USair RJ's

[erjman]

So did anyone else notice that Piedmont and Allegehny seem to be left out of the RJ picture? What happened there? Maybe one wholly-owned named PSA.

I bet the CHQ, transtates, and Mesa guys are sweatin right now.

 

[Wats]

I thought Piedmont was doing the j4j thing?

 

[Wats]

Incidentally, if USAir gets the emb 170, will they have an advantage over the rest of us? Those airplanes are supposed to have large jet seats and cabins with the low operating costs of rjs.

 

[Dashcaptain]

All three wholly owned carriers have agreed to j4j. It is tough to hear that those of us at Allegheny and Piedmlnt were not mentioned on the rj deal as of yet. We shall see what the future holds.

 

[AviatorTim]

...I bet the CHQ, transtates, and Mesa guys are sweatin right now...

Fill me in here. Why would CHQ, TSA, and Mesa be sweating it? What motivation does Airways have to fork out millions of dollars to buy their own RJs when the codeshares are willing to put out all the cash to buy their own and sell the service to mainline at a good price (because they're competing with each other for the contracts)?

What's the big picture here? Why would Airways want to spend millions on RJs when COEX and Northwest/Pinnacle are selling off the RJs they already own? Especially when all the codeshares are excepting j4j and hiring mainline furloughs.

I'm a bit confused why some carieers like Delta want to buy more RJs(via Comair, ASA) while Continental and Northwest want to sell off the RJs they already own.

Tim

 

[erjman]

Perhaps they are sweatin because USAir just ordered 170 RJ's for their wholly owned operations. This is long overdue from an Rj standpoint, but I agree with your thinking about why they bought them instead of making Mesa or CHQ buy them and fly them under J4J.

Probably nothing to worry about though, since they claim they want 400 plus RJs, so probalby enough for all to fly.

 

[erjman]

mesa leasing from US?

Aviation daily is reporting that Seigel and company at US have an agreement with Mesa to lease the CRJ700s from USair and operate them under J4J. What's up with that? I thought they were bought for their wholly owned pilots?

 

[d328pilot]

Why would U want to keep the rjs in the family? Well, we pay our temp agencies a fee per departure. If Mesa flies an rj with one passenger it costs U the same as a full airplane. Since the WOs are on the same balance sheet, if we fly an airplane that is almost empty, it does not cost U near as much money. And since we were forced to take concessions on pay rates to compete with Mesa, our costs are almost as low. So now it makes since to keep it in the family instead of giving the flying away.

 

[captjim]

...I bet the CHQ, transtates, and Mesa guys are sweatin right now...

Fill me in here. Why would CHQ, TSA, and Mesa be sweating it? What motivation does Airways have to fork out millions of dollars to buy their own RJs when the codeshares are willing to put out all the cash to buy their own and sell the service to mainline at a good price (because they're competing with each other for the contracts)?

What's the big picture here? Why would Airways want to spend millions on RJs when COEX and Northwest/Pinnacle are selling off the RJs they already own? Especially when all the codeshares are excepting j4j and hiring mainline furloughs.

I'm a bit confused why some carieers like Delta want to buy more RJs(via Comair, ASA) while Continental and Northwest want to sell off the RJs they already own.

Tim

Don't know were you got your info Tim, but CALEX has Not gotton rid of any jets. We are in fact recieving them at a rate of 2 to 3 a month.

 

[DoinTime]

What's the big picture here? Why would Airways want to spend millions on RJs when COEX and Northwest/Pinnacle are selling off the RJs they already own?

Pinnacle is also recieving an averge of 2 per month as well. We are not trying to get rid of any.

 

[AAWORKER]

what is the aviation daily website?

 

[erjman]

usair rj's

The website is part of www.aviationnow.com and then linked to the daily. You must have a subscription to view it though.

 

[Tref]

AviatorTim,

Did you mean that Continental and NWA are thinking of selling Express and Pinnacle as opposed to individual aircraft? I'm not really up on CoEx, but I know that Pinnacle is adding more RJs and that NWA has put their Pinnacle IPO on hold until things improve and they can get a higher share price.

