I know what you look like, higney. It was a joke. Try to have some humor in this life... it's going to be a long, rough road without it.

You have a framed picture of him above your computer, don't you?

Yep.

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lf...gd25o1_500.jpg

Anyone that works out that much gets a framed picture above my blessed machine.

So we basically said the same thing, but it's different because you said it? :D

I disagree! 80 brings MUCH needed comic relief and levity to a forum which would otherwise be boring and not worth visiting. But the then again, that described 95% of APC forums :)

Yes. 80 just makes the cat fight interesting.

http://kceducationenterprise.files.w...-6118720_s.jpg

There ya go. Feel better?

Only if that's from Subway! Mmmmmm

Classic!!!!!!

Quick question....as I re-read the new TA, where I see DOS-does that stand for date of signing? I'm just guessing. I'll wear the dunce cap as the forum sees fit.

It stands for "Dumptruck Of Suck". Thats what you guys got out of this deal.

You hit the nail on the head. I've been saying this for some time now. They allowed the regionals to happen in the first place yet blame YOU for taking (ahem) their jobs. Bunch of self-serving guys (not all, of course) who want it all and when things go wrong, it is *never* their fault - always someone else's.

Confirmed...

To: All Pinnacle Employees
From: John Spanjers
Subject: New SVP and Chief Operating Officer

I am pleased to announce that tomorrow, February 5, Ryan Gumm will join Pinnacle as the new Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. Upon emergence from bankruptcy, Ryan will become president and chief executive officer, and I will retire.

Ryan brings with him a wealth of experience, both as a professional commercial airline pilot and an effective airline business leader. That experience is incredibly valuable as we strive to create a stronger and more viable airline. Ryan has also held several leadership and management positions, including senior leadership positions within Mesa Air Group, Comair and most recently, Delta Private Jets. He also holds an Airline Transport Pilot Certificate and a type rating on the EMB-145 regional jet for which he has served as a captain, line check airman and simulator proficiency check airman.

Ryan brings with him three additional leaders from Delta as consultants to help lead the company. Barry Wilbur, whose specialty is operations, is currently Managing Director of Flying Operations and a 767 First Officer, responsible for administrative management of over 12,000 Delta pilots. Also joining us is Loren Neuenschwander, whose specialty is finance. Loren has held a variety of roles with Delta, most recently in Paris as the managing director of Alliance Partnerships overseeing the joint venture with Air France and KLM. His previous assignment included oversight of the financial performance of the nine Delta Connection carriers. Mike Becker will be joining them as well. Mike was the head of human resources at Northwest Airlines and an executive vice president of Human Resources at Delta before retiring in 2010.

This is the second bankruptcy I’ve been through in my career, so I understood what was ahead and the difficulties we would encounter. When I accepted this position, I made a commitment to myself to get the company through bankruptcy and I fully intend to honor that commitment. With the recent approval of our agreements by the court, we are moving into the home stretch of exiting Chapter 11 and returning to normal operations.

I, like many of you, have logged many years in this business and have seen the many ups and downs of this industry. As I see Pinnacle moving toward emergence from bankruptcy, I feel like this is a good time for me to step down and retire. I will stay at Pinnacle and oversee the bankruptcy process until we emerge. During this period, Ryan will be focused on the day-to-day operations of the airlines as I transition my duties to him.

We have been through a lot together. We have all been involved in bringing together three airlines – Colgan, Mesaba and Pinnacle – into the airline we have today. Each airline was different, but all had the same overall commitment to safety and operating performance, which comes from its people. As I look back over the last 12 months, I'm especially proud of what this airline has accomplished. We have combined airlines, reorganized our SOC, transitioned fleets, navigated Chapter 11, restructured our entire operation and achieved consensual agreements with our labor groups. All of this was done while we continued to operate safely and reliably. All of these things are monumental achievements, especially in the face of adversity. It says a great deal about the character of our employees that when faced with these challenges, the response was to get focused and meet them. None of the things mentioned here could have been accomplished without this great team of people.

I also realize there are still a number of challenges for this company, including the headquarters move to Minnesota, the final phase of our FAA plan to bring these three airlines together, and the fleet transformation that lies ahead. I'm convinced the management team led by Ryan will have a huge advantage in meeting these challenges – the people of Pinnacle Airlines. You have proved that you can overcome any challenge and these will be no exception.

I’ll be around here until we emerge from Chapter 11, which is expected late April or early May. I look forward to working with each of you to set Pinnacle up for success in the future. I just wanted to take this time now to say thanks for all you have done. It has been my honor leading this team.

This is not a team brought in to "shut things down." It's there to built things up. This kind of horsepower does not leave a Delta job, uproot families and move from Atlanta / Paris to MN unless they know it is long term career advancement. There is an old management expression: "When you shine like a diamond in a goats a**, don't move" for a high risk or dead end job

Wilbur is a Naval Academy graduate, has a MBA, and commanded the largest air wing in the Navy. Neuenschwander is a MBA, CPA, "integration specialist" who was heavily involved in the NWA/Delta merger. Becker is returning to HR where he has also has expertise in "integration"

They are a HQ Delta team there to build Pinnacle (still awaiting name change) way beyond 80+ airplanes and will slowly erase separate identities between Delta and its "primary" regional.

Ftrop, what is your background? Are you a mainline guy? Just curious, you seem to have some good info if this is true.

Shutting Comair down was precisely the reason Ryan Gumm was brought there, and IMO, this is appearing similar.

Managers don't necessarily 'uproot their families and move'. Plenty of them negotiate positive-space passes into their employment contracts. No big deal.

