Interesting RJ article............

[Otto]

It's funny how the General posts every RJ bashing article he can find, avoiding the equal number of articles predicting their growth. I guess he only finds the negative ones "interesting" (interesting = fits mainline pilots agenda). Hey General, too bad your audience here is a bunch of RJ drivers instead of Delta execs.

 

[General Lee]

Otto,


I titled the thread and "interesting" RJ article, which some people on this board may find "interesting." This article was critical of certain airlines, and people looking for jobs on this board may find that useful. I really didn't even have an opinion on it--especially in the first thread. As far as the Delta execs "knowing" about the RJ and it's fit into the Delta family---the main RJ proponent---"RJ" Fred Reid, is GONE. So is Leo----who pushed for Frequency over comfort. Our new leader--Gerry Grinstein--just stated at a SLC "town hall" meeting that our loyal passengers shouldn't fly on an RJ for more than two hours at a time and that we have too many of them. I personally believe that there are certain markets that are great for RJs--like explorer markets to test whether or not a mainline sized aircraft should eventually be put on there, and markets that have NO LCC COMPETITION and can bring in enough feed, but can't be justified with a mainline aircraft. There are plenty of those, and the RJs are a lot better than props too. Have a great day.

Bye Bye--General Lee


PS---Please find me a current RJ article that praises them.

 

[FurloughedAgain]

Dash 8 Q400

Not to change the subject but, General said, "They're better than props..."

I still believe that in MANY short-haul markets from Atlanta, Cincinnati, LaGuardia etc. the Dash 8 Q-400 would be a far superior airplane. On trips of less than 500 miles there is virtually no difference in flight time between the Q-400 and the CRJ. The cabin on the Q-400 is significantly larger and, of course, the Q-400 holds 70 passengers. The Q stands for "quiet" and Bombardier touts their noise and vibration cancellation system which makes the airplane significantly quieter than the CRJ throughout the flight envelope. The airplane burns a fraction of the fuel of a pure-jet at low altitudes which would make it far more efficient (important with todays fuel prices) on short segments...

• From CVG: DAY, SDF, LEX, TYS, TOL, IND, CAK, and many more...
• From ATL: TYS, CHA, CLT, HSV, PNS, and many more...
• From LGA: RIC, MHT, BTV, ORF, PWM, and many more....

Horizon has been successfully flying the airplane for some time and is having tremendous luck with the Cat IIIA capability of the aircraft. Its technology is vastly superior to that of the CRJ.

Air travelers in the United States are some of the only in the WORLD that expect a 757 on every leg. In Europe and Asia high-speed turboprops are still a mainstay on many short-haul markets. But here in the US, where every home has an SUV, bigger is better and props are "scary". In April's "Airways" magazine, Comair CEO Randy Rodemacher said he believed that they could create a passenger friendly product with the 70 passenger Q-400.

I dont know what Delta's scope language has to say about turboprops but I believe that Comair and ASA would do wonderfully with this machine.In fact, i'd add the return of the turboprop to my (opinion) list of "things this company needs to do to survive" right along side:

• Jetways in CVG,
• ground air conditioning at every gate,
• IFE and food purchase opportunities onboard,
• no more than 2 hours on any aircraft that holds less than 50 pax.

Anyhow, just wanted to disagree with the General. I believe that there are turboprops on the market which are exceptional and Delta would be foolish to not look at this type when considering fleet replacement and expansion for Comair/ASA and the entire DCI family.

http://www.alaskaair.com/www2/company/fleet/images/Q400_photo.jpg

 

[General Lee]

Furloughed again,


I am glad that you want to disagree with me. My statement about props may have been ambiguous, since I was referring to smaller props--and the Dash 8-400 is a tad bit larger and more advanced. I agree that it would be nice to get some of the larger props--like the Dash 8-400---because the more seats you have--the better the CASM. Those Dash 8-400s are nice, and I see them all of the time when I pass through SEA or PDX. They are advanced and fast--two things that give them an advantage over the older ATR-72. But, in reality, the next phase that we (the Delta family) should be looking at is the 100 seater market. After our pilot pay cuts and creditor cuts---we hopefully will be able to finance some new aircraft--but I doubt the Dash 8-400 will be on the radar, unfortunately.

Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[belchfire]

General Lee brings a different viewpoint
to a forum often preoccupied with
bashing Mesa crewmembers rather than
Lowerenstien himself or the parent
companies that contract his airlines to
take flying away from their subsidiaries.

Why do you think that one of the few
profitable airlines would "quietly end"
their RJ agreement, or that there is
no place for them in SWA's sucessful
business plan?

In many cases I think that RJ's are being
used not to generate profit but instead
to maintain market share and decrease
losses in markets that for whatever
reason the mainline employing the RJ's
are unwilling to abandon.

But as I said earlier, I don't see the big
picture...the jball's windows are too
small.

 

[FurloughedAgain]

70 - 120 seat negotiations

CAUTION: ALPA NEGOTIATORS AT WORK (hide the kids and stuff your savings in the mattress!)

General,

I certainly hope that you are able to secure orders for an aircraft that will be able to bridge the gap between the 70 passenger CRJ-700 and the MD88 and 737 fleets.

I also hope that your negotiators will be a little more forward-thinking than my former-coworkers at US Airways were and will secure pay and benefits that are appropriate for that size aircraft. The MidAtlantic pay/benefit/airline-within-an-airline fiasco is damaging to the entire industry and even the entire profession. If the Delta pilots negotiate "Eagle wages and workrules" for their 70-120 seat product the bar will have been permanently lowered, further eroding the profession.

