What regional will no longer exists in 3 yrs?
08-09-2016, 08:07 AM
#33
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Mar 2013
Posts: 539
The regional model is not going away, and if the majors could make money on the flying the regionals do, there would be no need for regionals to exist. Yet, you chuckleheads have this idea of utopia that the majors need to make the regional model vanish so they can pay a crap ton of money for labor costs that don't pay off in the end. There you go you little whipper snapper.
First, safety. In the regionals, I have seen some serious safety violations. I watched a pair of cracked smoke goggles get transfered to another ac after being written up. Think of it this way, what was the last 3 fatal airline crashes in the U.S.? At least 2/3 are regional.
Second, profitability. The regional operation is alot of waste. At 2 regionals I have been at, there has been no fuel savings incentives. Hay we dont pay for it so, Lets get to the overnight and partay! Little things like that.
Performance. We suck at performance! Remember, more than passengers and crews care about on time and cancellations. The DOT watches this stuff too. I have never run across a side by side comparison of performance where it is regional vs mainline. Just regional vs regional. Arent we all 121?
Lastly customer service. As you mentioned previously, there are alot of people that work in the regionals who are not pilots. I have known many that go above and beyond to make the best customer service experience possible. Unfortunately they are few and far between. I do see however customers treated like garbage in connection with regional flights. Sure some deserve it. The truth is that a scheduled 3 hr flight on a 145 is pure evil. Oh and dont forget about those negative turns that I see very frequently in the regionals.
So those are my reasons. Feel free to fire back (isnt that half the fun of an annonomous internet forum?)
08-09-2016, 08:59 AM
#36
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Feb 2016
Posts: 608
08-09-2016, 09:28 AM
#37
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Mar 2013
Posts: 539
Each airline is its own entity, which is responsible for keeping its own house clean. Same goes for any other business. There are some regionals that have no business being in the "business", but that does not mean the whole entire business model needs to go away. If that is the logic you are going to use, then the entire airline industry needs to go away. There are those airlines who are not regionals that have the same problems you just stated as reasons for regionals to go away.
08-09-2016, 09:42 AM
#38
Living the Dream
Joined APC: Sep 2013
Posts: 1,795
I agree the regionals need to die (they'll most likely just downsize, though). That being said, I'm not sure I agree with the reasons cited earlier.
I feel pretty safe if I'm up front, and nearly as good with 99.9% of the other pilots at my regional flying me. As for mx, regionals may not spend a ton of money on being proactive, but I'd still describe them as both safe and legal (we all know those can be two different things).
Profitability? Regional labor is so cheap, it's hard to not be profitable. Fuel savings are just the icing on the cake. Otherwise, why would be here to begin with?
As for performance, our crews do everything in their power to be on time (though maybe they shouldn't). If there's a delay, you can bet it was out of our control, usually ground personnel or maintenance (safe!).
Customer service: I've seen wonderful flight attendants at various regionals, and awful bitter ones at mainline. The opposite is true, too.
Anyway, I agree, let them wither and die.
I feel pretty safe if I'm up front, and nearly as good with 99.9% of the other pilots at my regional flying me. As for mx, regionals may not spend a ton of money on being proactive, but I'd still describe them as both safe and legal (we all know those can be two different things).
Profitability? Regional labor is so cheap, it's hard to not be profitable. Fuel savings are just the icing on the cake. Otherwise, why would be here to begin with?
As for performance, our crews do everything in their power to be on time (though maybe they shouldn't). If there's a delay, you can bet it was out of our control, usually ground personnel or maintenance (safe!).
Customer service: I've seen wonderful flight attendants at various regionals, and awful bitter ones at mainline. The opposite is true, too.
Anyway, I agree, let them wither and die.
08-09-2016, 10:17 AM
#39
Banned
Joined APC: Jan 2015
Posts: 571
I agree the regionals need to die (they'll most likely just downsize, though). That being said, I'm not sure I agree with the reasons cited earlier.
I feel pretty safe if I'm up front, and nearly as good with 99.9% of the other pilots at my regional flying me. As for mx, regionals may not spend a ton of money on being proactive, but I'd still describe them as both safe and legal (we all know those can be two different things).
Profitability? Regional labor is so cheap, it's hard to not be profitable. Fuel savings are just the icing on the cake. Otherwise, why would be here to begin with?
As for performance, our crews do everything in their power to be on time (though maybe they shouldn't). If there's a delay, you can bet it was out of our control, usually ground personnel or maintenance (safe!).
Customer service: I've seen wonderful flight attendants at various regionals, and awful bitter ones at mainline. The opposite is true, too.
Anyway, I agree, let them wither and die.
I feel pretty safe if I'm up front, and nearly as good with 99.9% of the other pilots at my regional flying me. As for mx, regionals may not spend a ton of money on being proactive, but I'd still describe them as both safe and legal (we all know those can be two different things).
Profitability? Regional labor is so cheap, it's hard to not be profitable. Fuel savings are just the icing on the cake. Otherwise, why would be here to begin with?
As for performance, our crews do everything in their power to be on time (though maybe they shouldn't). If there's a delay, you can bet it was out of our control, usually ground personnel or maintenance (safe!).
Customer service: I've seen wonderful flight attendants at various regionals, and awful bitter ones at mainline. The opposite is true, too.
Anyway, I agree, let them wither and die.
08-09-2016, 10:36 AM
#40
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Mar 2013
Posts: 539
OK, so lets look at the removal of the regional airlines all together on the industry as a whole. Service to smaller markets would vanish, due to the fact for a major to operate aircraft to those markets would be too much cost to make it worth it. Labor costs would make smaller aircraft shoot through the roof on the cost per hour to operate, which would drive wages and benefits south. I seriously am shocked how people think that ditching the regional model is somehow going to get them a fast track to the majors, and making the big bucks. I mean, that is why you want regionals to vanish so you can fly the big boys, right?
So if the smaller cities loose service, what is stopping a 135 from moving in? Ever heard of boutique? The do EAS stuff. That is a program where the government will subsidize service to the smaller cities. Oh and if the city doesnt want to get on board with EAS than that is a decision that the residents can deal with.
All the reasons I stated before, I still stand behind. In my experiance in the regionals I have seen many things. Most have been negative. We can all agree that legal isnt safe. Sure MX may be top notch and up to speed, but what about the crew. I have flown with FOs and CAs that were scary as hell. Remember human error is the highest factor in crashes and other incidents.
Ah and one last thought about the dwindling service to the smaller cities, They are Already Loosing It. Due to a shortage of suckers willing to be underpaid for their skills, regionals are already having to scale back on some service. So if nothing changes as of now, the smaller cities have already lost
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
