dash trash

Mesa Air CEO Jonathan Ornstein revealed an interest in forming a joint-venture operation with one or more Chinese airlines that could see a boost of regional jets within the country connecting mid-sized cities.

Moving across the Pacific into a significantly different regulatory and operating environment would be a huge jump for Mesa, but Ornstein said, "Nothing is on the table" in the short term, and some sort of Chinese venture is a more long-term project. The carrier is serious about the opportunity, however, as Mesa CFO Peter Murnane recently made a trip to China and met with as many as seven Chinese airlines to share ideas and discuss potential cooperation.

"This could be a growth area for us," Ornstein said. "If there is an opportunity, Mesa could be involved." Ornstein characterized the project as a "serious marketing effort."

He noted that there are only 40 regional jets in China, as most of the focus is on connecting the larger population centers with larger aircraft. There is a "significant number of cities" in the middle of the country that could be connected with smaller jets. "It's not like there isn't enough traffic," Ornstein said. He is not sure yet how a possible joint venture would be structured, as there are strict foreign investment and labor rules in China.

Ornstein has had conversations with several large aircraft lessors, including GE Commercial Aviation Services (GECAS), which is growing business in China. "Every time you talk to lessors, they talk about Asia," Orstein said. Last month, GECAS CEO Henry Hubschman told an industry conference that he has started to lease aircraft to the "second tier" of Chinese airlines, which have significant growth plans.

International Lease Finance Corp. CEO Steven Udvar-Hazy went as far as to suggest that he would rather deal with Chinese carriers than those in the U.S., as the Chinese airlines "have been more loyal and faithful in making their lease payments than U.S. carriers" (DAILY, March 30). ILFC has placed more than 150 aircraft in China, Hong Kong and Macao, Hazy said.

http://www.aviationnow.com/avnow/new.../MESA04116.xml

Linebacker35

That would be great if Mesa got into China. There is going to be a air transportation boom in China soon and it may as well be an American Company profiting from it.

Pilotpip

JO just wants to outscource your jobs to Chineese nationals that will work for even less. Don't let him fool you.

flyerNy

same thing I was thinking.

BURflyer

I don't think this is outsourcing. Outsourcing is hiring chinese crews to fly and work for Mesa here. If Mesa could make money of this deal then why not.

Linebacker35

Would you rather have a chinese company dominating that market or an American one? Obviously having those revenues going back to the States is the best option.

rickair7777

I would assume that many or all of the pilots would have to be chinese. I believe that is required over there, though not enforced rigidly due to rapid expansion of air travel and lack of native pilots.

Packer Backer

I can see it now. "I'm sorry, but you are being junior manned to Shanghi for the next 2 months."

Typhoonpilot

If they did that the round the clock per diem would be more than the basic salary for a U.S. First Officer. Hopefully Mesa would have a provision for that in their contract.

Realistically speaking it couldn't happen that easily. The pilot in question would have to be approved by the Chinese aviation authorites which would require a license validation and at least one written air law exam.

Unfortunately this idea just shows the continuing stupidity of U.S. airline management. RJs flying domestically in China is like offering C-172 service between LAX and SFO. There are over 1 billion people there. The small cities have 10 million people. The smallest airplanes should be 737 or A320s. Their air traffic control system can not handle a bazillion RJs flying around.


Typhoonpilot

ryane946

This is a pretty interesting article. China's growth in air travel right now is downright amazing. China has ordered over 150 737's and several A320's in the past year. It will continue to grow, and there is $$$ to be made over there.

With that said, I see two big problems with this. First off, China cannot train pilots fast enough. Period. They just can't. Go check out some of the big flight schools in Florida, and count the number of Chinese pilots. With this said, it doesn't make much sense to me to be flying 50 seat RJ's when they can fly 150 seat 737's with the same number of pilots.
The other thing to keep in mind is that China is slightly smaller than the United States, yet their population is 4 times as large! The US airspace system is pretty congested. Can you imagine China with the amount of RJ's we have over here.

I would really love to see a US company benefit from the air travel boom in China the same way Boeing is. It would help lower our trade defecit. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.