So... What are the BIG benefits to F9 with Republic?

[Porch]

Ill start off... the damn CA$H boys! I'm off right now to get a brand new Hyundai!

 

[Minimaniac]

Some benefits (serious, not trying to joke) are...

- F9 pilots get to keep their jobs
- F9 pilots get to keep their seats
- F9 pilots get to stay on their equipment
- F9 pilots get to keep their base
- F9 pilots get to keep their pay
- F9 pilots enter into integration talks with an advantage relative to their standing against the SWAPA pilots.
- F9 pilots will have the ability to help shape the RAH pilot group, and help shape the RAH contract to protect their current QOL.
- F9 pilots are not facing a guaranteed furlough
- F9 pilots get a chance to continue flying the brand they built, which means a lot to a lot of people
- F9 pilots are likely to end up with higher overall seniority compared with an integration at SWA
- F9 staff (mechanics, office staff, flight attendants) are more likely to keep their jobs, since many of the operations positions did not exist at RAH already.
- F9 employees are able to maintain a lot of continuity in their lives based on the stated intentions of RAH management.

Yes, some or all of the above can change over time, but RAH offered more hope for stability in terms of QOL, assuming RAH does not collapse under its ambition. F9 pilots faced the slow wind down of their fleet, which was going to lead to definite furloughs, highly likely base changes, and a future of being at the bottom of a seniority list at a time when growth is very limited and jobs are scarce. SWA may have offered more long term benefit, but MY OPINION is that the likely short term losses were just too much for the majority of F9 pilots to accept. But, I am not on their side of the fence, so my perspective may be off.

 

[kf4amu]

They will not keep their pay. No financial analyst predicts this merger will work unless their pay decreases drastically.

 

[climb2slow]

And financial analysts are always right...just like pilots on Flightinfo.com

 

[Minimaniac]

Why not? Bedford said he wanted to extend their current contract. There has been no reports of RAH going to the bankruptcy court judge asking for relief on the F9 pilot CBA. The current pay structure has allowed for profits. Pay concessions were not a contingency of the bankruptcy exit plan.

After bankruptcy exit next month, there will be no chance for Bedford to reduce F9 wages until the next RAH CBA is passed. Given that F9 Airbus wages are not industry leading, allow F9 to be profitable, and are acceptable to F9 pilots and RAH pilots, I see no reason for the next RAH contract to lower the current Airbus rate.

The F9 Airbus rates may not go up, but they will be around for a while. No pilots wants to see them go down, and management has no case for lowering them.

 

[Cornelius]

Porch, give it a break. And everybody else wanting to reply, the past is the past and F9 will try to make the best of this situation.

 

[StaySeated]

They will not keep their pay. No financial analyst predicts this merger will work unless their pay decreases drastically.

I will take it easy on you and ask for just ONE example supporting your statement.

I am not naive enough to think that this is going to a "good" thing, but F9 has the lowest block hour cost on the planet (not something to necessarily be proud of, but it is a fact).

Republic is going to grow the airbus fleet, and that is a fact. The problem, to some, is at who's expense will that growth depend upon.

 

[scoreboardII]

not something to necessarily be proud of, but it is a fact

So when are you boys and girls gonna man/women up and ask for pay that is respectful of your training, experience, and professionalism?

 

[Vegaspilot99]

May not keep their base. BB has said 319s are heading to MKE and a F9 guy I talked to tonight said MKE may be on the next bid.

 

[maxblast72]

Republic is going to grow the airbus fleet, and that is a fact. The problem, to some, is at who's expense will that growth depend upon.

Did the Frontier pilots agree to the unlimited scope that Bedford was looking for? If so, wouldn't that point to growing the E-190 fleet more than the Airbus fleet?

 

[Porch]

So when are you boys and girls gonna man/women up and ask for pay that is respectful of your training, experience, and professionalism?

They already asked for it going with RAH... And it isn't going up. I don't want to hear any F9'er beechen about the economy and how they can't afford to buy drinks for the crews! That's what you'll be gettin a second job for. Its all about the short-term QOL!... Short-sightedness is a beech Isn't it?!?

 

[GuppyWN]

Did the Frontier pilots agree to the unlimited scope that Bedford was looking for? If so, wouldn't that point to growing the E-190 fleet more than the Airbus fleet?

Yes. I worry about that as well.

On a positive note and I'm being serious so don't flame me -

My buds seem to be pretty content and seem to think or have been told that F9 might double or possibly triple in size because of RAH.

Gup

 

[Porch]

Yes. I worry about that as well.

On a positive note and I'm being serious so don't flame me -

My buds seem to be pretty content and seem to think or have been told that F9 might double or possibly triple in size because of RAH.

Gup

Wow... Thanks for passing that on! No flame

 

[kf4amu]

I will take it easy on you and ask for just ONE example supporting your statement.

"Republic will likely replace a significant number of Frontier's aircraft with new regional jets - E190s are the likely choice - to lower costs. For example, the maintenance costs on the E190s will be a fraction of those spent on Frontier's current Airbus fleet because of the maintenance-cost holiday of new aircraft. Pilot block hour crew costs are 58% lower at Republic ($100 per capita) versus Frontier ($170) and this suggests that Republic will want to reap the benefits of operating its own lower-cost crews. "
-http://seekingalpha.com/article/156382-southwest-airlines-missed-opportunity-frontier-goes-to-republic


Edit: I found another

"Airline financial analysts such as Vaughn Cordle of AirlineForecasts LLC expect a brutal war of attrition in Denver. Republic-controlled Frontier is unlikely to win unless Republic replaces some of Frontier's Airbus aircraft with its own regional jets flown by pilots making substantially less than what Frontier pilots are paid.

He estimates that Frontier's pilots cost the carrier $170 an hour in wages and benefits, compared with $99 an hour for Republic's regional jet pilots; Southwest's pilots cost $290 an hour, he estimates.

Cordle said that although Southwest pilots make more, the carrier can absorb deep losses in Denver that Frontier cannot.

Cutting pilot costs "is the only way Republic's Frontier survives," he said Friday, noting that Republic is in the process of switching out bigger planes for smaller ones with Midwest Airlines, the Milwaukee-based carrier that Republic officially bought July 31. "
-http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/industries/airlines/stories/081509dnbussouthwest.4262f30.html



"Accept lower pay or we'll replace these Airbii with E190's and their 37,000/yr F/Os".


Why wouldnt they? As a shareholder I would demand it.

 

[dougdrvr]

There aren't any Republic FOs making maximum FO scale ($37/hr) None of them have been there that long