Comair pessimistic about Delta jet service bid
Cincinnati Business Courier - 2:59 PM EDT Thursday
by Lucy May
Senior Staff Reporter
Comair is bracing for almost certain cutbacks.

The regional airline has a Monday deadline to submit a bid to provide regional jet service for Delta Air Lines, its parent company. But Comair's inability to reach a labor deal with pilots leaves the carrier with a cost structure too high to submit a competitive bid, Comair President Don Bornhorst said Thursday.


"It means our air operation will shrink," he said.

Delta (Pink Sheets: DALRQ) is bidding out the service to cut costs as it struggles to emerge from bankruptcy.

Bornhorst said he expects Comair will lose as many as 27 70-seat jets it currently flies for Delta and another 15 of its 50-seat regional jets. The bid is for current and future regional flying.

While Bornhorst didn't want to estimate how many jobs would be lost as a result, a typical 70-seat jet has 22 crew members' jobs tied to it. Based on that formula, the loss of 27 such jets would result in the termination of nearly 600 crew members alone. The loss of the 15 50-seat jets would represent another 247 crew members.

If, indeed, Comair's flight operations shrink, the airline will focus on growing its baggage-handling business and maintenance operations, assuming Comair can reach a cost-cutting labor deal with its mechanics, Bornhorst said.

"We do more ground handling and passenger handling than any other regional airline," he said. "We'll grow that business because we've got a good product and it's reasonably priced."

Bornhorst stressed that, even if Comair does shrink its air operations, that shouldn't affect service for the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, where the airline is based.

It just means other carriers would be handling many of those flights for Delta.