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Mesaba Airlines To Operate Crj900s

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AvroJockey

Go Pack Go!
Joined
Dec 10, 2003
Posts
432
"Mesaba Airlines announced today that it has started the Federal Aviation Administration process to begin operating 36 Bombardier Canadair Regional Jet(CRJ) 900s for Northwest Airlines. In a letter to the FAA, Northwest said as part of its planned purchase of Mesaba it intends to have Mesaba sublease and operate the CRJ900s. Mesaba expects the first CRJ900 to be delivered in May 2007. Approximately two aircraft each month are expected to be delivered through December 2008 when the 36th aircraft will be delivered."

Who didn't know this was coming?

Looks like the concessionary agreement will be a pay raise for those sticking it out!!! ($14.2M claim + fleet growth snapbacks = RAISE)
 
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Checked news releases for Mesaba, NWA, the FAA, and Bombardier. I couldn't find that stated anywhere...
 
"Mesaba Airlines announced today that it has started the Federal Aviation Administration process to begin operating 36 Bombardier Canadair Regional Jet(CRJ) 900s for Northwest Airlines. In a letter to the FAA, Northwest said as part of its planned purchase of Mesaba it intends to have Mesaba sublease and operate the CRJ900s. Mesaba expects the first CRJ900 to be delivered in May 2007. Approximately two aircraft each month are expected to be delivered through December 2008 when the 36th aircraft will be delivered."

Who didn't know this was coming?

Looks like the concessionary agreement will be a pay raise for those sticking it out!!! ($14.2M claim + fleet growth snapbacks = RAISE)

Two things, congradulations to mesaba for some good news finally.

Second, where are those skywest toolbags that were saying that they had won the 900's.
 
The question about the ERJ's is still up in the air, apparently the business plan for compass still isn't viable.
 
Who's to say 36 or more options on the -900s aren't ordered and the 175s are converted to 195s to replace the DC9 and flown at mainline? Hmmm... I wonder if it was planned all along, especially since Compass so far has been a scare tactic and nothing more. Compass sort of goes away quietly, but remains available for punishment in the future.


FO
 
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Here is the source!!!!!​
M​
YMESABA.COM

NEWSLAUNCH​
NEWSLAUNCH

J​
ANUARY 2007 • SPECIAL EDITION • VOL 7•ISSUE 2

MESABAAIRLINES​
Special Edition​
Special Edition

MESABAAIRLINES TO OPERATE CRJ900S AS PART OF
PLANNED NWA PURCHASE​
M​
esaba Airlines announced today that it has started the Federal Aviation
Administration process to begin operating 36 Bombardier Canadair
Regional Jet (CRJ) 900s for Northwest Airlines. In a letter to the FAA,
Northwest said as part of its planned purchase of Mesaba it intends to have
Mesaba sublease and operate the CRJ900s.
Mesaba expects the first CRJ900 to be delivered in May 2007.
Approximately two aircraft each month are expected to be delivered
through December 2008 when the 36th aircraft will be delivered.
These modern aircraft will offer Northwest Airlink customers a comfortable,
first-rate travel experience. The CRJ900 will be configured with 12 seats in
first class and 64 seats in coach class. The 12 first class seats, arranged in a one seat-aisle-two seats configuration, will have 36
inches of pitch, or space between rows. Coach class will be arranged in a two seats-aisle-two seats configuration.
This announcement follows the news that Mesaba and Northwest have signed a stock purchase and reorganization agreement under
which Mesaba would become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Northwest Airlines, subject to bankruptcy courts approvals as well as
other conditions of the agreements. That agreement secures Mesaba's core business of 49 Saab 340s with Northwest.
As the FAA approval process moves forward, Mesaba anticipates the need to recall a number of furloughed pilots and flight
attendants as well as hire additional mechanics to operate and service the new aircraft.

