I would say let the cookie crumble before we start the "F" bomb game.
My opinion is though, given the current economy and the fact that no new aircraft have been announced to any DCI carrier since ASA getting the 900's, I would suspect that what we have now is gonna be the same in a few months. DAL and most other airlines are facing huge shortfalls because even if they get costs under control there will be less people flying because they are out of a job and out of money. Disposable income and excess spending will be shrinking in the next few months if not the rest of the year because of economic downturn. The overstaffing on the 200 FO side is very apparent. 90 FO's for 16 flying frames is way overstaffed since we are not gaining any new destination and in fact losing some to either the 900 or 9E. Also the 200 is such a small fleet that they do not need a huge reserve bank to begin with.

As for the Saab I can not really speak other than maybe some flying is getting cut back or somebody in crew planning thinks that they are overstaffed. As for the 900 it seems to me they are understaffed since they only have 7 straight reserve lines to cover MSP and SLC. Thats a pretty big gamble considering the 200 has 25 lines of straight reserve to cover MSP and DTW. Anyway I think unless a good amount of people take early out and TOWOP ,I think a furlough notice will be coming to keep costs in line. I dont like the idea of people getting kicked to the street but XJ mgt has a bussiness to run and if labor costs are sky high and they are finding that we are overstaffed, then there is not much we can do. Anyway just my opinion and people can bash away as much as they want.

-Farv

 

I wouldn't say too overstaffed. 80 would be just right if you consider 5 FO's per plane. Unless the block hours aren't that high right now on them. Usually when the planes are being used efficiently you need about 10 pilots per plane. Unless it's a 777, then you need 30

 

We have 17 200s, but anyhow I beg to differ that our labor costs are "sky high." We are or if not, very close to being the most junior pilot groups in the DCI portfolio. If they get some early outs, the average drops even more, dropping our average labor costs. The FAs work for pennies and have constant turn over and even within the MX ranks, the workforce is incredibly junior, since Ch11 drove away HUNDREDS of senior folks in all ranks at this airline.

I don't think we'll get very many early outs, but I would guess a fair amount of TOWOPs will be taken, as have in the past. I simply don't believe we're overstaffed by 100 people. Many of the people that were hired for the 15 900s unfortunately, never made it to class. The real problem lies with the backfilling they were doing to prepare for training movements. I suspect that's why the 200 is apparently overstaffed. For 17 planes we need roughly 170 pilots and really aren't that much over that.

Again... furloughs are always possible. But good news is possible as well and none of us know the big picture, except for mgmt. I think we do need to let the dust settle and see what happens and jumping to any conclusions without proper info, is simply a waste of time and energy.

 

Delta will favor regionals that are / have:

Stabilized (strike pending ?, furloughs, etc. )
High morale (read the threads)
Good training facilities and staff
Capability for rapid expansion
Ability to minimize training costs
Owned
Good working relationship between ops and management staff
Good working relationsip between union and airline management
Good safety record
Minimized costs

An example of costs is comparison of the Average FO pay during the first five years. Pinnacle ($31.10), Mesaba ($31.20), Comair ($33.80), ASA ($35.40), Compass ($34.20). Using 500 FOs at 70 hrs per month, there is a 1.5 million $$ difference per month between the high and low - that's just FOs. Imagine the total crew cost comparison.

The above is just an exercise and attempt to explain the rational that MAY be CONSIDERED BY Delta manager decision making when assigning future aircraft purchases or MOVING AIRCRAFT between regionals.

 

I must admit I'm scared at the possibility of a furlough just being low on the bottom of the list. It's not so much that I'm scared of losing a flying job as it is of losing any type of employment with this crappy economy. Then again, I realize that worrying about this all the time won't make a damn difference in the end. Whatever will happen is going to happen whether I think pessimistic or optimistic. I'm enjoying things here at Mesaba and just hoping for the best.

 

Overstaffed at Mesaba.... not this weekend, at least not on the 900's.

 

No one ever said we were overstaffed on the 900. Thats why the 900 ppl aren't on the list of people that can take TOWOP... but for crying out loud look at the 200 FO side, and the Saab side... over staff madness.

 

How far up are you?

 

That's because the company decided to keep releasing Saab CA seatlocks and back fill those positions..... Had they stopped releasing them and just upgraded as before we wouldn't be so mis-staffed.

 

I think those are all things that may be considered..as you said

but the bottom line..is that it comes down to TWO and only two factors:

Cost
&
Quality

That's all that matters to Delta, or any airline for that matter.