Mesaba & Pinnacle to fight it out!!??

[YourPilotFriend]

Hey Blackbox,

Ironic how your mngt wants your contract done by Jan 9th - the date when we begin furloughing in earnest, and pretty close to the time when many capt downgrades will dequal.
Methinks there is a common timeline here i.e. 9E and XJ need to have their houses in order by then, in order for NWA to start whipsawing the sh*t out of their guys and resolve this by spring!!!
Any thoughts??????????

Exactly! Hey guys here's a shitty contract, oh wait we got this other one here, wanna fly that one?

 

[Victor Meldrew]

I can't find the URL for the original post but here is some more info.

http://www.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/stories/2005/12/19/daily2.html?from_rss=1

The regional partners of Northwest Airlines Corp. will have to trim their costs significantly if they want to keep flying for the carrier's Airlink unit. If they don't, lower-cost competitors will take away the business.


That's the message from analysts and industry observers after Eagan, Minn.-based Northwest issued a call earlier this month for bids from regional airlines to fly up to 125 planes to smaller markets. Minneapolis-based Mesaba Airlines and Pinnacle Airlines of Memphis, Tenn., Northwest's current regional carriers, received requests to submit proposals.

The situation is the same as that faced by Appleton-based regional Air Wisconsin Airlines Corp., which is losing its business with United Airlines following a similar bidding process.

Both Mesaba and Pinnacle rely on Northwest for nearly all of their business and have been squeezed since Northwest filed for bankruptcy protection in September. Mesaba followed Northwest into bankruptcy after the larger airline said it intended to pull many planes from the regional fleets.

Pinnacle, in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Dec. 9, said Northwest was seeking bids from other unnamed companies. Northwest's request was for a number of planes roughly equal to Pinnacle's current fleet, and Pinnacle's vice president of marketing told the Memphis Business Journal that the move was essentially "seeking competitive bids for our products.

Neither airline serves General Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee, where Northwest is the second-busiest air carrier following Midwest Airlines of Oak Creek.

Analysts expect Northwest to cast a large net in seeking out such bids. Regional carriers such as Air Wisconsin, Mesa Air Group Inc. of Phoenix and Republic Airways Holdings Inc. of Indianapolis are possible candidates, as is SkyWest Airlines of St. George, Utah.

Representatives at all those companies declined to comment, as did Northwest officials.

"You've got a lot of strong operators out there," said Mike Boyd, an aviation consultant in Evergreen, Colo. "Somebody as savvy as Mesa would naturally be looking at something like this."

Pinnacle and Mesaba both have a solid history with Northwest. Indeed, Northwest is part owner of Mesaba's parent, Minneapolis-based MAIR Holdings. That background may help their cause, but it's likely not a decisive factor.
"Northwest would probably rather keep Mesaba and Pinnacle," Boyd said. But it will ultimately come down to cost; if the regional partners are outbid, he said, "they're history."

Previous airline bankruptcies have followed similar paths. When UAL Corp., parent of United Airlines, entered Chapter 11, it pushed out Air Wisconsin. Air Wisconsin replaced United's business by landing a deal with US Airways (also in Chapter 11), squeezing out another regional player.

But since Northwest was among the last major airlines to enter bankruptcy, there are fewer places for Mesaba and Pinnacle to go if they're dropped by Northwest.

 

[CoATP]

Jan 9th is RFP response date. The quality of the response might be considered higher if there was an agreement covering it. NWA picked the date, perhaps they want it to match the furlough date.

 

[FreezinginMN]

Northwest Wants Larger RJs; Puts Pinnacle's Flying In Play

http://quotes.optionetics.com/optionetics/news.asp?Mode=NEWS&Story=20051219/353u5051.xml&Symbol=NWACQ

 

[Lear70]

Nice tits...

Sorry, had to get that out of the way.

Now, to the heart of the matter.

It's NOT just PCL and MSA duking it out, although the article makes it seem that way. The RFP is open to ANY operator, but there's a catch: Northwest has to determine the "suitability" of the carrier putting in a bid, leaving them able to pick and choose as they see fit (as usual).

It is DEFINITELY whipsawing at its best, and it's going to get ugly. I don't think NWA is going to ditch PCL completely, too much stock tied up in the different board member's portfolios and NWA already got sued today for some trader violations (can you say bad-faith IPO?), but I do suspect they'll shrink PCL as a negotiating tactic.

I don't think it's a "coincidence" in the timing, you're absolutely right.

Last point: CASM isn't the whole story on who gets the flying, it's how much they want to make (profit margin above CASM) and what they propose to operate these aircraft at for Northwest. Only the carrier can determine what that rate will be, so it's all a big unknown and, most importantly, not necessarily related to CASM.

