Goodbye Comair!

Comair was founded in 1977, flying three propeller-driven Piper Navajo aircraft. It started operating as Delta Connection in 1984 and became a wholly owned subsidiary of Delta in 2000. It was founded by Patrick J. Sowers, Robert T. Tranter, David Mueller and his father Raymond in Cincinnati. Under its parent Comair Holdings, it became a public company in July 1981 to support the growth and capital requirements to upgrade their fleet.

According to Don Bornhorst, senior vice president of Delta Connection and a former Comair president, “It ultimately was a cost issue; it wasn’t a quality issue with Comair.” The 50-seat regional jets that Comair operated just was not cost efficient to the company as a whole.  The aircraft used were not fuel efficient and the cost to maintain the fleet increased as the fleet aged. This would pose a problem for any company, especially to an air carrier such as Delta. With the profit margins as slim as they are throughout the airline industry, it would make sense form a business standpoint to eliminate the weakest link. In the eyes of Delta, this unfortunately meant Comair. 

I feel that the overall financial status of the regional airlines is being limited by the day. We see new laws that will require additional time for newer pilots, and those pilots will only follow the airline route if the regionals increase their starting pay. Unfortunately, this is very difficult to do due to the weak economy. The status of the regionals will have to change drastically within the next few years or we will be seeing a rapid decrease of available pilots along side an increased demand to operate the regional carriers’ flights or else the industry as a whole will lose profits. 

According to an USA Today article, 53% of all commercial flights are conducted by regional air carriers. What opportunities will arise to the regionals? With the ability to outsource shorter, more direct flights by use of these regional carriers, I think that there will be even more of a demand for these companies. Airline travel has doubled from 2000 to 2010, resulting in a predictable demand for regionals. This demand must be met with some sort of supply or else the system will not be able to support itself. 

After doing research online, I found that Piedmont Airlines is currently hiring pilots. The job listing was updated in June of 2012. Starting pay for first officers in both the DHC-8 Dash 8 and the DHC-8-300 Dash 8 is $27/hour. Additional information can be found by on pilotjobs.com