Well, if you can't say something nice...

 

Just catching up on the talk. Noticed some relate the growth after the strike as having no relevance. I always believed they had to grow us to dilute the vote so they could force the issue. They successfully got the pay freeze.

As far as pilot pay costs as to making us soooo expensive, I argue I haven't seen a cost analysis per individual items. How much did RA pay for the gates, agents, ramp, etc. compared to our costs?

Another point brought up recently - if we cover a Pinnacle flight, who gets credit for completion? Just a thought.

 

In February 2005 FredEx came to Comair from Delta and the first thing he said was "you guys are too expensive and every new plane is going to Chitaqua unless you pilots get your costs in line" A month later we had the pay freeze TA.

Comair had hired very little in the 2 years leading up to the pay freeze.

The growth in 2001-2003 was for the aircraft that had been ordered prior to the strike. If I recall correctly, those aircraft deliveries were delayed 6 months due to the Comair strike and delayed another couple months due to a Bombardier machinists strike in 2002.

The growth was short-lived and due to CRJ deliveries locked in before the strike.

There was no growth because of the strike.

 

Some pilot hiring numbers for all of us to decide who's correct:

1998 - 197 pilots
1999 - 248 pilots
2000 - 221 pilots
2001 - 33 pilots (Jan-Mar)
---STRIKE---
2001 - 50 pilots (Aug-Dec)
2002 - 173 pilots
2003 - 154 pilots
2004 - 55 pilots
2005 - 21 pilots (Jan-Mar)
---FREEZE---
2005 - 96 pilots (Apr-Dec)

 

Nice numbers, that is not a reflection of aircraft growth, lots of people were leaving in 98 99 2000, that accounts for some of the pilot hiring. Growth is a little different.
Go and get the fleet count numbers and see how they look.

 

I guess that's a fair argument, but I have no idea where to get fleet numbers.

 

Personally, I don't think the strike had as big an impact on Comair's future as did lack of control and lack of leadership. If one looks back, after the entrepreneurial spirit that originally brought the jet to the regionals was eliminated by Delta, Comair leadership never did much of anything to keep the airline at the head of the pack. In fact, by 2006 it appeared though every department at Comair had a horse to hitch to the wagon, each department was hitching to a different part of the wagon. By 2007, every department was flogging their horse as hard as they could, and tearing the wagon apart in the process. The lack of leadership lead to poor morale in every part of the organization, and the one thing Comair still did really well - perform in tough situations, disappeared. Comair has not had "operational control" of its destiny since Delta bought it.

Here's just one example, from a pilot's perspective. Flight operations demands crews fly slow...roughly 10% slower than every other regional airline in the Delta "family", or perhaps more appropriately "harem". Meanwhile Leadership screams that crews are getting paid too much. Guess what? If it takes me six extra minutes per hour to do the same job a CHQ, YV, ASA, or SKW pilot can do in that same hour, crew costs are going to be ten percent higher even if book rate and experience level are equal. Don't tell me I'm paid too much when you're also telling me not to be productive. It makes you appear you never advanced farther than third-grade math.

Just because those airframes were on the books to be delivered to Comair prior to the strike doesn't mean Delta couldn't have scribbled down a transfer agreement on the back of a cocktail napkin and rolled those airframes over to ASA. Seems like that happened with some -700's or -900's just a couple of years after the strike if I recall correctly.

Comair quit out-innovating other regional airlines, and the competition caught up. Comair became bloated with ineffeciency...far beyond the flight deck...just look at that ridiculous monstrosity of a G.O. building they built.

The contract that was achieved in 2001, due to the strike, or in spite of it, was a contract that, at the time, helped make Comair a potential career airline for many pilots whose personal situation made staying a better option than pursuing what few opportunities there were for a number of years after 9/11. From that perspective, the contract contributed to the "longevity", or as I prefer, "experience" handicap Comair has today.

It didn't help that after the pilots at Comair raised the bar at the regional level, Chautauqua pilots voted to slip under it with their next contract. Perhaps had 9/11 not occurred, they'd have been more willing to do what it took to get a better contract than Comair had. Perhaps not.

Those are some of my thoughts. Feel free to disagree.

 

If you don't think the strike had any effect on the future of Comair you are living in a dream world.

 

Irrelevant - Very well thought out post .....

 

To the poster named 'irrelevant': that was a very insightful and well reasoned post.