PCL management has come to us and STATED that if we don't have a new contract agreement by Jan 9th, the company will be "unable to submit a proposal to Northwest properly."

We don't have rates for jets larger than 50 seats.

Our Association is telling them to fu*k off and die unless they sign on OUR dotted line for what we believe is a fair contract. Should make our proposal probably not as great as Mesa's. Hopefully MSA will do the same thing and help stop the downward slide.

Fu*k it, I'd rather stay home and build engines (what I've been doing today) for $700 profit a piece (can do one every two days) than fly these airplanes for less than we're already making.

In the estimable words of Captain Hunter: Kiss My Dumb A*s!!!

 

[Rossa]

Northwest Wants Larger RJs; Puts Pinnacle's Flying In Play

http://quotes.optionetics.com/optionetics/news.asp?Mode=NEWS&Story=20051219/353u5051.xml&Symbol=NWACQ

Ummmmmmmmmmmmm........This is the same article that was posted at the start.
Personally, I think that 9E don't stand a chance of operating those CRJ200s, after all, they only fly aircraft which are currently in production, whereas we..........well you can see where I'm going.

 

[FreezinginMN]

Do you have a link to that article it seems flammy.

Ummmmmmmmmmmmm........This is the same article that was posted at the start.

I was just posting a link....nothing new

 

[DeltaLima21]

Fu*k it, I'd rather stay home and build engines (what I've been doing today) for $700 profit a piece (can do one every two days) than fly these airplanes for less than we're already making.

In the estimable words of Captain Hunter: Kiss My Dumb A*s!!!

This is the best thing for the QOL of a airline pilot. Every single pilot should seek additional income from other sources, and not rely soley on a flying job. There are a million and one ways to make money, and anybody who thinks they can't, is plain lazy. I am a 2nd year FO on the 1900 at Air Midwest, making $22.00 an hour, and I realize that its one of least respected airlines. Fortunetly, I manage to get 14 days off a month and a 64 hour line that allows me plenty of time to run my online real estate business, clearing over 200K a year. When contract talks come around in 2007, I am one MAG pilot that wont vote on anything but the best regional rates, and I could give a rats a$$ if MAG is gone and I lose my job, because I know I did the best thing for the industry, and have a backup plan. In my opinion, if this was the feeling of a majority of pilots, we all would'nt be taking pay concessions, etc. SO GO MAKE ADDITIONAL INCOME!! You can do it from a laptop on reserve or whatever. In my opinion, once we get some leverage, and industry wide unity, its a certainty to see the jobs, and pay of the good ol days.

 

[Simon Says]

This is the best thing for the QOL of a airline pilot. Every single pilot should seek additional income from other sources, and not rely soley on a flying job. There are a million and one ways to make money, and anybody who thinks they can't, is plain lazy. I am a 2nd year FO on the 1900 at Air Midwest, making $22.00 an hour, and I realize that its one of least respected airlines. Fortunetly, I manage to get 14 days off a month and a 64 hour line that allows me plenty of time to run my online real estate business, clearing over 200K a year. When contract talks come around in 2007, I am one MAG pilot that wont vote on anything but the best regional rates, and I could give a rats a$$ if MAG is gone and I lose my job, because I know I did the best thing for the industry, and have a backup plan. In my opinion, if this was the feeling of a majority of pilots, we all would'nt be taking pay concessions, etc. SO GO MAKE ADDITIONAL INCOME!! You can do it from a laptop on reserve or whatever. In my opinion, once we get some leverage, and industry wide unity, its a certainty to see the jobs, and pay of the good ol days.

You my friend are doing it exactly how everybody should do it. I too have another business that I do on my days off. Although my second income is not nearly as high as yours eventually it will be to an amount that I can fly at my airline as a hobby. It is a huge weight off my shoulders that I can take care of myself without the need of working for the crooks at the airlines. I wish more people would actually listen to this advice.

 

[Dufus1]

When I am off I want to be off. Days off are meant to be spent playing with my kid, not working another job. Just accept having to have a 2nd job??? Kiss mine. I want one job and one job only. For that I will not accept pay cuts if, but most likely when I am asked.
Its these guys that have second jobs, "clearing 200k a year" and then bi*ch about the flying job that are the problem. Quit your whining and quit flying if you hate it so bad. In the last few days I have heard numerous people say they are sick of it and are going to quit..."I make 3 times as much at my other job"...they say. Then quit already!!! There are so many of you that if you would all just quit, the airlines would see a sudden but short term "shortage" and then maybe wages would come back. Wouldn't that be fun to watch management scramble?

Rant over, soap box put away.