Comair/Delta question?

[wmuflyguy]

Why make a possible mistake that will rule the rest of your professional life if it is avoidable?

That is laughable. So what, Delta is jsut one airline, among many. UAL, NWA, CAL, SWA, JBLU, NJI they have no beef with Comair pilots. It won't rule his or anyone elses life. Heck, in 10-20 years all of the guys that have the problem will be retired or close to it. Not to mention the fact of a merger, which would change the structure of the company and possibly the people doing the hiring.

Personally I wasn't even at Comair when any of this went down. The fact that in 5 years some guy from Delta would look down on me about it is sad. If guys are that petty and want to have a vendetta agaisnt someone that had no input or say in the situation, i'm not sure it is a place I would enjoy working. It would speak volumes about the attitude and the culture there.

 

[johnsonrod]

Why would someone willingly go to Comair if its future status is questionable? Is Comair expanding? Is Comair competitive with lower-cost regionals? Is Comair gaining market share from other regionals? Does Comair have a definitive or understandable plan going forward? Does Comair have any relationships with non-Delta carriers? These are the critical questions you should be asking yourself...

Delta is farming out more and more feed to other more cost-competitive regionals. Who knows if Comair will even be around in 5 years - Delta might just shut it down or sell it. Sure, the regional business is full of question marks and nobody is safe... However, certain airlines have made changes and taken steps to diversify their risks (contracts with multiple majors). Those are the carriers I would look at closely - not for a career but for an opportunity to build jet time. That's the point. Nobody wants to stay at a regional for an entire career - or at least only a few people really aspire to do that.

I hate my regional but I am getting out soon. If I were you, I would look at regionals that have diversified their risk and those that offer good jet experience with "reasonably" fast upgrade potential (3-5 years most likely). Skywest, Republic/Shuttle America, COEX (we'll see if its Ontario experiment works - although it has recently been awarded a Delta contract out of LAX) come to mind. Personally, I would avoid Comair too - it doesn't seem to have a plan to counter its diminishing market share/feed and you might at least want the option of possibly working at Delta one day.

Good luck!

 

[bvt1151]

Ha Ha! ALPA acts like there's this big vendetta against one of its own ALPA carriers. They've even gone so far as to say they'll hire non-ALPA pilots over ALPA Comair pilots because they got their feelings hurt. Does anyone else see the utter rediculousness in this?

 

[Occam's Razor]

Ha Ha! ALPA acts like there's this big vendetta against one of its own ALPA carriers. They've even gone so far as to say they'll hire non-ALPA pilots over ALPA Comair pilots because they got their feelings hurt. Does anyone else see the utter rediculousness in this?

Hint: ALPA doesn't hire pilots.

 

[cmrflyer]

Ha Ha! ALPA acts like there's this big vendetta against one of its own ALPA carriers. They've even gone so far as to say they'll hire non-ALPA pilots over ALPA Comair pilots because they got their feelings hurt. Does anyone else see the utter rediculousness in this?

That shows how strong this "union" really is, and why management are able to shred contracts so easily. (Even though the comair one had to be shreded by a judge, unlike some others I could mention).

People like the general who go around saying they would rather see mainline flying farmed out to non alpa, non union carriers just shows you how sad this industry and the "union" is.

Why not farm out the flying to a Mexican regional, I'm sure they would be super cheap. Not as cheap as freedom, but cheap none the less.

 

[imacdog]

Why would someone willingly go to Comair if its future status is questionable? Is Comair expanding? Is Comair competitive with lower-cost regionals? Is Comair gaining market share from other regionals? Does Comair have a definitive or understandable plan going forward? Does Comair have any relationships with non-Delta carriers? These are the critical questions you should be asking yourself...

Delta is farming out more and more feed to other more cost-competitive regionals. Who knows if Comair will even be around in 5 years - Delta might just shut it down or sell it. Sure, the regional business is full of question marks and nobody is safe... However, certain airlines have made changes and taken steps to diversify their risks (contracts with multiple majors). Those are the carriers I would look at closely - not for a career but for an opportunity to build jet time. That's the point. Nobody wants to stay at a regional for an entire career - or at least only a few people really aspire to do that.

I hate my regional but I am getting out soon. If I were you, I would look at regionals that have diversified their risk and those that offer good jet experience with "reasonably" fast upgrade potential (3-5 years most likely). Skywest, Republic/Shuttle America, COEX (we'll see if its Ontario experiment works - although it has recently been awarded a Delta contract out of LAX) come to mind. Personally, I would avoid Comair too - it doesn't seem to have a plan to counter its diminishing market share/feed and you might at least want the option of possibly working at Delta one day.

Good luck!

Now that Comair is nearly done with restructuring (thanks to the help of the BK judge) you will see it is much more competitive than it used to be. Didn't Delta just modify the CHQ contract to remove all 135s from its operation?

 

[Otto]

Avoid Comair if you can - you should be able to get on with many other regionals that will at least give you a chance if Delta is your ultimate goal. Don't worry about the Comair guys out there - both Skybus and Virgin America will be hiring. Sad but true - they made their beds (with regard to harsh treatment of the Delta furloughees) and now they have to sleep in them

Work at Virgin America or Skybus where they will sit 2-3 years as an FO and then a Captain for 20 vs. being an FO/ gear handle puller at Delta for 20 years and a Captain for 2-3. Yeah those poor bastards.

 

[737 Pylt]

Work at Virgin America or Skybus where they will sit 2-3 years as an FO and then a Captain for 20 vs. being an FO/ gear handle puller at Delta for 20 years and a Captain for 2-3. Yeah those poor bastards.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news Otto, but the most jr. captain on the MD 88 in NYC is a late 98 hire!
Now I guess that would just shoot that theory of yours out the window, wouldn't it!?

737

 

[Ben Johnson]

Were does one drop off a resume for skybus and virgin america. Thats a whole number two i have to drop off...

 

[Nindiri]

If you work for Virgin America, can you upgrade to Virgin Galactic? No good layovers there, but the out and backs are excellent.