Republic letter to Pilots
- Thread starter SeanD
- Start date
Dear Co-workers,
Good evening, I want to take a few minutes of your time to bring you up to speed on an announcement that will hit the wire tomorrow morning. As you probably have read, United Airlines has made a decision to significantly reduce the number of flight departures at their CLE hub. In their press release, they mentioned that their decision to reduce flight service was prompted by news that some of their regional airline partners were experiencing difficulties in hiring suitable pilots to crew their aircraft. That disclosure has caused quite a bit of media attention as to whether or not we (our country) are experiencing a shortage of qualified pilots. I’ll come back to that question later, but the reality is that our airline, more specifically Chautauqua, is having a very difficult time finding new-hire pilots that meet the 1,500 hour rule AND meet our quality and competency requirements.
It is no secret that many of our small jet, fixed-fee agreements are scheduled to expire this year. In fact, we have 41 ERJs which, unless extended, will expire off contract over the course of this year. Since our successful Chautauqua financial restructuring in 2012, we have consistently said we expect to be able to keep these aircraft in productive service for years to come; however, the pilot staffing challenges are changing that outlook.
Starting shortly after the new law became effective in August of last year, we began to see a steady decline in the number of qualified applicants applying at Republic. As a consequence, by the end of last year, we were concerned enough about the trends that we reached out to all our partners to get their read on the situation and to warn them we could have real problems keeping our aircraft properly staffed. The applicant flow problems continue to persist in the new year and it has become all too clear that we can no longer consider extending all our small jet contracts; in fact, we have asked one partner (United) to accelerate the removal of our 12 ERJ aircraft so we can redirect Chautauqua flight crews to EJET training. Effective April 1, we anticipate ending our Chautauqua ERJ flying for United. We also are no longer able to extend our American Connection agreement covering 15 E140 aircraft. Those aircraft will be removed from service between March 1 and August 15. In total, we plan to remove 27 small aircraft, which we had otherwise expected to continue to operate in to the future.
Of course, this is very disappointing news and will naturally cause some of our co-workers to have real concerns over their personal situations. Wayne is on his way to Louisville to discuss the situation with our team down there, but let me say we see tremendous value in our Louisville base and with our people there, and we have no intention to do anything other than keep it running normally and bring work into the facility to replace the work that may be affected by this development.
We also intend to continue to receive new E175 aircraft for American. Those 25 aircraft are scheduled to go into service this year. And while we have not made any final decisions, we do still have four Q400 aircraft that were anticipated to go in to service this year for United, which we would like to satisfy. Of course, it all depends on our ability to find the kind of women and men who can meet our standards.
So do we have a pilot shortage? Well if you define a shortage as not having enough people that meet the requirements of the 1,500-hour rule and not being able to pass muster with our standards, then yes, we have a shortage, and we are not alone. However, I do not think the country has a shortage of truly qualified pilots, at least not yet. There are ample pilots for today’s needs, but these young people, who have graduated with aeronautical aviation degrees no longer qualify for employment. And there are not enough ways for them to get the hourly time the new law requires. It is a real catch 22, and one you will probably be reading a lot more about for the foreseeable future.
Longer term (and that may only be two or three years away) we will certainly have a much bigger problem, even if the hour requirement is reduced from 1,500 hour to say 500 hours. Why? Because the age 65 rule will mandate retirements for nearly 18,000 mainline pilots over the next 10 years. It started last year with about 1,000 retirements. That number grows steady over the next 10 years. Even under the old system, our country simply does not have the ability to train that many replacement pilots. It’s the same problem countries like China and India have been dealing with for years. We are going to have to develop an entirely new way to train future aviators in this country. But that won’t be much help in the here and now.
Finally, it is reasonable to ask how the lack of a new pilot CBA has affected our recruiting situation. It’s a fair question, but a hard one to answer. It seems reasonable enough that not having a new CBA isn’t helping and certainly may be hurting our efforts in recruiting new pilots now, even though it wasn’t a problem before the new law went into effect last year. However, while we very much want to get the negotiation behind us, the reality is a new CBA won’t create a single new qualified pilot in the USA. I do think it will help bring some people to us that otherwise do not want to consider Republic because of the uncertainty here, but that is a hard thing to quantify. Suffice to say we want to close out the negotiations with a fair deal and, when that happens, if it allows us to hire more pilots such that we could staff more aircraft, of course we will discuss adding these small jets back to service with our airline partners.
