Comair

[RJET]

What is the last news at Comair. How many pilots are they planning to hire in ther near future.
Thanks

 

[jarhead]

Pretty precarious place to hang your hopes on for getting hired there in the near term. Comair has only about 3 or 4 more 70 seat airplanes left to be delivered to them this year and I would bet that any pilots being added for those few left are already scheduled for training or in the pool. There are no airplanes at all scheduled for delivery in 2005 or beyond, and with all of Delta’s looming problems, I would not hold my breath waiting for funding to expand the Comair fleet beyond what it is now. If DL goes into Ch. 11, who knows how that might impact their wholly owned subsidiaries.

 

[V-1]

No new airplanes coming until at least 2006 should equal very little hiring.

There are only a handful of pilots retiring in the next several years. Only about the same amount of Captains are leaving for better jobs. Some attrition can be expected at the bottom of the seniority list as newly-hired F.O.'s realize they'll be on reserve for a very long time, and an upgrade is a decade or more away.

Remember, all this can change tomorrow.

One can only speculate what Comair will look like if Delta files Ch. 11.

One can only speculate what Comair will look like if Alpa national allows the Delta pilot group to use Comair flying as a bargaining chip (as they will certainly try to) during wage and workrule concession talks.

I recently heard Comair's V.P. of flight operations told a group of instructors they should expect Comair to come to the pilot group yet again with an offer to exchange new airplanes for wage and workrule cuts. I would be concerned about coming to a company that expects it's workers to finance the company's growth during times the company is earning millions of dollars of profit. Remember, they've already done this once before.

Time will tell.

 

[DDpaysoff]

They are removing sim#4 from the building next month. It is getting sent to Memphis for Pinnacle. That can't be good for poolies. I would expect that class in there right now will be the last one for some time. Of course, everything is subject to change. I would expect all future growth at comair to be in the 70+ seat range. There will either be a lot (DAL Ch. 11), or a little (scope relief). Either way comair will continue to churn out money. If DAL chooses to not churn out more, its not my problem. DCI has made some incredibly risky decisions here in the past few months. I wouldn't be surprised if GG restructures that whole dept. DAL is giving up a lot of market share in the midwest with those dojets, they need to find a way to replace them immediately.

 

[chperplt]

They are removing sim#4 from the building next month. It is getting sent to Memphis for Pinnacle

Pinnacle has been renting a sim out completely for about 5 months now... Not a big deal..

 

[jarhead]

A question

Are any of the sims over at Flight Safety at CVG owned by Comair, or are they all rented or leased by Comair from Flight Safety?

 

[C425Driver]

The sims are owned by Flightsafety and Comair leases them. It's my understanding that Comair has first dibs on sim time, then FSI is free to lease time out to anyone else.

 

[jarhead]

The sims are owned by Flightsafety and Comair leases them. It's my understanding that Comair has first dibs on sim time, then FSI is free to lease time out to anyone else.

Thanks.....that was my recollection but I couldn't remember with certainty. I have never worked at Comair, but I did have a chance to spend a couple hours in one of the sims prior to 9-11, as my son was a sim instructor until April of this year when he went back to the line. I'd have asked him, but he's out on a four day right now.

 

[N813CA]

You are forgetting one thing. I came from a US Airways express carrier one year a go. Even if we do no get another airplane. Comair is still a better place to be. So please don't forget that. Making 40+ an hour flying the 70 is a living, not bad at all.