Friday, March 4, 2016

Pilot shortgage continues to afflict airlines

The pilot shortage is hurting airlines that serve smaller markets such as Jackson.  Republic Airways filed for bankruptcy in no small part due to the shortage.  The Wall Street Journal reported last week:

Republic Airways Holdings Inc., one of the biggest U.S. regional carriers, filed for bankruptcy protection, succumbing to the pressures of a pilot shortage and a shift by large network airlines to using larger planes.

Indianapolis-based Republic, which flies on behalf of the commuter brands of carriers including American Airlines Group Inc. and Delta Air Lines Inc., said on Thursday that it plans to maintain operations while it restructures.

Regional carriers have struggled to find enough pilots because of relatively low starting salaries and new rules by U.S. regulators requiring new aviators to have additional training. Republic has been particularly hard hit because of an outdated pilot contract that made it less attractive than its rivals to prospective hires. It had warned last year it could be pushed into bankruptcy protection.

Its pilots approved a new contract in October, and the company as recently as last month expressed optimism it could work through the pilot shortage.

The major U.S. airlines have been generating record profits amid falling fuel prices and robust traffic growth, but their regional partners remain in a state of flux as big carriers look to cut costs and shift to larger planes, leaving the smaller companies to find homes for the tinier jets.

Major airlines outsource nearly half their domestic short-haul flights to operators such as Republic and SkyWest Inc., mainly using smaller regional jets and turboprops that are being replaced with larger planes more popular with higher-paying business customers.

Republic also has been forced to ground some of its planes because of the pilot shortage, which led to a lawsuit from Delta claiming damages because of the loss of service.....

Republic last summer hired airline restructuring specialist Seabury Group LLC to explore its options after a tumultuous five-year period that included expanding its geographical footprint by acquiring Milwaukee-based Midwest Airlines and a push into the low-cost segment by acquiring Denver-based Frontier Airlines. It sold Frontier to Indigo Partners in 2013.

Republic had debts of $2.98 billion and assets of $3.56 billion at the time of filing, according to court documents. Its stock fell 77% to 78 cents in after-hours trading Thursday.

Republic said it is operating its normal flight schedules, and salaries and benefits are unchanged.

Republic, at the time of the filing, had a fleet of 242 aircraft operating more than 1,000 daily flights for American, Delta and United Continental Holdings Inc. It also held orders with Brazil’s Embraer SA for 55 E175 regional jets that would fly with American and United....  Rest of article.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Feel and his band of know-nothings are going to fix this problem when they steal the airport. That darn Jackson management caused this.

Anonymous said...

It would be so nice if the feeders would start flying point to point, remember point to point? Small jets low load requirements reasonable fares. Just need a little more experience in the cock-pit.

I know its a pipe dream but those of us that remember point to point or one stop no change have dreams too.

PittPanther said...

There's no pilot shortage. There's a shortage of pilots willing to work for minuscule wages.

Anonymous said...

The lowest paid commercial pilots can make as little as $27,000 a year.

Hank said...

I at one time flew through Cincy a lot and found myself in the commuter concourse to make connections. Now it is closed along with a lot of the entire Cincy airport. I digress, it always amazed me the youth of the commuter/regional pilots until I had a conversation with a flight attendant.

She made so little she was on food stamps and told me the pilots don't do much better. Then the other shoe dropped, she said be thankful these airplanes do a lot of thinking for the pilots.

Sure not all are unqualified but it is a little unnerving. Like someone above said no decent wages not pilots.

retired airline professional said...

Point to point airline flights were a good thing - but terribly inefficient from a bottom-line profit basis. Of course that was the norm early in the industry, and thru the early 80's. But at that time, people also dressed up to fly - men wore coat and tie, etc. Frequent flyer programs were basically non-existent, and it was long before the FF programs started giving miles away for your purchases at the grocery store.

Airline business got more competitive and costs went up following the Jimmy Carter economy. Competition for business got much better to support the number of planes. The hub-and-spoke concept got started and everyone went to it quickly. In fact, Mississippi was in competition in the early 90's for a "Wayport" - a concept that was considered by finally discarded; an airport that was in-between centers, but wasn't a stopover. Mississippi delta and the midwest (Kansas) were possibilities, but the hub system took over and killed the idea.

Now - the spokes reach out to small markets with small planes. And the Jackson market is small, no matter what the Governor and Rankin Senators want to believe. SW flies point to point, but doesn't serve nearly as many cities as the Deltas, etal. The only 'airline' that would come into JAN at this point would be a commuter that serves Tupelo, Laurel, Bham, etc. Ain't no way at this point in the industry that a major carrier is going to come to JAN, especially with the market dominated by Delta.

Anonymous said...

gulfport-biloxi has a three person board--one from gulfport, one from biloxi, and one from the county.

why isn't there a board member from Jackson, Hancock, Stone, Pearl River or George counties? look at their service--they never had southwest so it must be mismanaged. take it over too!

tupelo has its own airport authority--take that over also

big government for all! a win for the 'republicans' of rankin county!

Anonymous said...

And they aren't opening new routes or buying new planes. The real reason SW pulled out. As hard as it is to believe there are more profitable routes for SW than anything from Jackson/Madison/Rankun to anywhere. Can't wait to see Farkin Harken fix that.

Anonymous said...

Elections have consequences. Assume the position.


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If you get tired come relax at the Fox News Tent. To gain admittance to the VIP section, bring either your Republican Party ID card or a Rebel Flag. Bringing both will entitle you to free drinks.Get your tickets now. Since this is an event for trolls, no ID is required, just bring the hate. Bring the family, Trollfest '07 is for EVERYONE!!!

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