Can the major air carriers survive without the regionals

J

justinisapilot

Well-Known Member
Simple question and just wanted to get some opinions. I was working the ramp at KATL this evening and watched what seemed to be 20 CRJ's takeoff back to back to back. This made me wonder if a ,major airline would be able to survive without the regional's feeding them passengers. Although I was very young when this happened, i do remember flying mainline flights everywhere. Now you are lucky if you are able to upgrade to a first class seat or in my case (nonrev for one:o) on a long CRJ-900 flight from Houston to Detroit.
 
Pilotforhire587 said:
and how I would love to see this happen, the regionals that were still flying would be props flying 1 to 2 hour hops to bring the folks in from 200 to 400 miles away. I think it would solve a lot of our issues as pilots.
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it sure would. it would cut the amount of pilot jobs in half. crap job is better than no job IMO
 
Of course they could. What would be the alternative?

Would it require them to make a lot of changes to their current operational model, of course.
 
SIUav8er said:
it sure would. it would cut the amount of pilot jobs in half. crap job is better than no job IMO
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Quality over quantity. But that being said I don't think it would, at least not by much. There would be a lot more MAJOR jobs. Sure there would be fewer regional guys, who cares. The majors offer a better QOL and pay and we al still get to so what we love.
 
I really wish that airlines would stop contracting stuff out. The lack of direct control by the parent company is (in my opinion) why air travel is in its current state.

Example: I (subcontractor A) had a flight today that was supposed to leave at 8:15. Its 8:05 and we have not received any passengers. I call operations (subcontractor b) to find out what the deal was. They told me that subcontractor C has a plane that is parked behind us (they park 2 planes to one gate) which is not ready to leave yet. That plane finally leaves, I call operations and tell them to start boarding. They then have to call the gate (run by the parent company).

Trips can be immensely frustrating because to get anything done you have to talk to 3 different people that work for 3 different companies, none of which communicate very well. I have a theory (based on nothing) that if there was a company that ran all of its own stuff, despite being at a cost disadvantage, they would blow everyone out of the water when it comes to performance and customer service...oh wait, that sounds like southwest. When you look at their fares, they really aren't that much cheaper than everyone else. They just have control over everything, including the people that work there, and can make things happen.
 
Back Then: Alaska, America West, American, Braniff, Continental, Delta, Eastern, Frontier, Hughes Airwest, Midway, National, Northcental, Northwest, Ozark, Pan Am, Pacific Southwest, Piedmont, Republic, Southwest, Southern, Trans World, United, USAir

Today: Alaska, American, Continental, Delta, Southwest, United, USAir

When you look at how may mainline carriers we had then, vs. what we have now, I would argue that none of the majors are surviving, regardless of the regionals.
 
O&M said:
Back Then: Alaska, America West, American, Braniff, Continental, Delta, Eastern, Frontier, Hughes Airwest, Midway, National, Northcental, Northwest, Ozark, Pan Am, Pacific Southwest, Piedmont, Republic, Southwest, Southern, Trans World, United, USAir

Today: American, Continental, Delta, Southwest, United, USAir

When you look at how may mainline carriers we had then, vs. what we have now, I would argue that none of the majors are surviving, regardless of the regionals.
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Did Alaska go away suddenly and I missed it?
 
look at air canada, one list all mainline, making aton of money. Putting the hurt to west-jet. Regionals are dying mainline is taking back the flying.
 
So Jazz is part of mainline, like Eagle to AA? I honestly didn't know that.

Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk
 
Delta pilots flying Delta passengers.

When it got subletted like a general contractor putting in a second floor.... eh....
 
Doug Taylor said:
Delta pilots flying Delta passengers.

When it got subletted like a general contractor putting in a second floor.... eh....
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I had a flight instructor of mine—ex-Comair guy—tell me that there were about five major shareholders in Comair, also ground-floor pilots, who blocked the then-proposed merger of Comair into Delta, therefore blocking putting the turbofans back on the property. I'm none too sure of the veracity of this story, but it's a bummer, especially considering what happened to Comair, if it is true.
 
Screaming_Emu said:
I really wish that airlines would stop contracting stuff out. The lack of direct control by the parent company is (in my opinion) why air travel is in its current state.

Example: I (subcontractor A) had a flight today that was supposed to leave at 8:15. Its 8:05 and we have not received any passengers. I call operations (subcontractor b) to find out what the deal was. They told me that subcontractor C has a plane that is parked behind us (they park 2 planes to one gate) which is not ready to leave yet. That plane finally leaves, I call operations and tell them to start boarding. They then have to call the gate (run by the parent company).

Trips can be immensely frustrating because to get anything done you have to talk to 3 different people that work for 3 different companies, none of which communicate very well. I have a theory (based on nothing) that if there was a company that ran all of its own stuff, despite being at a cost disadvantage, they would blow everyone out of the water when it comes to performance and customer service...oh wait, that sounds like southwest. When you look at their fares, they really aren't that much cheaper than everyone else. They just have control over everything, including the people that work there, and can make things happen.
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I hear ya.

I think we could all fill a notebook with stories like this.

It's truly an incredible thing to sit there in the cockpit and watch it all fall apart sometimes. Absolutely nothing can be done to help either...just gotta wait.

You know something is very wrong when it takes four companies to fill the potable water.

I waited 60 minutes for empty galley carts a few weeks ago on a repo flight. We do not have the ability to have the weight and balance done without galley carts installed and we told ops, just tell catering they can bring ANYTHING at all...they can't mess up this request because we simply need carts even if it is dirty food and dishes from another flight! Still took an hour. That delayed everything the airplane was going to do the rest of the day and it was only noon when we got in.
 
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