 

[AviatorTim]

Don't know were you got your info Tim, but CALEX has Not gotton rid of any jets. We are in fact recieving them at a rate of 2 to 3 a month.

Thank you Tref. Of course I meant the plan to sell of all of COEX and all of Pinnacle which were put on hold after 9/11, not selling off individual airplanes.

 

[AviatorTim]

Did you mean that Continental and NWA are thinking of selling Express and Pinnacle...

Yes. Has anyone heard US Airways business plan? Why are they planning on purchasing so many RJs themselves (instead of just codesharing) when Continental and Northwest want to sell off their entire RJ division? Are CAL and NWA just desperate for cash or is there some business plan at work?

 

[BTDII]

Contracting out flying does not make Airways any money. Keeping the flying in house means keeping the profits in house.

Two contract carriers have already been put on notice that they will not be flying for Airways. No "official" announcement has been made, but we can expect it to come in the near future.


May 20, 2003
US Airways plans to consolidate Regionals

US Airways CEO David Siegel said yesterday that the company will consolidate the number of Regionals operating as US Airways Express carriers over the next several years. "Ultimately we will probably reduce it down to a couple of partners," Siegel told ATWOnline at the Regional Airline Assn. annual convention in Phoenix. "We don’t need 10. Two or three are more likely." He also said US Airways may consider the new Embraer 190/195 as a replacement for aging mainline aircraft over the next 5-10 years. He called the aircraft an "attractive option," noting its commonality with the 85 Embraer 170s ordered last week (ATWOnline, May 14).--Sandra Arnoult

 

[328dude]

Before people go off the deep end here, let me stress that BTDII's last post has Seigal stating that 2 or 3 or more likely. His comment's were not directed to the wholly owned, only to the affiliate carriers in that statement.

3 W/O carriers, plus two or three affiliate carriers.

Mesa is a givin.

 

[stillaboo]

328, how do you know whether he was talking about the non-W/O's only? Was there more to the Seigel quote?

I'm wondering how long that avatar will last too!

-Boo!

 

[hhab]

"Mesa is a givin."



Dont hold your breath. Mesas contract for rj flying expires 2008 and with the participation in J4J?
Not likely.

 

[the turtle]

I think 328 implied that Mesa will continue to fly for U. JO and Dave are cut from the same cloth.... whatever plans they have most likely envolve each other.

 

[328dude]

Mesa will be around for a awhile atleast untill 2008 which someone already stated.

Some of the MEC members at PSA and PDT had to clerify this statement and exactly what it ment to everyone. We received a email with a response stating that it was directed to the affiliate carriers and not the 3 W/O'd.

I think PDT even put this on the hotline a few nights ago.

 

[hhab]

"I think 328 implied that Mesa will continue to fly for U. JO and Dave are cut from the same cloth.... whatever plans they have most likely envolve each other"


Ooops. I re-read his post. I goofed up.
My apologizes!

 

[IAHERJ]

I don't think Siegel and Ornstein are cut from the same cloth. Yes, both were presidents of the wholly owned Continental Express but Seigel transformed it from a large mom and pop turboprop carrier to the largest single carrier of regional jets in the world. He knows the regional business. Ornstein's legacy at Continental Express was a terrible deal for B-1900's that Express had to get out of by purchasing a large percentage of Gulfstream International Airlines(through big CAL) to in turn "sell " the planes to them. Basically Seigel cleaned up the mess left behind by Ornstein. I don't know what their relationship is like on a personal level but I'd be surprised if they were more than just cordial on a professional level with each other.

Seigel is smart. We will just have to see if he runs Airways like a large regional or continues to run an international carrier in the future.

IAHERJ
dba ATL717

 

[EMB145XR]

I'm a bit confused why some carieers like Delta want to buy more RJs(via Comair, ASA) while Continental and Northwest want to sell off the RJs they already own.

I'm curious where your information is coming. Right now Continental (Coex, ExpressJet, etc.) is taking delivery of several jets a month. I'm just a line pilot, but so far our company (or union) has said nothing about selling off any jets. Right now these jets are what is helping to keep CAL solvent.