Comair
09-07-2005, 10:46 AM
#3
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Jun 2005
Position: B737, Capt.
Posts: 384
Comair may be off block for now
By James Pilcher
Enquirer staff writer
In recent years, when Delta Air Lines would shrink its operations either at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport or other locations, its regional subsidiary Comair either would not be affected or would grow by picking up the slack.
But not this time.
When Delta Wednesday cut 26 percent of its total capacity out of the Cincinnati hub, the Erlanger-based airline was not spared. It will lose nearly 100 flights from its local operation – and potentially up to 350 jobs total.
In a memo to workers, Comair president and chief executive officer Fred Buttrell said the cuts would come from areas ranging from pilots to flight attendants to customer service and support staff.
“While it’s always regrettable when changes impact our company and our people, these are difficult and necessary,” Buttrell wrote in the memo, which also said the airline was implementing a hiring freeze. “These decisions are never easy. As the schedule is finalized over the next few weeks, we will make every effort to minimize the employee impact through a number of measures, including attrition, relocation and leaves of absence.”
Comair employs about 7,000 system-wide, including about 4,000 locally. That total number is up from just over 5,500 two years ago.
With more than 400 flights, the airline that began as a small father-and-son operation in 1977 also operates the most departures locally. But those departures are going from 401 to 314 on Dec. 1.
The moves probably put off any immediate sale of Comair, one expert said.
Rumors have swirled about a potential sale for nearly a year and flared up once again last month when Delta sold sister regional subsidiary Atlantic Southeast Airlines to Utah-based SkyWest for $450 million. Delta bought Comair for $2.3 billion in January 2000.
“It doesn’t mean that Comair will never be sold, it just mean it won’t happen right now,” said HelaneCQ Becker, airline analyst with New York-based The Benchmark Group. “They just have too much going on to be sold.”
According to information filed by Comair with the U.S. Department of Transportation, Comair turned a $4.9 million operating profit on operating revenue of $310.6 million in the first quarter of 2005. But the airline had the second-highest costs per passenger among major regional carriers nationally.
Comair officials would not discuss those financial figures but said the operational cuts could lead to even higher costs per operation. That’s because the moves decrease the amount of time Comair’s planes can spend in the air by nearly an hour per day on average.
“When you apply that across our entire fleet, essentially that puts pressure on our costs,” spokesman Nick Miller said.
He said that includes labor costs. Earlier this year, Comair won concessions from its 1,900-member pilot union, which agreed to a pay freeze. In addition, the 1,000-member flight attendant union agreed to a lower pay scale for new hires.
But those are tied to growth targets for both increased jobs and number of planes.
“We’ll have to address that, and we’ll have to be very up front about the seriousness of the challenges we face,” said Miller. “We have to continually look at every area of the company to achieve those cost savings. We are continuing to have discussions with representatives from our labor groups on these issues.”
But J.C. Lawson III, chairman of the Comair pilot union, said he has not been officially approached about more concessions. He also said the agreement included a no-furlough clause. In addition, the amended contract calls for the reinstatement of scheduled raises if the growth figures are not met.
“But I would say that the mood (at the company is) not somber,” said Lawson, whose union is a local branch of the Air Line Pilots Association. “You would’ve had to have been in a hole someplace not to know that there are problems. We’re going to have to figure out how to deal with them. So the mood is not upbeat, but certainly it’s not like this is the end. It could have been way worse.”
By James Pilcher
Enquirer staff writer
In recent years, when Delta Air Lines would shrink its operations either at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport or other locations, its regional subsidiary Comair either would not be affected or would grow by picking up the slack.
But not this time.
When Delta Wednesday cut 26 percent of its total capacity out of the Cincinnati hub, the Erlanger-based airline was not spared. It will lose nearly 100 flights from its local operation – and potentially up to 350 jobs total.
In a memo to workers, Comair president and chief executive officer Fred Buttrell said the cuts would come from areas ranging from pilots to flight attendants to customer service and support staff.
“While it’s always regrettable when changes impact our company and our people, these are difficult and necessary,” Buttrell wrote in the memo, which also said the airline was implementing a hiring freeze. “These decisions are never easy. As the schedule is finalized over the next few weeks, we will make every effort to minimize the employee impact through a number of measures, including attrition, relocation and leaves of absence.”
Comair employs about 7,000 system-wide, including about 4,000 locally. That total number is up from just over 5,500 two years ago.
With more than 400 flights, the airline that began as a small father-and-son operation in 1977 also operates the most departures locally. But those departures are going from 401 to 314 on Dec. 1.
The moves probably put off any immediate sale of Comair, one expert said.
Rumors have swirled about a potential sale for nearly a year and flared up once again last month when Delta sold sister regional subsidiary Atlantic Southeast Airlines to Utah-based SkyWest for $450 million. Delta bought Comair for $2.3 billion in January 2000.
“It doesn’t mean that Comair will never be sold, it just mean it won’t happen right now,” said HelaneCQ Becker, airline analyst with New York-based The Benchmark Group. “They just have too much going on to be sold.”
According to information filed by Comair with the U.S. Department of Transportation, Comair turned a $4.9 million operating profit on operating revenue of $310.6 million in the first quarter of 2005. But the airline had the second-highest costs per passenger among major regional carriers nationally.
Comair officials would not discuss those financial figures but said the operational cuts could lead to even higher costs per operation. That’s because the moves decrease the amount of time Comair’s planes can spend in the air by nearly an hour per day on average.
“When you apply that across our entire fleet, essentially that puts pressure on our costs,” spokesman Nick Miller said.
He said that includes labor costs. Earlier this year, Comair won concessions from its 1,900-member pilot union, which agreed to a pay freeze. In addition, the 1,000-member flight attendant union agreed to a lower pay scale for new hires.
But those are tied to growth targets for both increased jobs and number of planes.
“We’ll have to address that, and we’ll have to be very up front about the seriousness of the challenges we face,” said Miller. “We have to continually look at every area of the company to achieve those cost savings. We are continuing to have discussions with representatives from our labor groups on these issues.”
But J.C. Lawson III, chairman of the Comair pilot union, said he has not been officially approached about more concessions. He also said the agreement included a no-furlough clause. In addition, the amended contract calls for the reinstatement of scheduled raises if the growth figures are not met.
“But I would say that the mood (at the company is) not somber,” said Lawson, whose union is a local branch of the Air Line Pilots Association. “You would’ve had to have been in a hole someplace not to know that there are problems. We’re going to have to figure out how to deal with them. So the mood is not upbeat, but certainly it’s not like this is the end. It could have been way worse.”
Last edited by SWAcapt; 09-08-2005 at 07:59 AM.
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