There have been posts lately about "poor Comair", SkyWest growing "at Comair's expense" and similar statements. Is this not how things work in the real world, people? You win some, you lose some and you keep fighting and move on. Why should anyone expect that Comair will keep all the flying they have and Skywest shouldn't compete for additional business? It should be the goal of any business to grow. If Comair can't compete, well then that's just too bad for them. If Skywest can compete and gain additional business, why shouldn't they? Heck, even MESA (perish the thought) should grow if they can compete and win new business. We live in a free market economy and this is how it works.

Where am I going wrong with my thinking on this?

 

I'll bite on this one although I'm sure it's going to come back to haunt me. Short Version? Pilot Salaries. With a fairly young pilot group and starting pay of $19 an hour, plus no separate 70 seat payscale...SKW can pay afford to do the flying for less because they pay their pilots less. That tends to get people a lil' up in arms when they fight so hard to get a raise and then it gets undercut and the flying distributed to other agencies. BUT I don't work for Comair or SKW, so take that response for what it's worth - barely knowledgable random post on the internet (I think that ranks somewhere between tabloid articles and anything that came out of Dan Rather's mouth).

 

Pilot salaries are only a part of the equation.

The only thing I have to say about the 'real world' thing is just wait until it is your job which is pulled out from underneath you only to be replaced by younger, cocky, less experienced pilots. We have all been young and cocky and inexperienced and that is the nature of the world. But you will likely feel a bit more sympathetic and understanding when you are replaced by a younger version of yourself in a few years.

 

Just wait until CHQ starts making a run for the CRJ flying...

Just got off the phone with a friend that was talking to a CHQ crew up in Montreal. They are ferrying back the "newest" CRJ for paint in Arkansas (it's an ex-IDE bird).

You want inexperience and cocky pilots? This crew was it.

Total time in type for the CA: 12 hours.
Total time in type for the CA rated FO: 4 hours.
Haven't even done IOE and they're ferrying aircraft in bad weather...

Scary.

 

Well, I may be new in the business, but I'm old and not cocky. Just trying to figure out why pilots think they should be insulated from free market forces. I've been replaced and it sucks. But again, it's how things work in the real world.

 

You obviously don't work for ACA/FlyI. Or Air Wisconsin. Or Expressjet. Or Comair. Or ASA. Or PSA/PDT. Or TSA. Or any other regional pilot group that has lost or is faced with losing flying to somebody willing to do it for less.

To get to the gist of your post, Comair is hamstrung in "competiting" because they are wholly-owned. In theory a WO should be preferred to a contract carrier because of operational control issues, but WOs are now viewed as a liability rather than an asset. Another thing hurting DAL & in turn Comair is the ridiculous amount of aircraft debt DAL has, mostly in the form of RJs. My understanding is DAL unloaded ASA's debt onto Skywest, but they still have the debt for Comair's aircraft. And lets not doubt for one second there are people in Delta management "making Comair pay" for the 2001 pilot strike that cost them BILLIONS of dollars.

Comair raised the figurative bar for every regional, and now they are getting the rug pulled out from under them...and as long as pilots are content making less than Comair's 2001 rates and work rules (so long as the upgrades continue...), there will continue to be a merry-go-round of contract carriers at the regional level.

 

Skywest is taking advantage of SJS guys that will jump at the chance to fly larger equiptment for less pay, and I used to respect SKYWEST, what was I thinking................................

 

It matters not who I work for, though I'll say this- I work for someone who is at risk and anxiously awaiting the results of the RFP. But again, the issue is the free market, competition, and winning and losing business.

 

Well I did a search and found you work for Mesa, based in MCO. I liked the "Saving Pilot Ryan" video the MEC put together, and I hope you guys kick ass on the contract next year, I really do. If Mesa loses flying in the Delta RFP, it'll not be a consequence of high cost, it'll be a consequence of operational reliability (or lack thereof). That definately ain't the fault of the crews...

I'll never be happy for anybody being put out of work, but a few would find sweet justice in seeing Mesa lose some flying after taking so much from other carriers.

If you vote to accept continued low wages & poor work rules in order for Mesa to continue growing, then that will firmly make you part of the problem and not part of the solution...and that is directly tied to "free market economics".

 

"To get to the gist of your post, Comair is hamstrung in "competiting" because they are wholly-owned. In theory a WO should be preferred to a contract carrier because of operational control issues, but WOs are now viewed as a liability rather than an asset. Another thing hurting DAL & in turn Comair is the ridiculous amount of aircraft debt DAL has, mostly in the form of RJs. My understanding is DAL unloaded ASA's debt onto Skywest, but they still have the debt for Comair's aircraft. And lets not doubt for one second there are people in Delta management "making Comair pay" for the 2001 pilot strike that cost them BILLIONS of dollars."

Then why doesnt Delta spin Comair back out? I think several other companies have done this with their regional flying in the past, and it has served them well.

BTW, I think the state of wages at the "regional" level of flying *does* reflect market forces.