The end of Comair

[General Lee]

Unbelievable. JC and Cory had the balls to stand up and try to make the regionals a place worthy of a career, and you heap derision on them? I certainly don't agree with everything that JC did or said, but he was a good man and a good trade unionist, and he should be thanked for his many years of hard work. The same goes for Cory.

My sympathies for everyone at Comair. You guys ran a great airline, stood up for this profession repeatedly, and you should be proud of the airline that you helped build, even though Delta may be tearing it down now. You'll all be in my prayers.

No, JC made a big mistake with his memo to his pilots at the start of the DL furloughs. He could have gone the ASA route and offered help, but he chose to ask for the Moon. Good luck to the good ones at Comair.


Bye Bye---General Lee

 

[JonnyKnoxville]

As much as we all like to think that the world revolves around pilots, it simply does not. The decision to shut down Comair was made by people in ATL who look at the cost and profitability in an operation. The only pilots that they might know would be the ones flying their corporate jets. These people have never heard of JC or Corey and they don't care about any memos regarding Delta furloughs.

Comair has always been on the leading edge of the regional industry and this case is no different. Colgan is closing, Pinnacle and Eagle are going to be destroyed and it won't have anything to do with the pilots. It is economics, plain and simple; and the disparity in pilot costs between competitors is meaningless to even discuss.

BTW, Bugsmasher Plus, make sure you never apply to my airline. I never want to count on someone like you to help improve my quality of life or compensation. You would do just fine at a non-union airline where management can show you how worthless they really think you are.

 

[staylow]

To all my fellow Comair employees...We few, we happy few, we band of brothers; For he to-day that sheds his blood with me, Shall be my brother...godspeed and best of luck. It has been an honor.

 

[pilotyip]

welcome to club, Eastern, Braniff I, TransAmerican, Zantop, Pam Am, Drummond Island Air, GM Corp, USSteel, the list goes on. All airline jobs are temporary, well not exactly true I do know 2 guys who had complete careers with no lay offs or pay cuts.

 

[Bugsmasher Plus]

As much as we all like to think that the world revolves around pilots, it simply does not. The decision to shut down Comair was made by people in ATL who look at the cost and profitability in an operation. The only pilots that they might know would be the ones flying their corporate jets. These people have never heard of JC or Corey and they don't care about any memos regarding Delta furloughs.

Comair has always been on the leading edge of the regional industry and this case is no different. Colgan is closing, Pinnacle and Eagle are going to be destroyed and it won't have anything to do with the pilots. It is economics, plain and simple; and the disparity in pilot costs between competitors is meaningless to even discuss.

BTW, Bugsmasher Plus, make sure you never apply to my airline. I never want to count on someone like you to help improve my quality of life or compensation. You would do just fine at a non-union airline where management can show you how worthless they really think you are.

You are right, the decision was made by those in ATL. The strike brought with it a lot of unintended consequences that changed the face of regional arilines and with it the competitive structure that once made Comair the envy of the industry.

Hub protection (Comair - CVG, ASA-ATL etc) vanished with the strike. You don't think that affected profitability? Scope clauses that limited growth and a union that over and over again proved that it was not capable of working with the company to stay competitive.

The most important thing that was lost at Comair after the strike was the culture and with it was the bottom line. The company was never again competitive and chosen to lead the industry. Comair over and over again did things with the RJ that nobody else could prior to the strike. All that vanished.

To address your last statement... myself, like most Comair management made the decision to move on many years ago. We were all committed to making the best decisions possible for the pilot group, the non pilot employees and the company as a whole. The culture that was learned stayed within all of us and the desire to support and succeed to the best of our ability never changed. I don't know where you but I can assure you that one of us is probably on the management team with oversight of a function that improves your quality of life every day.

Don't misunderstand me, I was there when all of this happened and watched it all unfold. I felt the sting of the strike, saw the culture change and suffered the consequences after. My heart goes out to all those affected, many of them good friends that I still stay in touch with, along with many of them I still work beside today. All Comair employees, past and present feel heartache at the closure of the company. It is like losing a close friend.

However, for every failure there is a turning point where you know that it all could have been avoided. JC and Corey made decisions that destroyed what Ray and his father started. What could have been is over now, where the sky was once the limit it is soon to be nothing but a footnote in history.

The airline that introduced the regional jet to the industry, that forever changed the image of what a small commuter airplane was (no props), that was able to operate from coast to coast as an airline, operate to locations and distance previously unheard of as a commuter with a culture second to none is soon to be no more.

As one who lived it, the two names most associated with the demise of the greatest regional airline ever will be JC and Corey.

 

[PCL_128]

Ahhh, you're management. That explains a lot.

 

[PCL_128]

No, JC made a big mistake with his memo to his pilots at the start of the DL furloughs. He could have gone the ASA route and offered help, but he chose to ask for the Moon. Good luck to the good ones at Comair.

Like I said, I don't agree with everything he said or did. Maybe you don't remember, but I was an outspoken opponent to how he handled the DAL furloughee situation. But everyone makes mistakes. I don't condemn a man for one poor decision, even if it was a really poor decision.

 

[Flyer1015]

I remember when Comair was the best regional job you could pay for.

Fixed it for you.

Remember when SWA was the best major job you could pay for?









Oh, wait.

 

[surplus1]

Comair huh? That's whats wrong with you!

You remind me of Sgt Schultz from the old TV series Hogan's Heroes - "I [you] know nothing!"

 

[Bugsmasher Plus]

Ahhh, you're management. That explains a lot.

Yes, I was and am management elsewhere today. What it explains is that I saw first hand the reality and wasn't fed the crap the pilots were during the negotiations leading up to the strike. It's why I know the strike didn't have to happen and that the pilots didn't get anything after the 89 days that they couldn't have before it began. The turning point was the strike.

I started out at Comair as a rank and file employee that was promoted into management. I was in a position where all that happened was visible to myself and those around me. It was like watching a train coming and knowing there was no possible way to step out of the way. The MEC made the decision to strike long before it happened. Even on the final days in March it could have been avoided, yet the union chose to boycott the negotiations. Seibs had a blank check to close the deal, but it was hard to negotiate when they were the only ones in the room. Maggie couldn't even drag them back in.

It's all history now and the true story will never be made public. The media will state that Comair was operating the 50 seats airplane and costs were too high and it wasn't sustainable.

They will never write about the history leading to why larger airplanes didn't make it onto the property and the lack of commitment by the JC, Cory and the union to negotiate in good faith.

Comair could easily have sustained profitability within the Delta family and have continued to have been the model for all others but was shackled by the greed of the union.

It's over now and all Comair employees, past and present, grieve over a premature death and the loss of what should have been.