Free Bird

Here's reality to me. I was hired just prior to C2K being inked. How many RJ's did DCI operate at that time? How many 70 seat RJ's did they operate at that time? C2K had some big $$$ in it, too bad it also gave away lots of flying to DCI. Am I mistaken, or did C2K reduce the amount of RJ flying?

An example. Delta furlough's 1000 pilots post 911, how much hiring did DCI do during that time period? If Delta pilots can't see that as outsourcing we are in BIG trouble.

How about LOA 19 / Joint contract? Exactly how many 70 seat RJ's can mother Delta operate? Something like 250 if Im not mistaken. 50 seat RJ's are getting parked, that's great. Unfortunately, so are the 9's and some other mainline equipment. Good thing all 250 70 seaters will be flling the role of the 9's and other domestic equipment. Again, if the Delta pilots think that the JCBA was good for us in regards to scope, we're in BIG trouble.

Since I've been at Delta C2K and the JCBA have given away lots of OUR flying.

No?

Year 2000. What percentage of Delta flying did DCI do? How many seats did DCI operate?

Today. What percentage of Delta flying does DCI do? How many seats does DCI operate?

So in reality Slow, are you saying that by the Delta pilots voting in favor of C2K and the JCBA that DCI is actually flying less for Delta now than they did in 2000?

alfaromeo

I doubt these numbers are in any way accurate. If they are from form 41 then they are probably aircraft block hours. When a Delta plane flies one block hour, that equates to 2, 3, or 4 pilot block hours depending on the aircraft. Delta has increased their augmented crews dramatically since 2004 and I am pretty sure that the numbers they have do not reflect that. Form 41 data is next to useless for any type of comparative analysis.

In January of 2004, Delta flew 340,000 pilot block hours with 6,769 pilots. In January of 2008, Delta flew 334,000 pilot block hours with 5,689 pilots. That goes from 50.2 hours per pilot to 58.7 hours per pilot or a 17% increase in productivity. If that average goes through the year then each pilot is flying 700 hours per year. In July of 2008, Delta flew 399,000 pilot block hours with 6,175 pilots or 64.6 hours per pilot or 775 per year. Overall I think 800 per year is a little high on the estimate but 650 is way too low.

Statistics are funny things.

Bucking Bar

If Delta pilots did not give away scope, we'd been hired in 2001 when Delta began acquiring 500+ airplanes to renew and replace their narrow body fleet.

That. mi amigo, s why former regional pilots are such scope hawks. Because our C scale tour did not even net us any longevity while we flew Delta passengers.

When part of Delta is hiring, while the other division is furloughing, it is clear evidence of a scope failure.

Dash8widget

One thing that I have learned is that great pilots can come from a variety of backgrounds - and I think we agree on this point. Part 61 should be a target at all. Now, if you want the FAA to step in and increase the certification level/experience level of new hire 121 pilots (like making an ATP a requirement for all 121 crew members, which is probably not a bad idea) well, you might have an argument there.

As far as fixing the rj problem: Improving scope language? Absolutely! Having the FAA raise the bar on all 121 new hires? Perhaps. Picking on part 61? I don't think so!

Sadly if you want to see the effect of a dried up pilot supply all you have to do is look at the rest of the world; are ab-initio and MPL's really the answer? Because that and the military would be all that's left.

MD80

Delta is parking RJ-50 because they can't make money with oil over $50 per barrel. Now is the time to stop outsourcing of flying.



