**HEADLINE SKYWEST to fly USAir RJs***

[darling pretty]

revenue WITH the risk

metro sheriff,

i have to disagree with you about the fee for departure method. You are correct that Delta assumes no risk in the day to day operations, but Skywest receives the same flat rate if they fly one or fifty passengers. There is no incentive to lure traffic because you still end up with the same amount of money.

With the WO's all the money stays in one place and you don't lose if the load factor drops below a certain percentage.

I believe with the block hour crisis at hand that ASA and Comair will move westward and Delta will reduce dependance on Skywest and eventually Eagle.

All of this, of course, is contingent on the DALPA grievance. If DALPA loses welcome to the largest Boeing parking lot.

 

[Tim47SIP]

Has anyone heard about the DALPA grievance outcome? Is DALPA and Delta renegotiating something new as it was supposed to be over last week?

 

[MetroSheriff]

Re: revenue WITH the risk

metro sheriff,

i have to disagree with you about the fee for departure method. You are correct that Delta assumes no risk in the day to day operations, but Skywest receives the same flat rate if they fly one or fifty passengers. There is no incentive to lure traffic because you still end up with the same amount of money.

With the WO's all the money stays in one place and you don't lose if the load factor drops below a certain percentage.

I believe with the block hour crisis at hand that ASA and Comair will move westward and Delta will reduce dependance on Skywest and eventually Eagle.

All of this, of course, is contingent on the DALPA grievance. If DALPA loses welcome to the largest Boeing parking lot.

Darling,

I agree that there is SOME risk. The fee for departure arrangements just allow Delta to expand DCI service without a huge outlay of cash, as the cost of the operation falls to the contract carrier. My point was that the contract carriers, as I understand it, assume the debt for the a/c, payroll for crew, insurance etc.

If, pending the outcome of the DALPA grievance, Big D is forced to trim it's DCI block hours, they can more easily, and at lower cost, cancel an at-will contract and not assume the burden of debt service on a/c that they are contractually prohibited (scoped) from flying. Parking WO a/c seems an expensive proposition, which is PART of the reason the lions share of recent DCI growth has gone to the contract carriers, IMO.

 

[surfnole]

Delta does not SHARE any profit with Skywest, they pay them a fee per departure. Revenue without the risk.

True.

However my point is that the regional market is one of few profitable segments in the industry. In fact, its probably a cash cow.

Delta may be looking at the addtional profit it could make if it took over the Skywest market by expanding ASA and Comair.

Perhaps the risk of owning additional RJs is outweighed by the reward of additional profits. I don't know.

But..

1) Why would Delta sell its share in Skywest stock unless it was planning on making a run on the company (not sure if it is true they sold the stock).

2) Skywest could be in a precarious position in that it is one of the few, large independent regionals left. Its somewhat at the mercy of Delta's good will.

I am not an industry expert, so I could be way off base....but I can't help thinking that Delta would be looking to completely take over.

 

[FlyingSig]

they said 'no', now they are trying to get their furloughed pilots into what would be 'our' jet's. what makes them think we'll accept it over them?

Just curious... with no collective bargaining agreement, just how is it that the SkyWest pilot group could say no? Legally, that is..

 

[FlyingSig]

Why would Delta sell its share in Skywest stock unless it was planning on making a run on the company (not sure if it is true they sold the stock).

It's true.

ATLANTA, Oct 12, 2001 -- Delta Air Lines (NYSEAL) today reported that it has sold its stake in SkyWest Airlines (NASDAQ:SKYW). Delta sold 6.2 million shares of SkyWest common stock worth $125 million in a block trade pursuant to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Rule 144. "Delta has an excellent relationship with our partner SkyWest," said M. Michele Burns, Delta’s executive vice president and chief financial officer. "This transaction in no way changes our operating relationship." ... from delta.com

Why? To raise cash at a time when the company was burning $8-10 million a day.

 

[atpcliff]

Hi!

