Heehee Why, I have no idea what you're talking about! (That was pre-furlough, now who cares if they know who wrote it. I even told JB I wrote it. Besides it was only a letter with honest questions, nothing bad). Posting of letters to follow.....

 

Original Letter to RA:

Mr. Anderson,
I am an employee of Comair Airlines. I am writing you today in an effort to fully understand the thought process that goes into Delta’s choice of regional carriers. I have heard so many rumors and inaccurate statements in the past few months, that I decided to go right to the CEO of Delta for accurate information. I trust that you will be honest and forthcoming with me. Everything that I write to you is truthful and accurate, except that I have withheld my true name for fear of losing my position with Comair or causing tension in the company. I hope that you respect this choice.

A quick history of my employment with Comair: I have been employed as a crewmember for two years. When I first decided to pursue a career at an airline, I had to decide whether it was worth taking a huge pay cut (from my previous career to the airlines) to pursue a career that I had aspired to since I was a child. After deciding to take this cut, the next question was which airlines to focus on. Much thought was put into this, as I wanted to work for a stable company that rewards their employees for hard work. I researched the regional airlines, and finally decided that Comair was the airline I would apply to. They are wholly owned by Delta, have always shown a profit for Delta, and they have been in business for thirty years which to me showed that they were going to be around for years to come.

In the past two years, I have seen things happen within the company and between Delta and Comair that truly confuse me. At the time I was hired, there was a feeling within the company of security and optimism for the future. There was a huge push to hire flight attendants and pilots to fill positions in the newest regional jet on the market at the time, the CRJ 900, as well as filling positions at John F. Kennedy International. Comair was growing and everyone felt that the company was secure with its position as Delta Airlines’ only wholly owned subsidiary. There was even talk of an additional base at Boston’s Logan International. Freedom Airlines’ on-time performance at JFK was atrocious and it was just a matter of time before Delta terminated their contract with Mesa, and as one would believe, pass this flying on to their wholly owned Comair. Since then, I have seen Freedom expand their presence at JFK, ASA taking over many of the previous Comair routes, Skywest operating flights out of CVG (Comair’s headquarters!), and Republic opening a base in CVG. Huge reductions in Comair’s block times have caused the company to furlough pilots and flight attendants and layoff other front line employees, at the same time that Delta gives Freedom more flights from JFK. This week we were notified of further furloughs for flight crews to take affect in January, as well as the loss of a 14th CRJ 900 that was reassigned to Mesaba. Wonderful news to start the holiday season. With all the sadness and anger within the company, it would seem that employees would not care about performance, but yet we set records for 100% completion this past month! Comair has shown consistently that they are Delta’s best choice when choosing a regional carrier, yet Delta continues to cut block hours for us.

During the past few months, with fuel prices fluctuating, I have read many articles that state that the 50 seat regional jet is a thing of the past, a money loser when fuel prices are high. I have read that Comair is going to be in a bad position, given that most of their aircraft are 50 seat CRJ 100/200’s. I have read how many customers like the EMB-170 aircraft that Republic is flying for Delta. As I read these articles, I begin to wonder why Comair has so many 50 seat aircraft. Comair was the original regional jet carrier, on the leading edge of regional airline travel. They had the latest, most advance regional aircraft on the market. What happened along the way that caused Comair to fall behind when it comes to having the newest most efficient aircraft? Why would Delta allow it’s wholly owned company to fall behind other regional carriers when it comes to having the latest equipment? Why would Delta/Comair not move away from the 50 seat aircraft and concentrate on the EMB-170/175 or CRJ 900? If the company is wholly owned by Delta, Comair’s profit or loss is essentially Delta’s profit or loss, so why would Delta give block hours to other regional carriers instead of its wholly owned, reliable regional carrier? I hear all the time that the decision to use a regional carrier all comes down to price. If Comair has a higher price, isn’t that still income going back to Delta, the parent company? Many passengers pick their airline by their own previous experience with that airline or by word of mouth from other passengers. Delta may get a cheaper price from other regional carriers, but is that small difference worth the loss of passenger loyalty after they receive less than excellent service on a sub par regional carrier? Comair has been there for Delta through many trying times, it is a company that puts pride in its product and the employees put pride in their service. When a passenger thinks back to a flight they have taken, they think “Delta” not Comair, Freedom, ASA, or Republic.

I would like to take a moment to thank you for personally reading my email. As you can see, I have many questions and concerns. I hear these same concerns from other employees at Comair, and I hope that you will give me some firm information that I can share with someone if they ask these questions. I wish you and your family a joyous holiday season and a wonderful new year in 2009.


Name withheld
Comair Crewmember

 

RA's reply:

Normally I do not read or reply to anonymous letters or e-mails but since your name appeared in the e-mail, here is the response.