Also, in the case of Ryan, was brought into Comair, then moved to DPJ, now shifted to the soon-to-be-wholly-owned 9E. At that level, if you do your job, go with the strategic flow and succeed, even if eventually 9E shuts down, I'm sure DL will have positions for him and the rest of that management team elsewhere. That's why we see so many recycled names throughout the company and the industry.

Never been an airline pilot, never worked for an airline, never owned any airline stock. I'm just a passionate observer and detached analyst who diligently researches then makes (IMHO) rational projections.

In a previous life I taught graduate level air carrier management courses at ERAU.

Other then that, I spend most of my time sailing, occasional glider flying, reading good books, listening to good music, reminiscing about my USAF flying days and wishing I was young again.

He didn't shut down Delta Private Jets.

There will be pessimists and optimists (myself). We will jut have to sit back and watch.

If you have a headache and take two Excedrin, the symptoms will disappear. If you have a brain tumor, the problem has not gone away. It takes a "surgeon" to cure the problem. This Delta management "team" will make "Pinnacle" healthy again.

Right. I was referring to his history at OH/F8....DPJ still is very much here.

Agree to disagree as you've said, but your posts are always interesting and a good read!

Ask yourself this, why? What do they stand to gain by having topped out 4th year FOs and topped out 12 yr CAs? If another regional airline like GoJets can do it cheaper, why make "Pinnacle" healthy again? Pinnacle was a 200+ aircraft operation after the mergers, and now the end plan is only 81 airplanes. There is nothing healthy about that. In fact, the healthiest thing for Delta to do would be to pull this all over again as a wholly owned carrier. 9E, take these paycuts, or we wind you down. What's to stop that threat from coming?

Delta didn't kill Pinnacle; Pinnacle killed Pinnacle. Delta is picking up the pieces of what's left and will build it up again . IMHO - way beyond 81 airplanes.

I think you're correct. Delta management has created a solid way to drop their DCI costs to rock bottom prices. In 2015 Delta will be allowed to require Skywest Inc to drop their DCI cost to just above Pinnacle. That includes the flying done by Skywest & ExpressJet. Pinnacle has become very valuable to Delta.

I'm curious why you have such an interest in 9E?

It's a study in airline "trauma." Airline Management Analysts like "problems" to solve or predict outcomes if not actively involved in the process.

Why no similar interest in AA?

Too big to fail. There was a chance Pinnacle could have gone under.

But you have tweaked my curiosity. Going to do some reading.

Great post!

For some strange reason I read this like it was said by the Architect from "The Matrix" or...

You can read it as Hannibal Lecter's voice.

Sounds equally cool! In my head though... Lol

Again, why? By 2015, 9E will be left with some of the most senior regional airline pilots in the regional industry. Why won't Delta play the cost cutting game again, especially when 9E becomes wholly owned?

Our most senior pilot is at the 12 year mark. Nearly 30 dollars less per hour than skywest and ASA.

Posted 3/27/10 Thread - The Perfect Storm

"A better idea (perhaps less legally complicated) would be to staple a wholly owned like Mesaba, implement regional aircraft pay rates similar to Jet Blue (helps retention), build a three year fence to preclude downward bidding (ie. DC9 FO to CRJ Capt) and allow senior regional pilot advancement to the major as attrition (retirements, etc.) causes losses at the top. Is that a pipe dream of what. :eek: "

Forget the recent TA pay rates. Think market economy. As the pilot shortage becomes "SEVERE" I expect the "pipe dream" to come true.

Is Spanjers being retained in any capacity? Is Restifo still VP of Flight Ops?

Not sure about JS. Yes, JR is currently VP Flt Ops.

Spanjers announced he will retire when Pinnacle exits bankruptcy.

The article said "brought in as consultants". Pretty big jump to assume they're leaving Delta and uprooting families. There are plenty of higher ups here that commute in/out to their management duties.

I do agree however, that Pinnacle will be around at least long enough to reset Skywest's rates. After that?

I wouldn't imagine any more big changes until the new guy takes over. With JS gone JR no longer has his life jacket and I hope he gets fired. I am sure one of the first things that is going to happen is the good Ol boys club is going to get broken up. And that is fine with me.

RG was brought into Comair as an award for getting Delta out of the F8 mess. Remember that 180 the judge made in the lawsuit to get rid of F8? Ryan Gumm. He was the VP at Comair and when JB went to Frontier RG slid into his seat to finish the job. He has a place in Delta for a long time to come and IMHO he is not there to shut 9E down. There are big plans for 9E and they are good for Delta but bad for folks who like flying airplanes for a living. Meaning keeping cost, QOL and fun down to very low levels.

Jay,

Article on DLNET lists the positions as CEO and COO. Something is definitely going on here - I don't see Wilbur being brought in as COO to shut down Pinnacle, but I am not certain about anything in this deal.

Scoop

So it does, strange that the communication from the Pinnacle people said "consultants". Pretty big difference IMHO.

Who the heck knows, I can't keep up with all these moves any more. Seems to be an awful lot of effort that I would think could be better spent doing it.....let's just say.....another way.

I don't think the pilot shortage will be "severe." Between corporate, military, the regionals, freight, etc, plenty of qualified guys are out there for the majors. Hell, even toss in places like Spirit, jetBlue and Virgin America since a lot of those guys would leave for a Delta or United. It's going to be severe for the regionals, but I think the majors will make out okay. If it starts getting tight, they'll reduce frequency by flying larger airframes or run more code share flights. The sky isn't falling yet.