Many of those who have been "recalled" to US Airways Embraer Division have bypassed the recall rather than accepting the recall and flying the aircraft for such substandard payrates. There should NEVER be a time when a mainline furloughee makes the CHOICE to decline a recall. (unless he/she has been hired in the interim by FedEx, Southwest, etc...) The US Airways ALPA negotiators should be emberassed.

So best of luck in your upcoming negotiations and with the pending recall of the Delta furloughees.

Respectfully,
FurloughedAgain
CL65 Copilot

PS - Did you get the 'Dukes' DVD set yet? http://www.warnervideo.com/dukesofhazzard/

 

[belchfire]

The DC-9-93, er Boeing 717, baby! Keep the
line alive!!!

 

[MJG]

Mr. Boyd half-jokingly says flying in a regional jet for three hours is a "recipe for DVT" – deep vein thrombosis, in which blood clots form due to tight conditions. Few trips on regional jets are very long, but the average flight time has been increasing.

Hmmm... YYZ-IAH, ORF-IAH, RIC-IAH, PIT-IAH, CLE-DEN, CLE-HOU, CLE-MIA, IAH-PSP, IAH-ONT, IAH-BOI, EWR-OKC. etc, etc, etc.....

I swear I'm going to end up with DVT one of these days.

 

[General Lee]

Furloughedagain,


I wish I could tell you that Dalpa wouldn't do that, but I honestly have a feeling that if the crap was ready to hit the fan, that Dalpa would grant lower wages on the future 100 seaters, and try to keep the higher wages on the larger planes. They did that with Delta Express and the '96 contract. They set up a different pay scale for Express (I was a part of it)---even though Mainline also had domestic 737-200s. I remember waiting for our Express 737 at ISP (Long Island) and in came a Mainline 737 without the Express logo. The two guys got out and said they were called in to fly the trip due to a mechanical. In reality--they were getting paid a lot more to fly the same Express trip--and we flew the mainline 737 down to FLL for Express pay...

I forsee a large pay cut for Mainline (you can determine what large is)---and then a lower pay scale for future 100 seaters---which will allow for our furloughs to come back. I don't see Dalpa giving up on the future 100 seaters--and if that means lowering the wages a tad--I bet they will---they did it with the Express 737s.

You are right, this profession is eroding in front of our eyes. But, as long is there is a chance to eventually move up to a Major and getting that elusive "better pay etc."--it will be worth it. Let's just hope that things eventually get better and we are once again allowed to ask for "raises" instead of negotiating "pay cuts".

Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[FurloughedAgain]

I agree. I hope you're able to secure that flying for your furloughees. One of these days we're going to have some GOOD news in this industry and i'm going to have a heart attack just reading it!

 

[General Lee]

No sheit! I will be there at the hospital room next to you (seperate beds please).


Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[embdrvr]

"I don't know why they don't spin off Eagle," Mr. Boyd said.

Once again Michael Boyd opens his mouth to prove that he's an idiot!

Currently Eagle is the only thing in the AMR portfolio that's generating a profit for the corporation. For the first quarter of 2004 Eagle had an operating income of $58 million on $420 million in revenue with better then a 10% operating margin. And this "genius" can't figure out why Eagle isn't up on the auction block!

Where do the profits come from?
Could AMR sell off Eagle and then start putting that flying out for bid? Then what?

 

[bvt1151]

Not to change the subject but, General said, "They're better than props..."

I still believe that in MANY short-haul markets from Atlanta, Cincinnati, LaGuardia etc. the Dash 8 Q-400 would be a far superior airplane. On trips of less than 500 miles there is virtually no difference in flight time between the Q-400 and the CRJ. The cabin on the Q-400 is significantly larger and, of course, the Q-400 holds 70 passengers. The Q stands for "quiet" and Bombardier touts their noise and vibration cancellation system which makes the airplane significantly quieter than the CRJ throughout the flight envelope. The airplane burns a fraction of the fuel of a pure-jet at low altitudes which would make it far more efficient (important with todays fuel prices) on short segments...

A man of my own heart. RJ's haven't reached their potential, however they are being overused in markets where turboprops were always best. How ironic is it that a prop may be the future? Bring on the Q-400!

 

[LJDRVR]

Unfortunately, the wonderful Q-400 will never catch on in the US, for the same reason reverybody complains about how uncomfortable the RJ's are: The American consumer is stupid. They don't want one of those "old-fashioned" propellors on their airplane. (Never mind that the Q-400 is quite more technologically advanced than most jets.) They also automatically assume that because the fuselage is smaller, RJ's have less room inside. A cursory review of the airlines own websites however, indicates that in matters of pitch and width, they're they same as everyone's narrow bodies, occasionally with an extra inch of pitch. "Recipe for DVT"?! Mr. Boyd is an imbeclle. If you're going to hold yourself out as an "expert", you'de better do your research.

Keep the articles coming!

 

[On Your Six]

I think the Dash 8-400 would work very well in certain markets. Seems like the ATR-72 has worked pretty well for ASA. The Dash has the right number of seats and it has that "big aircraft" feel to it that many RJs (e.g., Emb-135) lack. However, with all of the negotiations going on at Delta, I doubt that Grinstein would seriously consider it unless Bombardier were to offer a HUGE discount -which it might given its own financial problems to get the factories working again.

Great airplane - but perhaps the wrong timing...