MESSAGE FROM JOHN SPANJERS​
O​
ut of a company under severe stress just months ago, the people of Mesaba are about to embark on a
new chapter in our history. On January 22, we signed the stock purchase and reorganization
agreement with Northwest Airlines under which Mesaba will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of
Northwest. Today we began the FAA approval process to operate 36 new CRJ900 aircraft for Northwest.
First and foremost, I want to congratulate you on this news. Your role has been critical in securing this
new business. It's your commitment to excellence, your attention to safety and your focus on operational
performance - even during the most challenging times - that demonstrated to Northwest that we can
deliver consistent, cost-effective and high-quality service.
Secondly, I'm pleased that the planned addition of the CRJ900 allows Mesaba to plan to invite a number of our pilots and flight
attendants back to work. These individuals, along with every Mesaba employee, have made considerable sacrifices to ensure this
company's survival and I'm hopeful many of them will be in a position to return.
Third, I know there are a number of questions out there that we just don't have answers to at this point and I ask for your patience.
We will provide with information on what the new stock purchase and reorganization agreement and the additional planned jets
means to you as soon as we have it.
We face a number of adjustments ahead while - once again - taking on a new aircraft in a short period of time, but I have confidence
in our growing strength to confront them and to continue moving forward. Thank you.

John Spanjers, President & COO​
 
There is no verification of this...state your source, not that I doubt that this is true.

OK nevermind, the newslaunch propaganda machine is up and running.
 
Who's to say 36 or more options on the -900s aren't ordered and the 175s are converted to 195s to replace the DC9 and flown at mainline? Hmmm... I wonder if it was planned all along, especially since Compass so far has been a scare tactic and nothing more. Compass sort of goes away quietly, but remains available for punishment in the future.


FO


Currently the upper cap on 76-seat aircraft at an affiliate carrier for NWA is 55.
 
Ok, so 36 options can't happen... but you get my point right? XJ eventually operates the full complement of 76 seaters and Compass goes away. Or Xj and Pinnacle both operate the full complement of 76 seaters and NWA converts all the 175s to 195s for mainline. What was the point of operating two different fleet types of 76 a/c again?? Oh yea... there was none.


FO
 
Congratulations, guys. About time you got some good news.

:beer:
 
No compass is still on the table, but all of its services look like they will be contracted by mesaba. i.e. maintenance, ground services, etc.
 
WOW. I never saw that coming. Good luck guys.

Next up, the Saabs will be transfered to Colgan to keep you under the snap backs. Spanjers may be gone soon, but he's legacy will unfortunately live on.
 
Ok, so 36 options can't happen... but you get my point right? XJ eventually operates the full complement of 76 seaters and Compass goes away. Or Xj and Pinnacle both operate the full complement of 76 seaters and NWA converts all the 175s to 195s for mainline. What was the point of operating two different fleet types of 76 a/c again?? Oh yea... there was none.


FO

Compass can't go away if NWA wants to operate more than the lower cap of 76-seaters. Mesaba in its anticipated form does not comply with the contractual definitions of "SJET" either.

I get your point though. Compass was a poorly conceived idea concocted by an overzealous management group and a labor group willing to gut the backbone of organized labor for their personal gain. We can only hope that it goes away as quickly as possible.
 
But what if NWA doesn't want to operate more than 55, 76 seat jets? With mainline costs down, they can probably operate the 195 for very competitive per seat mile costs. With 55, 76 seat jets in all 3 hubs and perhaps on some point to point stuff combined with the 141, 50 seat a/c Pinnacle will operate and the 49 saabs, NWA will have a sizeable airlink network.

The 100 seat market cannot be served by a 76 seat a/c... so I think there is far more potential for the 100 seat a/c at mainline than 76 seaters in the Airlink network. The 76 seat a/c cannot replace a 100 seat a/c, but very competitive cost structured 100 seat operation can more than replace a 76 seat a/c and do it efficiently.

What do I know... just speculation. I do hope this means better times for XJ... better times that last more than 5 months.


FO
 
when NWA has mesaba how does this fit into the scope? we are now a nwa company, not a 3rd party. whats the cap for an nwa owned airlink? what about flow thru?
 
Will those things even fit between the alley of A and B gates????
 
when NWA has mesaba how does this fit into the scope? we are now a nwa company, not a 3rd party. whats the cap for an nwa owned airlink? what about flow thru?

