Colgan Q400 Drivers....What's the Latest Info?

[johnsonrod]

Guys and Gals,

Sorry if this has already been answered - not trying to flame anyone in this post. First, sorry to hear about your continued f#$Ked up situation there. This industry really does blow - I should have taken Engineering in College... I am a fan of the Q400 - I have ridden on the Q400 a few times as a pax and it seems like a great bird.

So, what's the deal now that Republic has the Q400 contract? Any more details? I haven't seen much in terms of clarification of who will staff the Q400s as they are phased over.

Several questions come to mind. Will "former" Colgan pilots be interviewed and picked up by Republic as they are phased over? Will current Republic pilots get first dibs on the Q400 Captain slots? Will current senior Colgan pilots be able to stay at Pinnacle and bid the jet seats? Will the Q400s be flown out of other hubs like ORD and DEN or will they continue to focus primarily on EWR?

What's the latest information? I realize some of it could be pure speculation but there should be some new details...

Good luck to everyone involved!

 

[johnsonrod]

Wow - it sure it quiet out there.... Crickets Crickets Crickets...

So, what's the deal? Any initial information/speculation?

Thanks

 

[WMUSIGPI]

Guys and Gals,

Sorry if this has already been answered - not trying to flame anyone in this post. First, sorry to hear about your continued f#$Ked up situation there. This industry really does blow - I should have taken Engineering in College... I am a fan of the Q400 - I have ridden on the Q400 a few times as a pax and it seems like a great bird.

So, what's the deal now that Republic has the Q400 contract? Any more details? I haven't seen much in terms of clarification of who will staff the Q400s as they are phased over.

Several questions come to mind. Will "former" Colgan pilots be interviewed and picked up by Republic as they are phased over? if they apply Will current Republic pilots get first dibs on the Q400 Captain slots? yes Will current senior Colgan pilots be able to stay at Pinnacle and bid the jet seats? already been happening Will the Q400s be flown out of other hubs like ORD and DEN or will they continue to focus primarily on EWR? I think DEN is the first base that will open, they are trying to appeal to the Lynx guys to go back to the Q400s

What's the latest information? I realize some of it could be pure speculation but there should be some new details...

Good luck to everyone involved!

hope that helps

 

[Yodafly]

if i were from links i would not go back without big money

make them pay

 

[Snaab]

Word is Republic will have EWR, IAD, Den bases for the Q400. We have a provision in our contract that has pilots "go" with the aircraft if the a/c leave Colgan.. However, in our particular bankruptcy and other wonderful corporate maneuvering, the frames are going to a lessor/bank, then to Republic-- this circumvents the requirement to have pilots stay with the planes.

With the fences still in place from the Integrated Seniority List, looks like there will be only about 75-95 (depending on the day) of current Colgan captains that will be able to hold CRJ Captain at Pinnacle. That's an extremely SLIM number when you look at overall Captains currently at Colgan.

Make no mistake- this situation ANGERS the Colgan pilot group. Heartburn aside, the Q400 is a *wonderful* airplane.

Not sure how many pilots have left Pinnacolaba for Republic..

 

[Kaman]

And the way that some of the Pinnacle and Mesaba pilots look at it...Colgan is getting what they deserve since we are responsible for the demise of the company. However, this was after we were pressured to join ALPA, integrate the seniority lists and have a joint CBA. Well, it is pretty ironic how all that turned out...Damned if you do, and damned if you don't...

 

[xjhawk]

Its not the Colgan pilots fault. All this rests on the former executive management team at Pinnacle and Delta Airlines. Hind sight is 20/20 and if we had known how this was all to roll out maybe the clause in the Mesaba contract to merge all the lists should not have been executed. But every indication at the time pointed to it being in the pilots best interest (at least the most senior).

Its a shame that United is using a leasing company and our language for the loss of aircraft to another airline was not stronger. It would be nice for the Colgan pilots to have a choice to go with the aircraft. I had seen a couple posts that some wanted the colgan operation to be split off and let the pilots dangle with the fate of the Q's and the company. I think that is a bad idea. It does have some benefits for the remainder of the pilots but it sets a precedent with regard to seniority that should not be allowed to happen. The SLI is done, we are one pilot group and now we must work together.

Just a note to all you Colgan pilots-Flying out of MSP blows. We have bad winters, its a super senior base, and unless you are super senior you will be on reserve all the time. If you are on reserve the only given is ready reserve. Read the contract and see what that is all about. they have three shifts of ready reserve with up to 2 pilots per seat, per shift. So even if you are a senior reserve-you will be sitting ready.

 

[cbrown1]

How is this all affecting the SLI with colgan, mesaba and pinnacle?

 

[RJLoser]

Memphis is waaay senior too. Avoid this place!! Colgan guys would best fit in NYC, ATL & DTW.

 

[Snaab]

How is this all affecting the SLI with colgan, mesaba and pinnacle?

It's still in place, but I think the all pilot groups are seeing that the sword cuts both ways ... There were a lot of relatively junior CJC pilots that would upgrade on the Saab, then transition to the Q400 as a CA because they met the staffing #s inside of the fence (on the CJC side). Now, that there's the CJC wind-down and furloughs happening, some of these very pilots have the most to lose in the pilot group. There will be many current CJC CAs that will be fenced out of the CRJ left seat for some time to come. "Live and die by the sword," as they say...

