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Airline, pilots failed to agree on labor contract
By Jane Roberts
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April 27, 2007
Pinnacle Airlines will lose more than 12 percent of its fleet because it did not get a deal with its pilots in time.
Starting in September, Northwest Airlines will take back two aircraft a month, presumably turning them over to Mesaba Airlines, which Northwest formally acquired Tuesday when the regional airliner emerged from bankruptcy.


"I'm certainly not happy about this, but our people run a great airline," said Phil Trenary, Pinnacle president and chief executive. "That's why I am confident we'll get another customer with larger aircraft."
Until late in December when Pinnacle signed a new deal with Northwest, it had been flying solely as a regional carrier for Northwest, shuttling passengers between hubs and serving markets that were more profitable for Northwest flown on Pinnacle's 50-seat regional jets.

The deal let it seek other customers. It also gave Pinnacle 17 additional 50-seat regional jets, with the stipulation that Northwest could take them back if Pinnacle and its pilots did not have a deal by March 31.

"Northwest made a threat; now they have to carry through on it," said George Hamlin, principal at Hamlin Transportation Consulting outside Washington. "Northwest won. Both the others lost. Pinnacle won't be as big and therefore will not have as many opportunities for pilots."

Because the planes were not committed to Pinnacle on a long-term basis, Pinnacle is entitled to the full amount of its unsecured $42.5 million claim in bankruptcy proceedings.

It plans to quickly sell it and apply the proceeds to the bottom line.

The company and its pilots -- some of the lowest-paid entry-level pilots in the nation -- have been negotiating since February 2005 and in mediation since September.

"We had made great progress as of noon on March 30," Trenary said. " ... I was real surprised when it didn't happen."

He doesn't expect layoffs.

"At our attrition rates, there won't have to be any layoffs," said Wakefield Gordon, chairman of the Air Line Pilots Association master executive council at Pinnacle. "We're pre-canceling thousands of hours of flying because we don't have the staff to fly them."

When Northwest announced its bankruptcy in September 2005, it grounded 15 Pinnacle planes, reducing Pinnacle's quarterly revenue projections by 7 percent and forcing it to seek voluntary furloughs.



Ok, first off i will chime in and say that I am not suprised with the announcement. I will also say that i am not putting much stock in a ANOTHER deadline that is 5 months away. Like you guys said it seems like there is a lot of stuff happening behind the curtains and it will only be a matter of time for it to come out.

I think i can say that almost every pinnacle pilot doesn't care about these 17 planes. like it says we have been pre cancelling hundreds of flights because we don't have the staff for it. Management wanted the money, and they wanted it now. I saw a note in the mem ops saying that we shouldn't worry and that we will secure more larger aircraft flying that will more than make up the flying we are losing.. all i can say is we better have a contract by then, or there wont be anyone to fly those planes either. Pinnacle pilots will not settle for a sub-standard contract to get more flying.

CRJ 200will be delivered starting september. There are two payscales for each aircraft, based on number of seats.
40-59 seat jet 60-76 passenger jet
3- $56.99 3- $60.71
4-58.69 62.52
5- 60.44 64.39
first officer pay is same regardless of A/C. it's year 1 ->$22.81, 27.35, 30.03, 32.71, 33.69.
Keep in mind the "soft money" is what makes a huge difference. 4 hour min day. Pay protectionnfor mx and wx cancellations. Block or better. 401K company match. etc. Don't focus on just the hourly wage, with any job.

These 15 CRJ's are like the child that nobody wants. XJ is already growing at max capacity with the 900's and 9E obviously doesn't have to staffing to operate them. Kind of ironic. Guess we can all expect to get our vacations canceled for the next year at XJ.

POSTED ON MAJOR; might get interesting discussion on Regional

Recent events (4/27/07)

Mesaba is out of bankruptcy.

One of the four NWA executives appointed to the new Mesaba Board of Directors is Neal Cohen - the CEO of Compass Airlines ?

The NWA MEC has been directed to work with ALPA leadership at Mesaba and Compass to petition for "Single Carrier Status" with the National Mediation Board.

Mesaba to get 17 CRJ200s + 36 CRJ900s, keep SAABS. Where do the ERJs fit ? One "little regional" all by itself ? Highly redundant management, training, maintenance, HRO, etc., etc. support required. Statements have already been made that Compass will use Mesaba support / facilities.

The new Mesaba Board of Directors has been named. Who will be the operations and management team ?

There's one in place at Compass. http://www.flickr.com/photos/compassairlines/

Food for thought. :eek:.

I just listened to the mesaba hotline.. kinda funny. He said the reason mesaba is getting the 17 additional jets is because of hard work and dedication. I thought it was because the pinnacle pilots aren't going to take sh!t anymore, and we let the deadline go bye without even blinking. IHATEMGMT is right, these are the planes no one wants, you guys will be getting 900's and 200's all at the same time. Its tough enough to hire right now for attrition alone, let alone attrition and new planes.. (just look at pinnacle and you will see what i am talking about.) we couldn't staff them, and i seriously doubt mesaba will be able to do it with all the hiring they are going to have to do. we will see.

I think the difference right now is that mesaba is hiring to fill future class dates, where as pinnacle has been hiring to fill classes only a few weeks away. My cousin got hired at 9E and was in class the next week. I think 9E fell way behind the hiring curve, and therefore does not have the man power to fly the routes that they are responsible for. There are many at Mesaba whose class dates arent for a another three months. Considering this company was in bankruptcy not too long ago, I think we have done a hell of a job of planning ahead.

Yes, I got hired a few weeks ago and don't have a class date until early July.

this is true, we did fall way behind. Even with the prospect of losing 15 planes they still cant hire enough. They are doing a good job of planning so i guess it is only time that will tell if they are going to be able to fill the seats. 4 planes a month for several months is no small feat. I hope they can do it so you don't have to go what we went through.

I think a contributing factor is the lack of effectiveness of Pinnacle's HR department. I had walked in, faxed, emailed and called in my resume a few months ago. I didn't hear anything back from them. Happened to several other qualified people that I know. If they treated most other potential employees like that, I am not surprised in the least about the mess they are in right now. Best of luck to the Pinnacle pilots....you guys will need it

The problem is you had too many hours... lol- sometimes I just don't understand how people can't get calls when we are "soo short". I have sent a few resumes in for friends and it is almost comical that the ones with 1200+ don't get an interview, but the 500hr guys do.. My only thought is that they are hoping by the time they have time to go to whatever regional they *really* liked they will be really close to upgrade at PCL so it may be a plot to slow attrition. Doesn't make sense though because we need every pulse with a commercial we can find.