AP
Comair Doubts It Can Make Winning Bid
Thursday September 28, 7:42 pm ET
By Lisa Cornwell Comair: Concessions Needed to Win Bid for Delta Service Unlikely
CINCINNATI (AP) -- Comair likely will not win union concessions soon enough to make a winning bid next week for regional jet service from its parent Delta Air Lines Inc., Comair's top executive said Thursday.
Comair President Don Bornhorst said that without competitive costs, it's unlikely that Comair can keep flying all the 50-seat and 70-seat jets that are part of its bid. It's also unlikely the carrier will be awarded a contract to fly new aircraft.
"I don't know where our air operations will stop shrinking without a competitive cost structure," Bornhorst said. "I know the first steps will be the 70-seaters going away, not winning new planes and maybe some of the 50-seaters."
If Comair's air operations continue to shrink, the airline will have to focus on growth in other areas such as ground handling of passengers or maintenance operations, Bornhorst said.
"We are all out of time," he said.
The airline, based in nearby Erlanger, Ky., planned to meet again Friday with flight attendants and was meeting with the mechanics union Thursday.
Bornhorst said he was most concerned about the pilots union, which he said had not scheduled talks with the company again until next week, after the bidding deadline.
"Overall, the pilots union seems to believe that this is a game Delta is playing," he said. "Getting them to recognize the seriousness of this and what is at stake is one of the most challenging things we've had to undertake."
The pilots understand what's at stake and want a deal, said J.C. Lawson, an executive vice president with the Air Line Pilots Association representing Comair's 1,500 pilots and master chairman of the local union.
"The company is the one that chose not to meet until Oct. 3," Lawson said. "We have been ready to meet anytime, anywhere."
Delta announced Aug. 22 that it had requested bids for some of its regional jet service, much of which is now handled by Comair. Five days later, Comair Flight 5191 crashed in Lexington, Ky., killing 49 people, and Delta agreed to extend the Sept. 18 deadline for Comair to Oct. 2.
Comair and Delta are trying to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection filed last year. Comair has said that it must have concessions from flight attendants, mechanics and pilots to get out of bankruptcy and compete with other airlines.
Bornhorst said that the airline is at the point where it will have to reach a deal with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters representing Comair's 970 flight attendants or impose contract changes approved through U.S. Bankruptcy Court. The flight attendants have said the cuts asked of them go deeper into their wages and benefits than those demanded of pilots and mechanics and have threatened to strike if concessions are imposed.
Teamsters spokesman Galen Munroe confirmed that the union would meet with Comair on Friday.
Comair had earlier reached an agreement with its pilots for $17.3 million in cuts and for $1 million from its mechanics, but those deals were contingent on Comair getting $8.9 million in givebacks from flight attendants. Talks resumed with the pilots and mechanics after Comair said it has reduced the flight attendant concessions to $7.9 million.
Bornhorst said Thursday that Comair has reduced pilots' concessions to $16.3 million, but Lawson disputed that, saying that the company had only lowered the concessions to about $17.2 million.
"We have proposed $14 million, and that amounts to a great deal for the pilots," Lawson said.
The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers representing Comair's 550 mechanics and the airline said they agreed not to comment on mechanic concessions while talks continued. Comair has 6,500 employees and operates about 882 flights daily to 103 cities.
Bye Bye--General Lee