Spoilers

Will this cause more furloughs on Mesaba?

thrustsetrj200

Nothing has been finalized yet but I would say YES, it will mean more cuts. We furloughed 110 due to the last round of 10 Saabs being sent back. I'd imagine that there will be an additional 130 or so furloughs as a result. I HIGHLY HIGHLY doubt Delta will be replacing those Saabs with anything. Looks like there will probably be about 270 pilots furloughed from Mesaba as a result of this nonsense. It didn't take Delta long to screw the Mesaba pilot group.

bored

I wouldn't exactly count a saab replacement out of the picture YET. Many of us are still recovering from the battles pre 2007! Hang in there XJers!

Lighteningspeed

Someone on this forum said RA wants to turn XJ into an all jet fleet by 2012. It looks like that is what's happening. I know it doesn't look that way in the short run.

I am with the group that thinks there will be aircraft reshuffling amongst DCIs. Saabs being parked should not come as a surprise to those who have been following the DCI trends. Saab leases are coming for renewals in batches of 10 to 15 and DAL is not interested in renewing the lease at the rate Saab is asking for. Saab can get more money for them in Europe apparently, and DAL seems more interested in 76 plus jets.

I expect to see more cuts from DCIs in 50 seats or less smaller RJs and Saabs. In some cases they will be replaced with 76 seat jets, in some cases they will not be. Piecing together several puzzles together, my guess is that an undisclosed number of jets will replace the Saabs being parked at some time in the future, probably in 2010. Meanwhile, the pain of furloughing will probably continue throughout 2009.

xjsaab

What is being manufactured that could replace the SAAB? Hate to be a downer but
there isn't. I'm thinking delta wants to kill EAS flying and let passengers drive the extra 100 miles.

Lighteningspeed

I think you are missing the point. No one is arguing there is a comparable Saab replacement. As I have pointed out above, DAL is not interested in serving small cities with Saabs like NWA was. Saab leases are coming in for renewal and DAL is not interested in renewing them at the rate Saab wants.

Reshuffling of jets from one DCI to another will not replace Saab flying. Although, some cities formerly served by Saabs are already being served by XJ CRJ9s. My guess is XJ will probably get some bigger jets in return for most Saabs being parked in the future to serve cities that DAL wants to use 70 plus jets to squeeze Airtran and SWA or to use it as a spearhead for DAL mainline jet route connections.

newarkblows

CAL's saab contract in houston is coming up in the spring 2010. i know commutair, colgan, gulfstream bid for some or all of it. Maybe potential for mesaba?

xjsaab

I hope your prediction is true. My instinct says otherwise. We
are not owed jets for our sacrifice. Delta can cut us at will and doesn't
have to worry about litigation i.e Mesa courtbattle. We can't be assigned new 76 seat ac
because of scope. From a business standpoint cutting us versus a contractor is more cost effective.

Lighteningspeed

No I do not think so. If I get your question right. Mesaba cannot fly for CAL. Mesaba Saabs are going back to Saab and probably destined for Europe, is my best guess. Turboprops do not seem to be in DAL's concept of right fleet sizing. From all indications, DAL is not interested in serving small cities that are either losing money or at best generating any significant profit. DAL going into 2010 is interested in killling competitors like AirTran, or SWA from certain domestic markets by aggressively implementing 76 plus jets. DAL also seems poised to use 76 plus jets as an interim gap measure to spearhead mainline route connections out of their hubs like SLC, ATL and JFK. ie., on any given day, at SLC, you'll see 4 to 6 Mesaba CRJ9s and an array of Skywest and Comair CRJ7s and CRJ9s.

RJtrashPilot

I wish we (Comair) flew out of SLC. I would love to do some west coast flying. Unfortunately, we have not flown out of SLC in more than 5 years.

Also, I believe that 76 seaters are maxed out, unless mainline pilots give in on more scope, which I hope they do not do. Someone please correct me if I am wrong.