It is true that SkyWest, along with Mesa, Chautauqua and TSA are working on an RJ deal with USAir. USAir currently has about 60 RJs and wants to add about 430, that's right, 430 more!!!

TSA and Chautauqua are rumoured to be looking at getting about 100 RJs EACH! USAir furloughees will be given the opportunity to fill 1/2 of the seats.

At TSA, they crew about 4 crews/plane. The USAir pilots will be put on the bottom of the seniority list, and will function exactly as newhires, except for 2 things. They will be able to bid Capt right away, because they'll have the hours to hold a Capt slot, and they'll be paid at the going TSA rate for their longevity at USAir. So, if they've been at USAir for 8 years, and are a Capt at TSA, they will get TSA's 8 Yr. Capt's pay.

USAir anticipates that not all of its furloughees will accept a seat, so, if these large numbers hold up, all of the TSA furloughees (& poolies) and the Chautauqua firees should be able to get back in the cockpit.

The details are still being hammered out. Chautauqua pilots are said to be voting on it soon. TSA's agreement is supposed to be completed in under a month, and they currently have top mgmt in Brazil right now.

9.11 sure changed things a lot!!!

Especially if you're furloughed (like me), or looking for a job, hang in there and good luck!!!

Cliff
GB,WI

 

[KFFA]

I think some of you out there are missing my point of this.

I wanted to get this news out there because I am looking for information. Personaly I have both pro's and con's to this deal and was looking for some insight. USAir doesn't fly much in the West and I don't really know a whole lot about them.

SkyWest is in an unusaual spot. Because we are not union things happen differently then most other airlines. Sometimes when decisions are made the thought of What is the Union response going to be? or What is Managments next move going to be doesnt really exist to a point at SkyWest. I may be a little in fantasy land but it is refreshing at times to know this. SkyWest is in a tuff situation right now because United is up in the air?!? Will they make it through the summer or are the going to file ch. 11 and reorganize. Somtimes it is time to wipe the board and start over.

The two sides of Union and Mangment is so deeply diveded that it looks to be unworkable. And if this does happen then what would SkyWest or for that matter ACA or AirWisky do? Then you have Delta and there relationship with Comair and ASA vs SkyWest. Sometimes I wonder do they play favorites or what??? I think SkyWest puts out a great product and thats why Delta has asked us to fly to DFW and further East. The same goes for United. And I think this is also the reason why USAir has come to us. I am not saying anybody else doesn't also put out a great product. Analogy: Toyota vs Nissian vs Honda

Again I am looking to all of you out there for some honest non-bashing this airline or that opinions. Just what would you vote if they came to your airline and you knew some of your furloghed buddy's would come back and new growth for you. Comair if United came to you to fly out West with this type of proposal would you take it? Or ASA if Horizon came to you to fly in the North East would you take it? etc.

Thanks

KFFA
"The field is white all ready to be harvested"

 

[KFFA]

Cliff,

The deal sounds alot like ours also. But the USAir guys cann't fly into our Delta or United sytsem so they wont effect us that are all ready here. Also the USAir pilots need to go through an interview and written tests and training like any new pilot off the street. just that they will have a sr. # at SkyWest and still retain there one at USAir. What makes it a little odd for us though is that will they still be ALPA members or not??? Capt is not union (skywest pilot and the FO is a union guy (usair guy) wont that be intresting combo some flight?

 

[Saluki Dawg]

KFFA,

To answer your question, the USAir pilots will still be ALPA members, but will be working for a non-ALPA carrier. Second, Skywest needs a union of somekind on property now more than ever. This deal is a really bad deal for any airline that accepts it, plain and simple. If you guys had a union on property right now, you might have a chance of either stopping this deal or at least protecting your current pilots on property from being bumped out of their seats. Right now I don't think there is anything that you are going to be able to do about it. If Skywest Management has made up their minds that this deal with USAir is going to happen then that's it. I hope that it works out for you guys.