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Republic Deals with Crew Shortages
The Louisville Courier-Journal
By Alex Davis
Republic Airways has canceled at least 22 flights out of Louisville since November because it hasn't had enough pilots or flight attendants.
The Indianapolis-based carrier operates flights from Louisville International Airport for Delta, Continental and United among other companies.
Warren Wilkinson, a spokesman for Republic, said some of the staffing crunch is due to major carriers hiring pilots for the first time in several years. Between Nov. 1 and April 12, he said Republic canceled a total of 80 flights leaving from Louisville, or about 3.5 percent of its 2,297 overall departures.
"We're not alone," Wilkinson said. "The entire industry is facing pilot shortages."
According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, the nation's major carriers canceled an average of 2.9 percent of all scheduled flights from November through the end of February.
Wilkinson said the Republic's cancellation average is higher than it was during much of last year because of the staffing shortages. Other flights leaving from Louisville were canceled due to weather and other issues.
"This is something new that we've experienced," Wilkinson said in an interview. "We're adjusting our hiring and training programs to keep pace with the higher demand. We believe we'll get ahead of it in the next few months
Ornstein: Mesa growing despite potential labor shortage
ATWOnline
By Sandra Arnoult
Mesa Air Group Chairman and CEO Jonathan Ornstein said hiring enough employees to keep pace with growth, much of which is within his own company, will be one of the most significant challenges facing regional airlines this year.
Last month, Mesa's service agreement with Delta Air Lines was amended to include 14 new CRJ900s for Delta Connection, most likely at Cincinnati or Atlanta. It also expects to launch its Chinese joint venture with Shenzhen Airlines by September with a CRJ200. Mesa, which holds a 25% stake, will handle operations while Shenzen will be in charge of marketing and planning.
Some current Mesa pilots will head to China to fly for the new airline, Ornstein told ATWOnline last week at an analyst conference in Puerto Vallarta. "There is not a glut of pilots and the major airlines are hiring," he said, pointing to his carrier's in-house Pilot Development Program in Farmington, N.M., where enrollment has dropped nearly 40% this year.
He said Mesa and Shenzhen have applied to use a former military airfield located between Beijing and Beijing Capital International Airport as a base. He also revealed that Kunpeng Airlines is a placeholder name for the new JV and may change.
Ornstein remains optimistic about the future of go!, which began flying last summer in Hawaii and currently operates 64 daily inter-island flights with four CRJ200s that he hopes eventually to replace with CRJ900s. The carrier has a market share of about 10%-11%, most of which is coming out of Aloha Airlines, he said. While it currently is unprofitable, he expects go! ultimately will turn a profit. "Building a brand and equity costs far less than it would cost for us to buy [another carrier]," he said.
He declined to discuss the ongoing legal battles with Hawaiian and Aloha, which kicked off when Mesa Air Group announced plans for the low-fare startup more than a year ago
