DLconnection,
All of our furloughed pilots have been recalled for some time now. We did a bit of hiring back in April and May, but nothing since then. The pilot seniority list is pretty stagnant right now since nobody is leaving, but this really doesn't differ from any other company in that respect. However, we are losing a couple of pilots here and there to AirTran. I really don't see much hiring in the future unless we do get larger aircraft.
The Saab rumor has been floating around here for some time now. Apparently, this is the plane we would be using to supplement CO at their hubs. However, I have a very hard time believing that this will happen at all. Those of you not at CommutAir do not understand how long it has taken for us to get this ALB hub up and running, and how it seems practically impossible to introduce a completely different aircraft into a completely different hub. We still have many bugs to work out here in ALB, but the operation seems to be working as we are on the brink of profitablility (I hear). My opinion is that management will want to just wait and see how well we do in the coming months before we venture out and get new planes. But hey, anything can happen in this business.
LaxPilot,
I agree that the new HPN-EWR jet service is a bit impractical. By the time a passenger gets through security, boards, waits 20 minutes to take off while 10 biz jets land, gets vectored halfway to Wilkes-Barre, and deplanes they could have driven it much easier. But if they're gonna do the service, why not use a plane which with they can make money? The Beech would be perfect in this capacity. However, EWR is only letting cabin-class turboprops in at the moment.
As far as your wish for ALPA around here, very doubtful, but it would be nice to have some sort of job protection. As much as I would like to see CALEX pilots get back into the cockpit, CommutAir won't hire furloughees unless they give up their number. Plus, if we do get larger aircraft CommutAir would pay for them, not Continental. So they really wouldn't have a say in who we hire to fly them. Not quite a "Props-For-Jobs" agreement.
SuperD