A handful of ex-Comair pilots have gotten hired here, and none of them were captains.
Actually, 99% of the guys I know that have been hired were all captains. But yes, it's a handful, so in the end it doesn't matter.
I've been at CMR a little over 6 years. JC wrote his infamous letter three weeks after I started ground school. I thought it was a stupid move and said so. I supported Reps who wanted a change in the MEC leadership, but JC is (if nothing else) a skilled politician and quashed such attempts until he stepped down.
I flew corporate prior to the regionals and selected Comair based on growth and superior pay rates and work rules. I had no idea about the strike, the RJDC, or the history of bad blood with DAL pilots until I got there. If I could do it over, I would've gone to Chatauqua and upgraded in two years. (At CMR, it took 5.5 years to upgrade and I was downgraded after 6 months)
But regardless of your opinions, or mine, the damage has been done. We've lost half the airline in two years and the question isn't will we shrink more, but how much. 176 aircraft, down to 113 next year. Close to 1900 pilots, likely down to 1050 next year. (Not as much as DAL lost post 9/11, but a higher percentage of the overall pilot group) We've taken concessions, like most other DAL regionals, except we've never benefitted from them, unlike most DAL regionals.
In actuality, i think we're a victim of ALPA's success. Our industry-leading contract (for a time, anyway) prevented our senior pilots from wanting to leave. When the majors started hiring again, the exodus was mostly among junior captains. Although our pay rates are "competitve" now (that is, cheap), our very senior pilot group negates any cost savings. Mesaba, after their horrible trip through bankruptcy, supposedly has a pilot group where 50% of the seniority list has been there less than two years. And our FA costs are crazy high. Our girls make quite a bit more than mainline FAs, something they didn't address during bankruptcy.
Plus, we're the only DAL regional without a contract that says "Thou shalt fly xxx many hours", so we're the ones they can take airplanes from without financial penalty. And every time we furlough, it makes us more senior and thus more expensive.
So, I can understand why DAL guys have hard feelings toward us, especially tbkane. As I recall, he was the junior DAL furlough and served as furlough coordinator. So he knows better than anyone the pain his pilot group went through.
If by some miracle I upgrade again, get competitive and apply at DAL, but you guys reject me because of the stance JC took, so be it. Honestly though, getting blackballed by DAL is the least of my worries right now...