ACA Class Cancelations

[RonMele]

Say..was that ALL classes or just the J-41 classes for the rest of the year?

 

[Kenny]

I hate to say it but what I was told was that ALL classes were cancelled. This was from a 41 CA going through check airman training.

 

[SkywayFO]

Its not all the classes. I have a friend that was in the Nov. 11th class, he was bumped but there was a class with most o the J41 guys pushed out of the Nov 8th class. By the way my7 riend was put back in a class starting the 25th, So it seems like just a few week back up do to the faster shut down of the J41. This is my take and I hope its right cause I will not like being this close to the bottom for too long.

 

[j41driver]

Being on the bottom is better than being on the street.

 

[AOPAPILOT]

A little knowledge and digging is worth looking into. Remember the past strike, the CRJ factory put the production in a tail spin. The orders were put in the dumpster for the duration of the strike. Wow, if ACA is not getting the CRJ's that they ordered, then they do not need to train newbies. Makes it a little easier to swallow and understand. ACA has canceled classes. It also has to do with the holidays. You will see ACA get going after the first of the year. A little bird told this story and I tend to believe it.

 

[Pilot877]

AOPAPILOT,

Don't know what your secret source is, but ACA is getting more RJ's than ever right now. Better try digging a little harder next time.

 

[sideshow]

AOPAPILOT,

Your little bird must have fallen in the bird bath. As Pilot877 said ACA is getting the RJs they ordered pretty much on time each month. ACA has been cancelling classes for alot of reasons but one thing is certain, unless they announce more flying for someone they just about have all the pilots they need either in class or in the pool. That is why they are not interviewing until next March.

 

[BlueRidger]

As usual the truth lies somewhere in the middle. According to a variety of sources, including a friend who was just in a meeting with our Manager of Planning, United wants the rate of J41 retirement accellerated so all are gone around Nov 03. this means ACA would not need to train anymore new hires into the J41 if thy freeze all the current people into the plane and relaease them as the planes leave the fleet.
More importantly, because of the new agreement the UAL pilots signed yesterday the United Express system is capped at 236 RJ's and will reach that level by April 2004. That means ALL UAX carriers are still going to get their CRJs.
Now for the bad news, apparently UAL wants to Freeze the size of th RJ fleet till the end of the 2002 as a cost cutting measure. This would appear to affect SkyWest and Air Wis as well. Therefore, all deliveries scheduled for the end of Nov and all of Dec must be deferred, parked or as Skywest and Air Wis may have the option, repainted as DCI or Air Tran. And, as a result of this delay, ACA will not need as many new hire classes until we start taking planes again. I also imagine that because of the quicker J41 retirements, a lot of people will transition to the CRJ FO slot sooner, filling up what would have been new hire classes.
One other note. It has also been noted several times that ACA already has an almost full pilot complement for the current growth plans. I think hiring could come to a screeching halt at ACA real soon.

 

[Beechnut]

I'm pretty sure AirWis is still taking RJ deliveries through the rest of the year. The reason we stopped hiring is due to the 328 going away by July. We had a re-alignment that sees what those 328 people can hold in a 328-less system. Once that has been figured out, we're to be back on schedule for hiring.

S.

 

[BlueRidger]

To my best understanding ACA will take all of its deliveries (something like 5 CRJs) as well. It is only a couple of months. I am sure that they will even fly them. However UAL will probably not be adding any new segments to the schedules which we can get paid our fee for departure for untill the beginning of the year. Apparently they way the system works under the new ERP II is a little complex and the UAL pilot group defined the express flying not only in terms of numbers of airplanes but in ratio of mainline airplanes to RJ's as well as block hour ratios. It sounds like UAL ALPA is thinking the whole express thing through carefully. Which I hope they would.
One important thing to remember is that this ERP apparently only goes through if the company gets its ATSB Loans. If UAL goes into bankruptcy the deal can be called off by either side. The results would not be good for our respective companies. Right now the fee for departure contracts specify about a 13% profit margin for ACA and I assume similiar amounts for SkyWest and AirWis. If UAL goes into bankruptcy I think the creditors and the trustees might think this is too much and demand new contracts and reduced rates and margins. This would put a big crimp in the stability of your company and hence your job. I would not be surprised to see managements come after our respective CBA's.