Something rings a bell here. Wasn't there language in the NWA contract that said something along the lines of 'except for replacements of the 36 AVRO aircraft.'

I could be wrong, but there is something near that in there.
 
I wonder what the pay will be. SkyWest set the bar pretty low by coming in below Mesa rates for their 900 pilots. How low can it go?
 
Currently the upper cap on 76-seat aircraft at an affiliate carrier for NWA is 55.

Mesaba (and ONLY Mesaba) can replace the Avros 1 for 1 without having an affect on the upper cap of 76 seat aircraft.

The upper cap is in addition to Mesabas Avro replacement. Thats why Mesaba was almost guaranteed to get these aircraft at some point. I haven't read the NWA contract in a while, but this was one thing I clearly remember.
 
I would not look at Compass going any where anytime soon! The only reason NWA ordered the 900's is the 200's are obsolete and the only way NWA could use all of its 200's options was to make a deal for the 900's. I would say that you could expect the CRJ's to be phased out over the years with 200's going first. Don't get me wrong I like the CRJ, but the ERJ is much better performer than the CRJ. Just my thoughts!!!
 
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Mesaba (and ONLY Mesaba) can replace the Avros 1 for 1 without having an affect on the upper cap of 76 seat aircraft.

The upper cap is in addition to Mesabas Avro replacement. Thats why Mesaba was almost guaranteed to get these aircraft at some point. I haven't read the NWA contract in a while, but this was one thing I clearly remember.
Only if mesaba remained a stand alone. As I interpret the contract Mesaba now falls under the greater than 51% ownership clause. Meaning it can take on the upper cap of 90 jets if it has the J4J included.

This is probably not the way this will go down, NWALPA will have to modify the agreement to fit in Mesaba. What will ALPA do, since the compass contract is way better than the Mesaba one. Management will seek the mesaba contract to operate all 76 seat aircraft. It all depends on whether or not ALPA will let them.
 
scope

when NWA has mesaba how does this fit into the scope? we are now a nwa company, not a 3rd party. whats the cap for an nwa owned airlink? what about flow thru?

There was a summary for their scope.....says in three parts 1. regional which buys aircraft and operated them for NWA 2. regional who gets planes NWA buys or leases and then operates those planes (55 is the limit with this set up, except for mesaba which 36 planes will replace the avro) then there is the wholly owned company called newco for now will have a cap at 90 planes.......not verbatum....but u get the jist. more questions are unanswered
 
Only if mesaba remained a stand alone. As I interpret the contract Mesaba now falls under the greater than 51% ownership clause. Meaning it can take on the upper cap of 90 jets if it has the J4J included.

This is probably not the way this will go down, NWALPA will have to modify the agreement to fit in Mesaba. What will ALPA do, since the compass contract is way better than the Mesaba one. Management will seek the mesaba contract to operate all 76 seat aircraft. It all depends on whether or not ALPA will let them.

YPF,

You had stated earlier that the compass costs would be higher. Can you elaborate? The rates I saw posted somewhere didn't look any higher than XJ 76 seat rates.
 
I would not look at Compass going any where anytime soon! The only reason NWA ordered the 900's is the 200's are obsolete and the only way NWA could use all of its 200's options was to make a deal for the 900's. I would say that you could expect the CRJ's to be phased out over the years with 200's going first. Don't get me wrong I like the CRJ, but the ERJ is much better performer than the CRJ. Just my thoughts!!!

The 50 seaters won't be going anywhere for a while. NWA just signed a 10-year agreement with Pinnacle to continue operating 141 50-seaters until 2017.
 
You guys are all F*ed up on the rules for 76-seat flying.


