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Originally Posted by av8sean  I'd bet serious money that Pinnacle gets CRJ9's and maybe CRJ7's for NW and starts replacing the 200's as soon as a pilot contract gets nailed. More CRJ9's for DL are probably likely as well, the contract has provisions for 30-something planes. Hopefully the "safe flying" campaign will have a similar effect that ASA's had, and move things forward. |
Wouldn't surprise me in the least. But it won't happen until the pilot contract gets done. We might see a threat of "losing" those airplanes get tossed our way, but there's no way in hell we're falling for that trick. It hasn't worked the past three or four times they've tried it. The NWA contract has a provision that they can replace -200s with larger a/c, and I'm sure that'll happen. From the rumors I've heard, we've already bought the -900s that are listed as options for the Delta flying. However, with Delta shrinking their regional feed, I'm less optimistic about those seeing the light of day. Hence the reason management is scrambling for another dance partner for the -900s.
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People were much more doom & gloom a year ago during Mesaba negotiations, now everything is rosy. In another couple years, Compass will probably be doing the same song and dance. Seems to be the norm for Northwest (and their descendants).
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It's so true. Back in the day, PCL (aka Express I Airlines) was getting beat down, pushed out of hubs and losing Saabs and Jetstreams. Meanwhile, Mesaba was getting Avros and bigger bases. So, NWA buys PCL for a steal. Low and behold, Pinnacle gets a HUGE contract for CRJ-200s. NWA spins Express off as "Pinnacle Airlines" in a HUGE IPO and makes a ton of cash. Fast forward a few years, and Mesaba is getting the beat down. Losing the Avros, furloughing, etc. NWA buys them....guess what? Now they get the -900s and some of the -200s from PCL. Anyone wanna guess what's gonna happen in a few years?
My personal opinion is Compass is gonna get Mid-Atlanticed. It was designed as a safe place for NWA mainline furloughs to land, and they don't need that soft spot to land anymore. We might see a few guys flow up or get a seniority number at NWA, but I don't think their gonna make it too far past the 30 month deadline for the mainline seniority number. I wouldn't be surprised to see mainline fold Compass and Mesaba together only to spin 'em off and run with the $$$. 'Course this is all assuming Delta doesn't de-rail the plans altogether.