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WASHINGTON (AP) -- The nation's largest airlines employed fewer pilots and maintenance workers last year, a lightening of the labor load many expect to continue as carriers consider consolidation and the industry buckles under record-high fuel prices.

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dcmaxversion = 9dcminversion = 6DoOn Error Resume Nextplugin = (IsObject(CreateObject("ShockwaveFlash.ShockwaveFl ash." & dcmaxversion & "")))If plugin = true Then Exit Dodcmaxversion = dcmaxversion - 1Loop While dcmaxversion >= dcminversionif(window.yzq_d==null)window.yzq_d=new Object();window.yzq_d['xVmHPEwNBlA-']='&U=13fmqsfqg%2fN%3dxVmHPEwNBlA-%2fC%3d661532.12660188.12979082.1435155%2fD%3dLREC %2fB%3d5349485%2fV%3d1';The number of pilots dipped by about 1.8 percent to 63,648 last year from 2006, while airlines employed about 70 fewer maintenance workers for a total of 43,490, according to data released Tuesday by the Transportation Department's Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
AMR Corp.'s American Airlines, the nation's largest carrier, cut back on both pilots and maintenance workers, while rival United Airlines showed slight increases in both categories.
Delta Air Lines, which last month announced plans to combine with Northwest Airlines, also added pilots and maintenance staff in 2007. Northwest's maintenance staffing level was steady, but the Eagan, Minn.-based carrier trimmed its pilot ranks by nearly 200 to 4,340.
Southwest Airlines, the nation's leading low-cost carrier, added about 40 maintenance workers and boosted its pilot payroll by nearly 500 to 5,317. The Federal Aviation Administration recently hit Southwest with a $10.2 million civil penalty for flying planes that hadn't been inspected for cracked fuselages. The company is appealing the fine.
The FAA in March took the rare step of ordering the audit of maintenance records at all domestic airlines following reports of missed inspections at Southwest. The audit is now in a second, more detailed phase that runs through June 30.
On the economic front, fuel represents airlines' biggest expense and surging crude prices already have forced a number of small carriers into bankruptcy protection or out of business.
Elsewhere Tuesday, Mesa Air Group Inc. said it will file for bankruptcy protection by July 20 and cut 700 jobs if Atlanta-based Delta's termination of a regional flying contract sticks and Mesa can't redeploy unused aircraft. Mesa is a major commuter carrier and operates flights as Delta Connection, US Airways Express and United Express under agreements with Delta, US Airways Group Inc. and UAL cORP.

HercDriver130

and this surprises who?

Killer51883

now is that liquidate bankruptcy or just restructureing bankruptcy? not that i want any mesa guys to lose their jobs (except for managment of course) but there would be a whole mess of flying up for grabs if they shut down

btwissel

chapter 11 is restructuring for companies.

now if they go Ch. 7, then there's gonna be a whole lot of UAL, USAir, & Delta flying up for grabs.

of course, most likely the codeshares can cancel their contracts with mesa in bankruptcy...

daytonaflyer

Will bankruptcy protection allow Mesa to avoid paying the lawsuit that Hawaiian was awarded?

Emb170man

Nope...the way it works (at least my understanding from my old college aviation law classes and such) is that the company in bankruptcy can terminate contracts in an effort to restructure their costs. So Mesa could (wouldn't) terminate the contracts...not the other way around as that would further hurt the Mesa business and be a step away, not towards emerging from Chapter 11. Unfortunate...but true.

Dog Breath

Another thread on this topic has already been started.

http://www.airlinepilotforums.com/sh...ad.php?t=26763