ASA shutting the door on hiring

[Firefly]

I was told by an ASA captain, during an exit interview, that ASA will stop hiring shortly because of fuel cost.

 

[ifly4food]

Really?

Well, my cousin's friends' nephew's aunt's mom's grocer's son's friends' brother, who is in management, told me that ASA is getting rid of all the -200s next month. So you must be right!

 

[JoeMerchant]

I don't know if it is true or not.....but it wouldn't surprise me.....It is clear that the music is about to stop and there aren't enough chairs for everyone to sit in.....

It isn't just oil.....the US economy is in serious trouble.....

 

[johnpeace]

I've heard that some classes have been canceled, but interviews are still taking place.

 

[ifly4food]

Seriously, though, we're pretty fat on pilots for the promises of no growth we keep hearing from management. And attrition has slowed to about 20 a month.

It doesn't really make sense for management to keep hiring 40 a month indefinitely. Especially with 12 airplanes leaving this year and no replacement (that's 120 pilot positions lost with ASA's staffing formula of 5 crews per airplane)

 

[twott driver]

Last time I looked 5 crews per plane multiplied by 12 planes was 120 pilots, or am I missing something?

 

[ParrotheadGTI]

heard the same thing today.. 2 guys that were hired to start the AATP program at FlightSafety were let go due to ASA stopping hiring

 

[ifly4food]

Last time I looked 5 crews per plane multiplied by 12 planes was 120 pilots, or am I missing something?

Yeah...120 pilots. 60 per seat.

 

[Speedtape]

I was told by an ASA captain, during an exit interview, that ASA will stop hiring shortly because of fuel cost.

Delta Air Lines CEO Richard Anderson told employees Friday that they should expect to hear next week about changes to the airline's operations -- a result of the current high fuel prices.

However, this could mean more RJ flying.

 

[Texx]

Delta Air Lines CEO Richard Anderson told employees Friday that they should expect to hear next week about changes to the airline's operations -- a result of the current high fuel prices.

However, this could mean more RJ flying.

Why do you think that Atkin was out here for a whole week in March.

 

[CFI2766]

Delta Air Lines CEO Richard Anderson told employees Friday that they should expect to hear next week about changes to the airline's operations -- a result of the current high fuel prices.

However, this could mean more RJ flying.

Possibly more RJ flying. Just looking at the schedule, I already see a couple cities where RJs or E-jets are doing flying that used to be done by mad-dogs.

I think that for all the rancor about the demise of the RJ, it's still cheaper to send an RJ somewhere than an MD. If the overall profit margin for a flight, even with relatively higher fuel costs, is higher on a specific type of equipment, that's the equipment that I would suspect would get the route.

Once again, why are the ATRs going away?

 

[CFI2766]

Why do you think that Atkin was out here for a whole week in March.

Going over legal strategies?

 

[Cpt Oveur]

Delta Connection is going to pull out of markets system wide. Delta's going to plea poverty and high gas prices, and DCI will get many block hours pulled. I suspect that if oil prices don't go back down, hahaha, then Eagle, Xjet, USAir express, and UAL Express will have similar fates. Just have to wait for the pendulum to swing the other way.

 

[777forever]

Possibly more RJ flying. Just looking at the schedule, I already see a couple cities where RJs or E-jets are doing flying that used to be done by mad-dogs.

I think that for all the rancor about the demise of the RJ, it's still cheaper to send an RJ somewhere than an MD. If the overall profit margin for a flight, even with relatively higher fuel costs, is higher on a specific type of equipment, that's the equipment that I would suspect would get the route.

Once again, why are the ATRs going away?

Because the ATRs are VERY old and VERY unreliable to the point where its not even worth the extra money. Plus, ATR is heavily booked on orders so no chance of new ATRs anytime soon. Lastly, Delta wants an all jet fleet.

 

[CFI2766]

Because the ATRs are VERY old and VERY unreliable to the point where its not even worth the extra money. Plus, ATR is heavily booked on orders so no chance of new ATRs anytime soon. Lastly, Delta wants an all jet fleet.

Basing this off of what?

 

[777forever]

Basing this off of what?

Training department folks, first hand experience, and common sense. The ATRs are falling apart, the maintenance parts inventory is low so if something breaks it takes forever to fix, and they break so often it screws up the entire schedule and flights get cancelled. Ask any Tri Cities commuter about the ATR. Ask any Gainesville commuter about the ATR.

 

[Cpt Oveur]

Training department folks, first hand experience, and common sense. The ATRs are falling apart, the maintenance parts inventory is low so if something breaks it takes forever to fix, and they break so often it screws up the entire schedule and flights get cancelled. Ask any Tri Cities commuter about the ATR. Ask any Gainesville commuter about the ATR.

I don't think you have enough first hand experience to really judge the rest of it. Being that April is the first time you will be eligable to bid.

 

[JumpersAway]

Looking down the barrel of a possible 8 billion dollar loss, industry wide, for 2008; it doesn't suprise me. It's going to be very interesting to see what sort of announcements are going to come from Delta over the next couple of weeks. One way or the other, I've got a feeling that ASA is going to be very different in a year. Be it for the better, or for the worse, I am not certain.

Did I understand correctly that JA was in Atlanta for nearly a week not too long ago? Sounds to me that it could be paving the way for ASA to expand it's fleet by larger (70-90 seater) RJs. Either that, or Delta is going to make ASA more accountable for fuel use/consumption. If DCI carriers are going to be whittled down to 4 by the end of 2008, what potential does ASA have- will we grow as a result? I'd be very suprised to see that we don't grow at the expense of another carrier. My prediction is Mesa and Chautauqua, maybe even Comair, will go away while ASA fills in the blanks with less frequency, and bigger planes.

Oh well, we'll see.

 

[Medeco]

My guess is JA was in town for a few reasons.

1) he has a new President running ASA, so he came to see first hand what Brad was doing, good or bad.

2) Skywest Inc. has a 25 million dollar grievance with DAL Inc. and probably met with them over this dispute.

3) Met with DAL about where Skywest Inc. stands in the new business model DAL will announce next week. I'm sure JA wanted to say first to Richard Anderson, that he has 12 years remaining on a contract and he intends to hold them to it.


ASA is the largest DCI carrier not owned by DAL, and we are making pretty big improvements over time. It wont surprise me if we get more DCI flying, but I also wont be surprised if ALL DCI flying shrinks.

Medeco

 

[Cpt Oveur]

of course it's all going to shrink. True, they will whittle the carriers down. Not good for companies like Chautauqua flying 37 seaters or those flying only 50 seaters, like Freedom.

There's no telling why he was there. Was Orenstein in Atlanta, or the head of any other DCI carrier? There's not going to be any good news for DCI this season with oil going the way it is. Delta brand will pull out of numerous markets.