Smaller Jets Take Toll on Republic Airways

Posted on: Monday, 11 August 2008, 03:00 CDT
By O'Malley, Chris
It's not just the beat-up airline industry that's troubling locally based Republic Airways Holdings, it's the aircraft itself.
About half the regional jets flown by Republic for major airlines are of a type quickly falling into disfavor with the majors as they buckle under high fuel prices.
About 118 of Republic's 226 aircraft have fewer than 50 seats - too few passengers over which to spread the higher cost of jet fuel to make many of the routes they fly profitable.
That's part of the problem facing Republic and other regional carriers, analysts say.
Regional airlines, under fixed-fee contracts with major airlines, typically pass fuel costs to the big carriers who now are "eating a lot of red ink," said Michael Boyd, principal of Evergreen, Colo., aviation consultancy The Boyd Group.
So the major carriers are reducing use of the 50-and-fewer-seat regional jets. They're terminating contracts with regional carriers almost as fast as they can find an escape clause.
When oil hit $50 a barrel, the [regional jets] were under water. When it got over $50, these became financial submarines," Boyd said.
The trend appears to be partly behind Republic's July 11 announcement that it is cutting 500 jobs, or 10 percent of its work force.
On July 3 - eight days before Republic announced job cuts - United Airlines informed Republic it was exercising its right to terminate a contract with Republic's Chautauqua Airlines, which flies seven, 45-seat Embraer jets for United.
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The cancellation did not affect United's contract with Republic's Shuttle America airline, which flies larger, 70-seat Embraer aircraft.
In announcing job cuts this month, Republic CEO and Chairman Bryan Bedford noted that major carriers for which Republic flies were reducing their hub operations in light of soaring fuel costs.
`The combined impacts of fewer aircraft flying and lower utilization rates on our smaller jet aircraft are leaving us with no choice but to adjust our business to current market conditions," Bedford said at the time.
"Nobody, with oil at $130 a barrel, nobody can make money on a 50- seat [regional jet]," Barry Schimmel, business agent at Teamsters Local 135, recalls a Republic executive telling him recently.
Local 135 represents Republic flight attendants and passenger and fleet service employees.
So-called regional jets in the 35- to 50-seat category had been the darling of the commercial airline industry.
They made it economical for major airlines that contracted with small lift providers to shuttle passengers between secondary airports and the airlines' hubs.
When fuel costs spiked, the economics deteriorated quickly. One carrier flying regional jets between Toledo and Cincinnati would have had to double fares to he profitable, Boyd said.
Boyd, who had long forecast the demise of the 50-seat-or-less regional-jet market. now estimates that 835 such aircraft will be pulled from service in the United States by 2013 - a reduction of 31 percent.
Republic owns three airlines. Its Chautauqua Airlines subsidiary exclusively flies the 50-seat-and-smaller jets.
Meanwhile, its Shuttle America operates 70-seat jets and Republic Airline flies the largest Embraer aircraft, with more than 70 seats. The larger Embraer planes are more akin to DC-9 or 737 airliners.
But Republic has been quickly reducing its percentage of smaller aircraft. Between March 2007 and April 2008, it added nine 50-seat- or-smaller jets while putting into service 28 more Embraer aircraft with 70 or more seats. Among its major customers wanting to swap smaller planes for larger ones was Delta Air Lines.
Republic's three airlines fly under contract for Delta, United, US Airways and American Airlines. Another carrier, Frontier Airlines, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last spring and has sought to end its contracts with Republic.
Republic said it is seeking $260 million in damages from Frontier.
Even with half its fleet still consisting of the out-of-favor smaller jets, Republic is better diversified than some.
"Republic's three subsidiaries allow the company to fly for more partners with larger plates than any other regional carrier," Stephen O'Hara of New York investment firm Sidoti & Co. said in a report last month.
Republic officials could not be reached for comment.
Copyright IBJ Corporation Jul 21, 2008
(c) 2008 Indianapolis Business Journal. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.

Source: Indianapolis Business Journal

tsquare

You obviously do not live in Florida. The two dirtbags we have here in the US Senate never respond with anything other than boilerplate. My disdain for them (and the US Congress in general) is immeasurable...

Adolphus Coors

Dash you make some good points, but the part of "raising the bar" you speak of is experience level not training. I think experience is only as good as the training you were given. A person can play a million rounds of golf and be experienced but without proper training in the beginning that person will more than likely still suck. The reason I have a problem with the FAA certifying commercial pilots under part 61 is there is very little oversight and quality control. I do not have a problems with part 61 pilots and I have flown with many good ones. I do have a problem with part 61s loose environment. I think its time the FAA realize that being a commercial pilot is serious business and treated the certificate in that regard. With that said the the FAA needs to hard look at what schools they certify part 141.

forgot to bid

Is it time to bring back the ATR 42-500 and Dash 8-300s?

And when I get furloughed can I fly them?

acl65pilot

Do not worried about getting furloughed. Worry about where you will be displaced to. That is more likely to come before a furlough.

We do not have people in position to furlough. We would need to see another huge displacement for that even to become possible. To date that is not planned.

Back to the regular banter........

vprMatrix

Hey Alfa,

You are correct that the study derived it statistics from Form 41. And I understand that the numbers may not be 100% accurate. However looking at multiple years they give a good indication of the numbers.

As for you belief that the numbers don’t account for augmented crews I cannot say for sure based on the data in the study however I have a feeling you are right. For sure, Southwest’s numbers are higher than Delta's but then they are better than everyone else’s numbers. Still, Southwest’s numbers are only 64 hours/month for 2007 (and no other airline is near that number) which is lower than you show Delta’s numbers for July 08. Again, if the Form 41 numbers are correct.

Things to take into account when finding where this time goes are MIL pilots flying partial schedules, RES pilots, Sick time, Vacation time, Instructor pilots, Management pilots, ALPA leaves, Initial and Recurrent Training, SILs (at Delta), Trip Credits, etc, etc.

For fun take a look at the % of pilots on RES for May in ATL in these categories 777, 765, 7ER-A, 73N-B, and MD88.

I could be wrong but I believe more pilots than your 6,175 are being paid by Delta and would be counted when doing an average pilot block hour report.

One thing is for sure, numbers can be made to say just about anything. I can agree that my 650 number may be a little low.