I understand the concerns at Comair and it is the same as we are hearing from all regional carriers as the economic model in this sector shifts from one of unlimited growth to one that more closely resembles what is happening at the mainlines - - very limited if any growth. No carrier with no P&L risk, regional or mainline, will be insulated from the tough economic times we face as an industry and the tough waters ahead. I would like to address your points and ensure there is no misunderstanding about what is happening in the regional space:

• Delta intended to terminate Freedom for poor performance and “fired” them earlier in 2008. They have since filed and won a preliminary injunction to prevent us from “firing” them on the E145 contract. Freedom has, however, flown its last CR900 flight for Delta. Those 7 aircraft have been temporarily transferred to Pinnacle on their way to Mesaba - - a wholly-owned subsidiary.
• ASA, Freedom, SkyWest and possibly more partners are flying to CVG, (even though Comair is headquartered there). There are now 9 different Delta Connection partners and we have abandoned the concept of hub ownership - - no carrier will be the sole provider of lift to a hub, our network group will determine the best flow of aircraft to serve the needs of our customers.
• Mesaba will eventually receive Freedom’s 7 CR900s and 1 additional CR900 that we contemplated for Comair because Mesaba already possesses 36 CR900s and there is advantages to reaching that critical mass of 40+ shells of any fleet type. Mesaba is a wholly-owned sub.
• Comair is challenged from a cost structure standpoint in that its costs are higher than our contract carriers, even after mark-up is added to the costs. In-house costs are still costs, and if outside costs, (including mark-up), are cheaper, then a prudent decision would be to contract the work. This applies not only to the airline industry, but to all industries. Not only to flying, but to maintenance, technology services, etc.
• Your question about why does Comair have so many 50-seaters is answered by looking at the history of Comair. Comair was the innovator of the 50-seat RJ. Comair was first and biggest into this new platform. Unfortunately, growth opportunities were missed in 2003 and even as late as the bankruptcy process itself as Comair’s management team and the unions’ leadership could not reach agreement on growth where our contract partners could.
• Your observation about the Comair pride of quality is spot on - - you provide a solid product to Delta and our customers everyday - - I personally thank you and your counterparts for this professionalism.

I do appreciate your reaching out to me about this subject and am hopeful I shed some light on this difficult subject that plagues the regionals, whether you are Comair or American Eagle - - high cost structures in a slowing industry make for a difficult proposition for all, frontline and management employees alike.

Richard

 

That's one scary Avitar! It keeps reminding me of recurrent "Dunker" certification!

 

Anonymity FAIL

 

Yes, and now RA thinks that James Woods works at Comair

 

Isn't there a High School named after you Mr. Woods?

Ooh...a piece of candy! Ooh...a piece of candy!

 

Thanks for sharing. Well written...particularly in light of what passes for writing on internet message boards by people who claim to be pilots.

I personally would have left out the part about passengers getting off Comair, Mesa, etc. aircraft thinking they just flew on Delta. That's the whole point of the smokescreen brand that is DCI...and it doesn't help our case any that passengers can't easily identify what airline they're actually flying on.

Mr. Anderson's response was also very well written, and seemed candid. I do not agree with the line about opportunities for growth being missed due to Comair management and the union not agreeing. There were two concessionary packages during that time...one of which "guaranteed" the pilots growth...which Delta then dishonored. Had Delta honored the agreement they made at their Comair division, Comair would have had well over 170 airframes on property. Instead, they took the easy way out and declared bankruptcy to nullify their obligation to grow Comair.

I believe RA's response pretty much sums up the future for Comair. It's pretty much a no-win situation as far as a positive future for the company.

I'm curious what we're charging Chautauqua, Mesa, Pinnacle etc. for ground handling services? Of course our expenses are higher, since none of those carriers are capable of turning their own airplanes.

I find it perpetually amusing that the focus in any message from management is always about cost...and never about increasing revenue generation. There is more to operating a business than controlling costs.

We're saving a lot of money on fuel by not operating thirty airplanes that are sitting on the ground at CVG any given day. Way to cut costs guys!

 

Really, my favorite part of his reply was this:

"In-house costs are still costs, and if outside costs, (including mark-up), are cheaper, then a prudent decision would be to contract the work. This applies not only to the airline industry, but to all industries. Not only to flying, but to maintenance, technology services, etc."

So, if I need my airplane fixed and "Joe Schmo Fix-All" is cheaper than "Super Reliable Aviation", I will go to the cheap guy?

If I need my computer fixed and "Jimmy's Car Wash and Computer Repair" is cheaper than "IBM/MAC Repair Specialist, Inc" , I will go get my car washed and have my computer fixed by Jimmy?

If I have a choice between a regional airline that is a little more expensive, but had a record amount of 100% completion days, provides excellent service to my customers, and is actually a subsidiary of my business or a regional airline that is continuously late or cancels flights on a regular basis, etc. I should go with the cheaper, not so reliable airline to service my customers??

(feel free to add Comair and Freedom into that last example)

It just does not make sense in a service industry to always take the cheaper route.

 

To an accountant it does.

I would imagine it is very difficult to quantify an increase in revenue based on an modest increase in quality. So why expend the resources.