Colgan
 

A lot of the guys I have been flying with are most certain that Colgan will not make it as an airline much past the end of the year. Regardless of if this is true or not, I am very sorry for all those employed and my thoughts are with you and your families.

My question is, why would they say this? They have referenced TWA and the flight 800 crash saying that ended TWA. If Colgan say did go out of business, what do you all think would happen to the industry as a whole? Who would get their flying, airplanes, and pilots?

I am not trying to start a Colgan bashing thread. I just want a few other opinions then the older type captains that I have been flying with.

Thanks!

I highly doubt they will go out of business, however, if they get enough bad press they may change the name of the company. i.e. valuejet -> airtran

Pinnacle OWNs Colgan...might even be in their interest to merge the two.... even with all the pitfalls that entails.

Keep in mind that the TWA crash was a TWA mainline accident. People flying on colgan think they are flying Airways, United, Continental. If anyone is gonna hurt its continental especially after they signed a contract with Colgan for 15 more Q's next year. Colgan has gotten its fair share of flak the past few days especially with another Q losing a wheel on landing at BUF.

I agree with Herc here that a merger of Colgan and Pinnacle is more likely. Most of the traveling public doesn't know that Pinnacle owns colgan or even know who Pinnacle is. Essentially, it would allow Pinnacle to retain control of the assets and exert more control of its pilot groups by pitting them against each other in a seniority list integration.

Yeah, that would make sense to merge the two. But with the additional 15 Q's coming in next year, do you think Pinnacle will cancel those or find another contract carrier to fly those for them because I assume the FAA is questioning Colgan's ability to fly the Q?

its all speculation and this industry can change at the drop of a hat. no one knows for sure.

thats what we have been hearing on this side of the fence. A lot of us dont think the colgan name will survive and will pretty much be merged in with pinnacle. It was probably in the works before the accident. they have been moving all of the colgan employees from VA to memphis. Pretty soon all of the corporate stuff on the colgan side will be in memphis. and with colgan voting in alpa i would pretty much say its a done deal.

Are you serious man? First, how is Pinnacle Corp going to find another carrier to fly the Q's? Do you think they will just say "hey ASA you want some Q's to fly for us.?"

Second you sound like the media when you say the FAA is questioning Colgan's ability to fly the Q. They were the brainchildren who approved the training in the first place and signed it off. The FAA is just like everyone else right now and is in butt saving mode for the public. The FAA is influenced by lobbyists from places like the RAA, it is all a game with them.

So have you asked the pilots you are flying with why Comair did not go out of business when they had the accident in Lexington? Afterall, they took of the wrong runway, it does not get more F'd up than that.

Step back and look at this from a business standpoint, not a reactive media standpoint. In no time people will have moved on from this crash as they did with Comair almost 3 years ago. I would guess a name change for Colgan and the eventual merger with the Pncl pilots in the future...all great things for both groups.

Im done with the Colgan name anyway, the Colgan's are gone so lets move on and this is the perferct opportunity to do that.

And as far as the guy who mentioned AirTran...100% correct. That was a branded outfit who changed their name after a horrible accident and look at AirTran now, passengers have no idea of who Valuejet is or was.

I agree with the juice

I have a feeling that in the short term at least, maybe long term, all of our lives are going to become much more difficult regardless of where we work. Commuting, checkrides, hiring, etc. pretty much every aspect of this job is going to become more of a pain in the a$$ than it already is.