Curious if JFK has become more senior over time. How does it compare to DTW? Are the lines the same in JFK and DTW on the -200? Thanks.

 

[silver02ex]

It's still in place, but I think the all pilot groups are seeing that the sword cuts both ways ... There were a lot of relatively junior CJC pilots that would upgrade on the Saab, then transition to the Q400 as a CA because they met the staffing #s inside of the fence (on the CJC side). Now, that there's the CJC wind-down and furloughs happening, some of these very pilots have the most to lose in the pilot group. There will be many current CJC CAs that will be fenced out of the CRJ left seat for some time to come. "Live and die by the sword," as they say...

Curious if JFK has become more senior over time. How does it compare to DTW? Are the lines the same in JFK and DTW on the -200? Thanks.

Last I checked It's close to about the same. There's more flying in DTW so you can probably build a much better line if you were in DTW. I think DTW has more productive trips.

 

[Flyer1015]

Just a note to all you Colgan pilots-Flying out of MSP blows. We have bad winters, its a super senior base, and unless you are super senior you will be on reserve all the time. If you are on reserve the only given is ready reserve. Read the contract and see what that is all about. they have three shifts of ready reserve with up to 2 pilots per seat, per shift. So even if you are a senior reserve-you will be sitting ready.

What you did there, I see

 

[TedCFII]

Memphis is waaay senior too. Avoid this place!! Colgan guys would best fit in NYC, ATL & DTW.

Why would you want to come to ATL? It's going away starting in Jan.

 

[acaTerry]

The Q400 is the last "man's plane" (sorry Cassie!) out there...low, slow, and BIIIIIIIG pimpin!

 

[WMUSIGPI]

Last I checked It's close to about the same. There's more flying in DTW so you can probably build a much better line if you were in DTW. I think DTW has more productive trips.

Not very productive when you are trying to cover so much former Saab flying and many of the overnights are built as CDO's. JFK is the best bet and the most junior base as well.

 

[XJohXJ]

All you guys who are talking about which bases are the best are leaving out the most valuable information: Republic is a great place to work, and I'm sure they'd just love to hire qualified Q pilots!

 

[xjhawk]

I am assuming that is where the FO's are going. But what about the captains? Some of them may be able to hold a captain spot with their seniority gains in the SLI. Not to mention I am assuming that 900 FO would not be that much of a pay cut from the old Saab captain pay they were getting before the merger. In 4 years there will be no fences for the block award so if they do not leave before then they can start using that seniority. I and many 01-04 mesaba pilots are planning on leaving well before that happens. reserve for 9 years at mesaba has been less than ideal. Good luck to all

 

[ChickenSled]

I am assuming that is where the FO's are going. But what about the captains? Some of them may be able to hold a captain spot with their seniority gains in the SLI. Not to mention I am assuming that 900 FO would not be that much of a pay cut from the old Saab captain pay they were getting before the merger. In 4 years there will be no fences for the block award so if they do not leave before then they can start using that seniority. I and many 01-04 mesaba pilots are planning on leaving well before that happens. reserve for 9 years at mesaba has been less than ideal. Good luck to all

Just curious xjhawak, since I like your opinions.

Current stance is that when ATL closes starting January, no ATL 900 CA can displace an XJ 900 CA.

My thoughts are that the ATL 900 CA's will flush out about 1/3 of the MEM CA 200 list, with the displacements going most likely to DTW and/or JFK.

This may or may not push you out the bottom of the CA list?

Now, the big question is, if this precedent is set, and they remove 200's next year or the next, you will most certainly be pushed out of your 200 CA seat by the fences.

Just wondering what "legacy XJ" guys on the 200 are thinking about this?

 

[xjhawk]

Most are thinking (the ones from MSP area) that they would rather take 900 FO position in MSP than commute to a reserve CA position in DTW or JFK. The fences are protecting the most valuable of XJ pilots (the most senior who we all bow too) so they do not have to worry about much for 4 more years. They get 100/279 CRJ 200/900 positions and until we start losing crj 200's because of the Delta TA, all those are protected. From what I understand there is not language in the Block decision concerning the loss of planes. When that happens we all better hope that Delta decides to give us some of those 70, CRJ 900's in the Delta TA. Delta must go from approximately 350 CRJ's to 125. How many do we have? 140?

So I am thinking that 900 FO is better than a commute to anywhere (because of a family situation) but before I was thinking like the rest, I would have commuted to JFK or DTW to a line, not a reserve captain. When all those colgan Q captains get displaced, I am sure they will go to the JFK positions on the 200 so anyone at XJ who was not in group 1 or high in group 2, those Q guys will be senior to them. I am sure it is the same for the 9E pilots.

Personally, I am going to leave as soon as I can. That being said-almost anything could come out of this Delta TA and our bankruptcy. Delta controls everything. But everyone must look at their seniority and the possibility of 9E losing a lot of CRj 200's. If we lose 1/2, where will you be sitting? If we lose 1/2, but get some 900's in return-it hurts a little less. But I ask you this, if we lose half, then we keep 70 crjs and guess what? That is more than 1/2 of the TOTAL number of CRJ 200's Delta can have in the system. That scenario is unlikely. What I do not know is where all the other 50 seat aircraft are in the delta system and when their ASA is due and when their leases are up if they are owned by delta. I think that is the key.

Skywest just was pre approved for financing for a major order from Bombardier-I bet if someone ran the numbers they could figure out how many crj 900's that equals. But will it be for just the delta system? who knows