Anerican Eagle SJU Operations For Sale

[Ghetto Buck]

It seems that AMR has entered into "Due Diligence" with Mr. R Allen Standford owner of Caribbean Star Airlines Ltd. & Caribbean Star inc. for the sale of the SanJuan based American Eagle's Executive Airline operating certificate.
All this has come about in a move to bypass the scope clause caps in its contract with American Pilots which limits Eagles ASM's and Block hours, but will keep Eagle expanding by accepting new RJ's, while there are furloughs at American
According to Mr. Standford......." If the due diligence provides evidence that the investment is worthwhile we will complete the sale immediately"
It is not a secret that Mr. Standford's Caribbean Star Ltd. in its one year of operation has expanded into every Island in the Caribbean including South America, and is the only serious competion for American Airlines & American Eagle in its Caribbean operations
Mr. Standford's Caribbean Star inc. is in the process of obtaining it's 121 operating certificate from the FAA for his San Juan operation which is expected to start in June 2002.

 

[Hoss]

Just wondering where you heard this....?

 

[bailout]

While I'm not so sure how this might play out, my old roomie is flying the ATR out of SJU, and he told me the exact same thing last Monday. He said moral was VERY low there now.....

 

[jaybird]

I heard the same thing from an Eagle guy at work on furlough.

 

[hungrypilot6877]

How many more layoffs?

If this does occur how many more layoffs does everyone estimate?

 

[Ghetto Buck]

Re: American Eagle Sale

I don't Know!...............But from where i sit the next 3 to 6 months are going to be mighty interesting in the Caribbean Aviation industry........... and SJU in going to be in the middle of it!
As far as furloughs your guess is as good as mine but if & when the deal is finally consumated there's going to be about 13 to 1500 employes in SJU applying to Caribbean Star for the same job
they had at eagle.

........."And that's rough"!

Cheers Y'all

 

[eglchickenpilot]

The pilots flying out of SJU will not have to reapply for their jobs. Out contract has a section on successorship, they will all have jobs and even have the oportunity to transfer back to Eagle in the US when openings occur.
Any sale involving any part of Eagle will have to take the pilots' contract with it, except the duration of the contract may be changed.

 

[JAB31]

I heard SJU deal was a done deal..Any truth to this ?? The Eagle rumor page on the employee website kinda dealt with the question, but it was not a straight answer. I'm currently on furlough and interested on how this whole thing would pan out.

 

[FOAgain]

The fact that Bowler publicly said they were looking into it leads me to believe that it is done. They have a tendency to introduce these deals as "looking into" or "possibly." Those words scare me. I guess they're actually trying to scare the APA though.

 

[328Pilot]

Apparently, it's true:

St. Maarten Airline Concerned by Deal
St. Maarten Airline Winair Concerned About Caribbean Star Deal
PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten (AP) -- The manager of St. Maarten-based airline Winair is concerned by Caribbean Star's plan to buy the regional operations of American Eagle.

Such a deal, he said, could shut out smaller airlines and crimp their competitiveness.

``With the (landing) rights that American Eagle now has and with its fleet, Caribbean Star would become not just a ..., but the dominant player in Caribbean aviation,'' said John Strugnell, managing director of Winair.

Antigua-based Caribbean Star announced last week that it was considering buying the San Juan, Puerto Rico-based operations of American Eagle, a subsidiary of American Airlines.

Caribbean Star, which began operations in 2000 flying to most islands in the region, said its chairman Allen Stanford has already begun preliminary discussions with officials of Fort Worth, Texas-based American Airlines.

Winair is a small commuter airline that flies to the Dutch islands of Saba and St. Eustatius as well as St. Kitts and Nevis, Antigua, Dominica, St. Barths and Tortola.

Caribbean Star does not currently have landing rights in Dutch St. Maarten, but American Eagle does -- and those rights would go to the new owner.

Strugnell said he feared that if Caribbean Star buys American Eagle, the consolidation could push Winair out of business and raise fares.