NWA to park more DC9's

[holmie]

Looks like 40 aircraft all -30's to parked by the end of 08. No replacements in the works.

 

[~~~^~~~]

So around 260 pilots are going where?

NWA still hiring?

Shoes are beginning to drop.

 

[n6604f]

Flame Bait!

 

[~~~^~~~]

Thank God! Sorry I jumped on it.

 

[patrickdc9]

This is not new news. NWA was stating last year that the plan was to park all the DC9-30's by the end of '08 and keep the -40s and -50s flying. Should leave us with 56 DC9's by end of '08. The pilot hiring plan is based on this, so I don't see any change to the NWA pilot hiring situation.

 

[Superpilot92]

This was discussed at NATCO when i was there and they told me they were getting rid of some of them but would be keeping 75 or 85 of them online and that some of the "newer" ones are at there half lives" FWIW

 

[John Pennekamp]

They realized that the paint was all that's holding them together, so if the strip them to repaint in Delta colors, they'd just fall apart. Better to dump them first.

 

[Sailpilot]

JBLU has some nice new Emb-190s that could replace them. Oh, and the A320 might work in that fleet. Overnight foot-hold into JFK market.

As a former Comair guy... thats for all you did during our strike. NWA guys showed up like we promised free beer.

As a current JB guy... please be gentle.

 

[F/O]

I hope they keep flyin' 'em. They are pretty good at turning fuel into noise.
​

 

[Diesel-9]

The utilization rates on the 90+ on line have been very low for a few years to keep them from running up time and into the expensive maintenance checks. In some cases the utilization rates will double to normal levels and flying should be close to current levels. Hiring 40+ a month this year and looking at going to 60 a month for awhile. Currently interviewing and training IP's on the -9 at a very high rate and other fleets getting ready with all the movement projected the next 2 years. Heard much of this on line check this week.

 

[BigMotorToter]

I loved the DC-9.

 

[clippyrip]

They are bought and paid for....fuel prices don't make them unprofitable.

 

[SpauldingSmails]

I saw another one being stripped of it's titles parked over by I494 yesterday morning. Looks like they're going slowly but surely.

 

[BigMeat]

How many CRJs are they bringing online to replace the DC9 flying? Not flame bait just wondering. I know compass is growing but by how much?

 

[SpauldingSmails]

How many CRJs are they bringing online to replace the DC9 flying? Not flame bait just wondering. I know compass is growing but by how much?

Right now the word at compass is the initial order of 36 E175's. There's options for an addt'l 36. According to compass' pres. operating costs start looking a lot better with a fleet of 50+. Alas, it's still all in the hands of big red.

 

[Superpilot92]

How many CRJs are they bringing online to replace the DC9 flying? Not flame bait just wondering. I know compass is growing but by how much?

There is s cap on how many aircraft can be at the feeders for NWA. Per the contract only 18 aircraft are unaccounted for. So if 18 more aircraft go to compass or mesaba thats it Unless NWA gets NEW GROWTH aircraft. Not Replacements for the 9.

 

[GOULET!]

Say it with me...COMPASS CAPTAINS.

 

[Superpilot92]

Say it with me...COMPASS CAPTAINS.

Not that i think that will happen but honestly wouldnt that be better than making 30 bucks an hour first year at NWA? Nice Flame Though

 

[clippyrip]

NWA was very short on pilots when they started hiring. Also, their hiring has not been able to keep up with attrition from retirements, let alone catch up to proper staffing levels. Those two factors will provide plenty of buffer between a merger and the streets for the new hires. IMHO.

 

[Truckdriver]

Not that i think that will happen but honestly wouldnt that be better than making 30 bucks an hour first year at NWA? Nice Flame Though

That would be awesone. Get hired then furloughed a couple months later. Go to Compass and fly the E-175 for $60/hr. The only question is during furlough would you acrue longevity at NWA or would you go back and finish out what you had left on first year pay? Just think, you might get to be a "flowback" if your lucky. I wonder if a furloughed Delta guy could get a Compass slot. Then I could be like an "off the street flowback".

 

[Noserider76]

Looks like 40 aircraft all -30's to parked by the end of 08. No replacements in the works.

DL and NWA ALPA need to get together to come up with a united front ASAP if a merger is in the works. If management wants to avoid a fight on this they need to come up with a solution to the retirement of a high number of 40+ year old airplanes that doesn't involve a Compass type C scale operation.

Integrating a bunch of pilots and than dumping their airframes isn't gonna cut it.

 

[General Lee]

This is not a surprise to anyone, espcially on the NWA side. If they park even more DC9s and need to furlough pilots thanks to a lack of mainline replacement, then that again will be NWA's problem, and Northwest ALPA's problem. We should treat it like a merger or acquisition would never happen---if they park NWA planes, and there is no merger etc, then NWA pilots get furloughed. Simple and fair. This is a problem that is already known out there, no surprises.


Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[Superpilot92]

This is not a surprise to anyone, espcially on the NWA side. If they park even more DC9s and need to furlough pilots thanks to a lack of mainline replacement, then that again will be NWA's problem, and Northwest ALPA's problem. We should treat it like a merger or acquisition would never happen---if they park NWA planes, and there is no merger etc, then NWA pilots get furloughed. Simple and fair. This is a problem that is already known out there, no surprises.


Bye Bye--General Lee

Another post out of the General that comes straight from his Arse. The hiring that is going on right now is already counting the retirement of the 9's. They have plans to go from 115 to 75-85 9's. That's not all at once either. With the 787 coming that is an increase in pilots overall also. 787 requires more pilots per plane than the 9. General talking out of his arse, NO SURPRISES.

 

[Superpilot92]

That would be awesone. Get hired then furloughed a couple months later. Go to Compass and fly the E-175 for $60/hr. The only question is during furlough would you acrue longevity at NWA or would you go back and finish out what you had left on first year pay? Just think, you might get to be a "flowback" if your lucky. I wonder if a furloughed Delta guy could get a Compass slot. Then I could be like an "off the street flowback".

I dont know about the longevity but I think you still accrue it because i read in the agreement that if you flow back to compass you get 1st or 2nd year captain pay, if you flow back to FO you get 3rd or 4th year pay. Then when the time comes to flow back up to NWA, if they need you to stay at Compass for "operational necessity" then you get the greater of the 2 pay rates.(if you should be 3 years at NWA and say 77 an hour as a nwa fo but you are stuck at Compass at 68 an hour they have to pay you the greater value. So that leads me to believe you still accrue longevity. FWIW

 

[General Lee]

Another post out of the General that comes straight from his Arse. The hiring that is going on right now is already counting the retirement of the 9's. They have plans to go from 115 to 75-85 9's. That's not all at once either. With the 787 coming that is an increase in pilots overall also. 787 requires more pilots per plane than the 9. General talking out of his arse, NO SURPRISES.

That's great that you are hiring even with the parking of some of your DC9s, the -30s. Great. But, it is like there is a huge elephant in the room---what will they do with those other older DC9s? That is what I mean, it is a problem that YOU KNOW ABOUT, and so do we. Have fun.


Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[~~~^~~~]

General: According to a NWA MEM pilot those "older" DC-9's still have a lot of life in them and had been operated under decreased utilization to stretch the maintenance schedule out. Now those are going to higher utilization resulting in little net block hour change - for now.

 

[General Lee]

General: According to a NWA MEM pilot those "older" DC-9's still have a lot of life in them and had been operated under decreased utilization to stretch the maintenance schedule out. Now those are going to higher utilization resulting in little net block hour change - for now.

That's great for them, for now. But we all know they will be dumped eventually, and that, along with the 747-400s at NWA, should be considered in a fence for 5 years (or whatever) IF we do merge or an acquisition takes place. If NWA orders a bunch of E190s to replace them in the future, then that would be great for everyone involved.


Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[Superpilot92]

That's great that you are hiring even with the parking of some of your DC9s, the -30s. Great. But, it is like there is a huge elephant in the room---what will they do with those other older DC9s? That is what I mean, it is a problem that YOU KNOW ABOUT, and so do we. Have fun.


Bye Bye--General Lee

The older 9's were described to me as being paid off and being at their operational half life. While older they aren't going anywhere anytime soon. I asked about replacements and if more buses would be the replacements, the answer i got was NWA doesnt want to spend lots of money on 14 year old technology and that they are looking for the next new generation efficient replacement. Boeing is coming out with the new 737, bombardier coming out with the c-class, and of course the e-190 could all be replacements. Who knows there are all kind of things that could happen. time will tell.

 

[Superpilot92]

That's great for them, for now. But we all know they will be dumped eventually, and that, along with the 747-400s at NWA, should be considered in a fence for 5 years (or whatever) IF we do merge or an acquisition takes place. If NWA orders a bunch of E190s to replace them in the future, then that would be great for everyone involved.


Bye Bye--General Lee

Eventually the MD88s will be dumped whats your point? If they fly and can produce income they will be around for a while. The DC9 50s aren't much smaller than the 88s and the 9's have no payment while the 88's do, we could go back and forth on this all day but the bottom line is that the pilot groups need not try and find a way to hose the other and figure out how to make this work in our favor. Just my 2 pennies.

 

[General Lee]

Eventually the MD88s will be dumped whats your point? If they fly and can produce income they will be around for a while. The DC9 50s aren't much smaller than the 88s and the 9's have no payment while the 88's do, we could go back and forth on this all day but the bottom line is that the pilot groups need not try and find a way to hose the other and figure out how to make this work in our favor. Just my 2 pennies.

Sure they will, but not anytime soon. Again, (I always point this out) the leases were regnegotiated for about $200,000 a month in savings, and they are newer and carry more pax than your older DC9s. The MD88s are how much newer than AA MD80s for example? A lot newer. And even newer MD90s are a signature away.

As far as waiting for new Boeing technology or a new airplane, how long would that take? Will your DC9s stick around until the new versions come out, or will Compass be huge by then, with no need to get a 100 seater? That is the real question here.


Bye Bye--General Lee