7. A summary of the terms we have negotiated with respect to the 50 seat RJs, the 51-76 seat SJs and the 77-100 seat jets is provided below for your review:

a. RJs certificated for 50 seats or less: There are no limits on the number of such aircraft or on their ownership or on where they fly (except for a hub bypass restriction and a total block hour limit, both of which apply to all Feeder Carrier flying).

b. NWA may have SJs configured for 51-76 seats operated at a Feeder Carrier as defined in Section 1 provided:

(1) the maximum certificated seating is 86 seats or less (90 seats for the LR CRJ 900 series);

(2) the number of 51-76 SJs is capped at 55 (the “lower cap”) if they are flown exclusively at a Feeder Carrier that is not an affiliate of NWA. This cap may increase to 90 only if NWA creates an Affiliate (the “upper cap”) and if at least 35 of the 51-76 seat SJs are flown at the NWA Affiliate Feeder Carrier (we have been calling it SJet). Both of these caps include the 35 AVRO-85 aircraft flown at Mesaba with a maximum of 69 seats.

(3) In order for the lower cap of 55 (51-76 seat SJs) to be exceeded, the company must create an Affiliate (SJet) to fly these aircraft. (All 90 could be at SJet)

(4) After the amendable date, the upper cap increases by 3 aircraft per year during the status quo period, provided there are at least 10 of the 77-110 seat aircraft in active service at the mainline (5 per year during status quo period if at least 15 of the 77-110 seat aircraft).

(5) There are generally no ownership or use restrictions, except for the hub bypass and total block hour limitations referenced in Section 1 of the work rule summary above.

(6) For each new 77-110 seat aircraft placed into active service at NWA mainline, 1 additional 51-76 seat aircraft can be added to the lower and upper cap, provided that the NWA NB threshold has been met. The NB threshold is the total number of 77-110 seat aircraft and other NWA NB aircraft (DC-9, A-319, 320, B757) in active service as of the date 1 year after NW emerges from C11, minus 10. Given our expectation of growth after emergence the 1 year date seemed to pose little threat.

(7) There is a 1-for-1 peel back penalty provision for 51-76 seat aircraft in the event 77-110 seat aircraft are later removed from service and an automatic return to the cap of 55 if the NB threshold is not maintained. If either of these events occurs NWA must reduce the number of 51-76 seat SJs in service with the NW designator code.

(8) In order to operate more than 55 of the 51-76 seat SJ aircraft the Company must create a new Feeder Carrier Affiliate (SJet) operating under the following provisions:

(a) The Feeder may operate only 50 seat RJ and/or 51-76 seat SJ aircraft for so long as it is an Affiliate of NWA.

(b) All pilot positions on 51-76 seat aircraft shall be made available to laid off
Northwest pilots who would like the positions. No NWA pilot will be forced to
fly at SJet.

(c) ALPA is recognized as the representative of SJet.

(d) The Feeder enters into an industry standard contract with ALPA (see item 12 below for the major provisions of the CBA).

(e) NWA must own more than 50% of the Feeder Carrier Affiliate when it starts operating.

(f) NWA must control the Feeder Carrier and retain more than 50% of the
ownership, except that if at least 10 of the 77-110 seat jet aircraft are in active service at NWA mainline, NWA may sell the Feeder Carrier as long as:

1’ all pilot positions continue to be available to laid off Northwest pilots
and the Flow Agreement is maintained.

2’ all pilots of the Feeder Carrier (SJet) have the right to transfer to the
successor and the Feeder Carrier successor is in compliance with the
terms of the successorship provisions of the Feeder Carrier contract.

3’ In the event these provisions are not complied with or the flow rights
are modified or terminated, then the maximum number of permitted 51-
76 seat jets reverts to the lower cap of 55 SJs and any 51-76 seat SJs in
excess of 55 may no longer carry the NW code designator.

(9) 51-76 seat jets may also be operated at NWA mainline at the pay rates established for the Feeder Carrier and the work rules for the 77-110 seat mainline jet aircraft should NWA wish to do so for crew and fleet utilization purposes.

(10) With respect to 51-76 seat aircraft owned, leased or financed by Northwest and placed at another Feeder Carrier, other than SJet (e.g. Mesaba or Pinnacle), laid off Northwest pilots shall have access to _ of the Captain and _ of the F/O jobs associated with those aircraft.

(11) With respect to 51-76 seat aircraft which are not owned, lease or financed by NWA and are operated by another Feeder Carrier with the NW code (MESA, for ex.), laid off Northwest pilots will have preferential hiring rights at those carriers as the Airline Services Agreements covering those carriers are entered into or amended.
 

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