Bucking Bar

Pogey,

I think you are partially right. First, Delta mismanaged Comair:

• Instead of giving them new orders to improve the value of their asset, Delta diversified to competitors, as a result ...
• Comair's fleet got older
• Comair's pilots got older
• Old stuff is expensive stuff, especially when fuel skyrockets and the new stuff is so much better (CRJ-900 52% more revenue for 15% more cost)
• Worse ... Comair was used as the accumulator to remove excess capacity resulting in very inefficient utilization of aircraft and crew
• Meanwhile contracted carriers enjoyed relative stability which allowed them to schedule resources more efficiently.

When NWA's management came along they did not share any affinity for their spouse's adopted children. The special relationship with Comair was now a special relationship with Pinnacle. The fact Pinnacle was a bigger mess than Comair actually helped it shed legacy costs.

At least that's how I think we got here.

Mesabah

I will give you an example, recently Apple, Google, Oracle, etc were sued in Silicon Valley for the top execs getting together, and coming to an understanding that they wouldn't hire employees from each other. Instead they would only hire from outside sources, interns, and recent college grads. This drives down or stagnates labor costs at these companies since there is no competition among the top firms. Regional airlines are in a sense the exact same thing. US airways was flooded with apps when they started hiring in the last year, would this have been the case in the 1980's if they were paying almost half the compensation package that Delta offers? The answer is obviously No; They would have to increase there pay to match that of Delta and the other carriers to attract pilots, lower standards, or go out of business.

ShyGuy

What are you talking about? Until the recent AA merger, US Airways did pay half of Delta and there was a line of pilots at least 10 miles long in terms of applications on file. There is no shortage of pilots willing to move on to a major.

What

Shy you are absolutely correct and this is the best post you've made in a long time. Please quite while you are on top and don't post on a Pinnacle thread again.

PinnacleFO

I believe just as the landscape changed dramatically when the 50 seat jet was first introduced, that the industry is primed for another dramatic change. Delta may see something about the future. With United hiring 50 plus a month, Usair hiring, American to hire this fall, Virgin, Spirit, Jet Blue, and countless carriers all hiring , Delta may be saying where are we going to get our pilots not only for our airline, but for our regionals as well? What ever they are doing with Pinnacle may be a test to see how they can get people to stay at pinnacle. If the first test is the SSP, it is failing miserably. I know of 10 people alone that have interviews at other airlines in the next 2 weeks and I am only 1 person. People are not going to wait around for the interview for years unless they live in base, and that is a maybe as well. I agree that there will always be pilots lined up to apply to delta but will they be the pilots delta wants? A lot of qualified people are going to be heading to united in the next year. Maybe Delta turing Pinnacle into a mirror image of themselves will change the pinnacle culture into the culture they want. If that works, they may take it a step further and try something else. In principle it actually does make sense. A pilot would be hired at Pinnacle and from day one would have a delta mentality. He would fly the airplane the delta way and treat the customers as such. when his delta spot opens up he would move up with minimal training besides the aircraft. The interview at pinnacle would be a delta interview, not a pinnacle interview. All outside the box thinking and not popular thinking, but we should not think it to be impossible.

JoeyMeatballs

Or the more likely scenario is Delta dangling a carrot so the rank and file stick around..........

You seem to be forgetting Richard Anderson was Lorenzo's Lawyer......I am pretty sure some (very few) PNCL guys will benefit from this agreement, It's a great way to keep guys around and lower costs.....

Avroman

I know of several "in base" that have left and many many more trying to leave.


That is called Compass airlines. NWA set that up in 07.

fatsopilot

A great way to keep guys around? Multiple people have mentioned how high the attrition is here - some months it is as high as 60, so it is not a great way to keep guys around. Despite being in the middle of a massive loss of airframes they are going to recall voluntary furloughs. They have not been able to keep people around and it is my opinion that any good news you hear regarding Pinnacle is only a rumor started to keep people around long enough to keep the 200's in the air.

ShyGuy

Are you serious? Is Anderson really an ex-Lorenzo lawyer?

Bucking Bar

Yep .