Comair to be shut down 9/29
 

JonnyKnoxville already posted this on an older Comair thread, but given its significance it deserves a new thread.

A sad day not just for everyone at Comair, but really for the entire regional industry. What was once the leading regional carrier, including pilots who took a stand and put their careers at risk to hold the line against Delta in the 2001 strike, will soon simply disappear.

Good luck to all the good brothers and sisters at Comair.


News Release Issued: July 27, 2012 8:30 AM EDT
Comair to Cease Operations

No significant changes to schedules or locations served for Delta customers

ATLANTA, July 27, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) today announced its subsidiary, Comair, Inc. will cease operations after Sept. 29, 2012.
(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20090202/DELTALOGO )
In a memo issued today to the Officers and Directors of Delta Air Lines, Don Bornhorst, Senior Vice President of Delta Connection, said:
"While regional flying has and will remain a key component of Delta's network, customer expectations and the unit costs of regional flying have evolved. In response, Delta recently announced its plans to reduce the total number of regional jets in its network while adding more mainline flying. This includes reducing the number of 50-seat regional jets from nearly 350 aircraft to 125 or fewer in the upcoming years. As a result of this reduction and changes to its customer-focused business strategy, Delta has made the difficult decision to cease Comair's operations."
Ryan Gumm, President of Comair, communicated Delta's decision this morning to Comair employees in a memo, the full text of which is included below.
The discontinuation of Comair's operations will not result in any significant changes to Delta's network, which has enough flexibility to accommodate these changes. Currently, Comair accounts for approximately one percent of Delta's network capacity. There will be no disruption to customers and no significant adjustments to Delta's flight schedule or locations served. All customers who travel on the Delta network, whether on Delta Connection flights or mainline aircraft, can continue to make travel plans with Delta as they have in the past.
Cincinnati will continue to be an important market in Delta's worldwide network. Over the past several years, working with community leaders, Delta has right-sized capacity at Cincinnati to better match service to local passenger demand. Cincinnati is now a profitable market for Delta and the city continues to enjoy over 120 peak daily flights, with non-stop service to 49 destinations. No reductions in the number of Delta flights are planned at Cincinnati as a result of this decision.
To All Comair Employees
From Ryan Gumm, President
Subject Comair to Cease Operations
Date July 27, 2012
All,
Today, I am writing to let you know that Delta has made the difficult decision to cease Comair's operations after September 29, 2012.
Delta recently announced its intent to reduce the overall number of 50-seat regional jets in its network from nearly 350 to 125 or fewer in light of the significant changes in the economic and competitive conditions in the airline industry. We believed this announcement would have a negative impact on Comair because we operate some of the oldest 50-seat aircraft in the Delta Connection fleet, which also have the highest unit cost per flight hour. And, in fact, Delta has decided to remove the remaining 16 Comair 50-seaters from the Delta network, leaving Comair with only 28 aircraft in scheduled service. This further reduction of Comair's active fleet will only create higher unit costs, which equates to a business model that is no longer sustainable in this competitive regional environment.
I understand that today's news is very difficult and raises many questions for you and your family. Human Resources is prepared to directly assist you during this time. They will post a memo and other documents on the Human Resources Epic page to keep you informed of the assistance available and to help answer many of your questions. We will also have staff available over the weekend to answer questions if needed. If after reviewing the information on Epic you have any additional questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out to your departmental leadership as well.
The discontinuation of Comair's operations is in no way a failure or a reflection of your work – it is an unfortunate necessity due to the economic limitations of our aging aircraft, cost structure, the long-term outlook for 50-seat aircraft, and our challenging industry and economy. The quality of our operations has continued to be outstanding during our lengthy restructuring efforts, and I am honored to have had the opportunity to lead such a committed team. I am asking that each of you recognize the importance of remaining focused on safety and the job at hand as we continue operations throughout the wind-down period. Your continued commitment and your dedication to a safe and reliable operation is a testament to the professional team we have built here at Comair.
About Delta Air Lines
Delta Air Lines serves more than 160 million customers each year. During the past year, Delta was named domestic "Airline of the Year" by the readers of Travel Weekly magazine, was named the "Top Tech-Friendly U.S. Airline" by PCWorld magazine for its innovation in technology and won the Business Travel News Annual Airline Survey. With an industry-leading global network, Delta and the Delta Connection carriers offer service to nearly 350 destinations in 65 countries on six continents. Headquartered in Atlanta, Delta employs 80,000 employees worldwide and operates a mainline fleet of more than 700 aircraft. A founding member of the SkyTeam global alliance, Delta participates in the industry's leading trans-Atlantic joint venture with Air France-KLM and Alitalia. Including its worldwide alliance partners, Delta offers customers more than 13,000 daily flights, with hubs in Amsterdam, Atlanta, Cincinnati, Detroit, Memphis, Minneapolis-St. Paul, New York-LaGuardia, New York-JFK, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Salt Lake City and Tokyo-Narita. The airline's service includes the SkyMiles frequent flier program, a world-class airline loyalty program; the award-winning BusinessElite service; and more than 50 Delta Sky Clubs in airports worldwide. Delta is investing more than $3 billion through 2013 in airport facilities and global products, services and technology to enhance the customer experience in the air and on the ground. Customers can check in for flights, print boarding passes, check bags and review flight status at delta.com.
SOURCE Delta Air Lines
For press inquiries: Delta Corporate Communications, +1-404-715-2554, News archive at news.delta.com

Many friends there. Good luck to all. Overall a good airline, good people.

How sad.


Scary to see how powerful "mother Delta" can be...

Omg guys I'm so sorry to hear this. I thought this whole thing was just a negotiations tactic. I never thought I'd see a day where such a great airline with fantastic staff would cease to exist.

Scary to see how this industry treats a career regional airline.

I'm very angry and I don't even work there... So Comair refuses to participate in this "race to the bottom" with other commuters and it gets shut down?

This is what happens in this industry when you demand to be compensated fairly for your services.


I guess other companies should follow Mesa's lead and work for peanuts in order to survive. The biggest problem is the majors know this.

My condolences to the Comair family. Over the years of jumpseating on your airline I was treated with nothing but kindness and respect. I just want to say Thank You. Not only for the friendly rides, but also for standing up for our profession. You will always have my respect for that. I know several people at Comair, including individuals supporting families. I'll help in any way I can. :(

This is exactly the way the regional model is supposed to work. Wholly owned simply allowed DL more flexibility in this case...no contracts to break, no early termination fees.

I think it just confirmed there is no such thing. Sorry the "careerists" suggested otherwise.

While it is sad, you cannot say it's anything new in this industry. Did you not see what happened to Eastern, Pan Am, TWA, Branniff, etc. pilots?

They were all Major Airlines, not 50 seat RJ operators.

I call it the Churn Game, and the airline CEO's have been playing it for a very long time. Delta's Richard Anderson was a Lawyer at CAL, working for Frank Lorenzo back when they took Eastern apart.

When ever one group stands up to Management;

Schwack!

Chopped up and sold off.

So, what's ALPA National's PLAN going forward??

They haven't had a plan to deal with this whipsawing, since deregulation in 1978.

Why not?

How many "Strategic Planing Committee" guys does ALPA National employ? And why? Where is the National SOS? That is the only 'hammer' we have, but there has NEVER been any talk of actually using it.

And don't be surprised when Cabotage raises it's ugly head in the next 10 years...