due to more efficient scheduling, but leaves little room for growth and thus hiring.

The regional side is different, in that age 65 attrition from the top is negligable and there are 6000 pilots and 600 regional aircraft between the AA and U networks as it stands now. At least half of those are 50-seat RJ's, many of which will be replaced with larger RJ's, but consolidation and streamling will likely require a smaller feed system. Some markets won't support 76-seat jets (or even turboprops) with minimum required frequency and thus will be abandoned.

Not sure how many aircraft (and pilots) are in the combined UAL/CAL and DAL/NWA networks, but I don't think it's 600. Sounds like those operations are already into their streamlining and reduction process though.

 

Ok so what is the opinion of a merged PDT/PSA/AE joining? I know that this probably won't happen and the odd man out will be PDT but what would a PSA/AE merged airline look like. I know a lot of markets in the NE that PDT/AWAC/PSA serve can barley fill 3 dash's a day but there are some markets that could fill -300's and Q's pretty consistently. So while everyone has been saying 50seat RJ's are on the way out what is there going to be to replace them on some of these routes in the NE? They could run -700 to some of them but some places they would be weight restricted and then you would also have to cut freq's.

 

Amen brother...let's not forget how bad the J4J's were treated...correct me if I am wrong but isn't PDT & PSA the only two remaining wholly owned regionals? AE was, but no longer? Not good to be the redheaded stepchild at the regional level. Riding only daddy for distribution of routes and not able to contract yourself out like others. Any day daddy can say bye-bye...Air-Whiskey is around because they helped to bail out Airways back in the day...what a nice thing to do...it's never about the pilots, their feelings or families...in any occupation if you wear a suit you are working for "the man". It's cost savings and productivity...management always wins. Question is, where do you stand in the matrix.

 

[QUOTE=Moonwolf;1175498]Geezz...American Eagle a well known name.. I want what your smoking... Regional airlines are the ghosts of major airlines. "what airline do you work for?" .....uhh...insert regional____...

.."hmm. never heard of it"....we do work for AA/UAL/US/DALetc ... ."Ohhhh thats cool"


Correct. To John and Jane Doe, bringing Johnny and Janey Jr to see Grandma and Grandpa Doe, the name American Eagle means nothing. However, to the people who make up the frequent flying elite at AA, American Eagle is well known...more so than the names Air Wisconsin, Republic, Mesa, etc. Which is the point I was making. If both carriers merge, I think all contracted carriers would fall under the Eagle name. Much in the same way all US's wholly owneds and contracts operate as US Airways Express.

 

I think AMR still owns AE. Also, Delta still owns Comair. Although Comair has been dramatically reduced.

 

AMR owns Eagle, which owns AA as well. So Eagle is wholly owned by AMR