For the time being, we should all keep our focus on providing the outstanding levels of service that have become a hallmark of our three great companies. We have faced challenges in the past and as a team, we have prevailed. We will face challenges in the future and, together, again, we will prevail.
God bless,
Bryan
Good evening, I want to take a few minutes of your time to bring you up to speed on an announcement that will hit the wire tomorrow morning. As you probably have read, United Airlines has made a decision to significantly reduce the number of flight departures at their CLE hub. In their press release, they mentioned that their decision to reduce flight service was prompted by news that some of their regional airline partners were experiencing difficulties in hiring suitable pilots to crew their aircraft. That disclosure has caused quite a bit of media attention as to whether or not we (our country) are experiencing a shortage of qualified pilots. I’ll come back to that question later, but the reality is that our airline, more specifically Chautauqua, is having a very difficult time finding new-hire pilots that meet the 1,500 hour rule AND meet our quality and competency requirements.
It is no secret that many of our small jet, fixed-fee agreements are scheduled to expire this year. In fact, we have 41 ERJs which, unless extended, will expire off contract over the course of this year. Since our successful Chautauqua financial restructuring in 2012, we have consistently said we expect to be able to keep these aircraft in productive service for years to come; however, the pilot staffing challenges are changing that outlook.
Starting shortly after the new law became effective in August of last year, we began to see a steady decline in the number of qualified applicants applying at Republic. As a consequence, by the end of last year, we were concerned enough about the trends that we reached out to all our partners to get their read on the situation and to warn them we could have real problems keeping our aircraft properly staffed. The applicant flow problems continue to persist in the new year and it has become all too clear that we can no longer consider extending all our small jet contracts; in fact, we have asked one partner (United) to accelerate the removal of our 12 ERJ aircraft so we can redirect Chautauqua flight crews to EJET training. Effective April 1, we anticipate ending our Chautauqua ERJ flying for United. We also are no longer able to extend our American Connection agreement covering 15 E140 aircraft. Those aircraft will be removed from service between March 1 and August 15. In total, we plan to remove 27 small aircraft, which we had otherwise expected to continue to operate in to the future.
Of course, this is very disappointing news and will naturally cause some of our co-workers to have real concerns over their personal situations. Wayne is on his way to Louisville to discuss the situation with our team down there, but let me say we see tremendous value in our Louisville base and with our people there, and we have no intention to do anything other than keep it running normally and bring work into the facility to replace the work that may be affected by this development.
We also intend to continue to receive new E175 aircraft for American. Those 25 aircraft are scheduled to go into service this year. And while we have not made any final decisions, we do still have four Q400 aircraft that were anticipated to go in to service this year for United, which we would like to satisfy. Of course, it all depends on our ability to find the kind of women and men who can meet our standards.
So do we have a pilot shortage? Well if you define a shortage as not having enough people that meet the requirements of the 1,500-hour rule and not being able to pass muster with our standards, then yes, we have a shortage, and we are not alone. However, I do not think the country has a shortage of truly qualified pilots, at least not yet. There are ample pilots for today’s needs, but these young people, who have graduated with aeronautical aviation degrees no longer qualify for employment. And there are not enough ways for them to get the hourly time the new law requires. It is a real catch 22, and one you will probably be reading a lot more about for the foreseeable future.
Longer term (and that may only be two or three years away) we will certainly have a much bigger problem, even if the hour requirement is reduced from 1,500 hour to say 500 hours. Why? Because the age 65 rule will mandate retirements for nearly 18,000 mainline pilots over the next 10 years. It started last year with about 1,000 retirements. That number grows steady over the next 10 years. Even under the old system, our country simply does not have the ability to train that many replacement pilots. It’s the same problem countries like China and India have been dealing with for years. We are going to have to develop an entirely new way to train future aviators in this country. But that won’t be much help in the here and now.
Finally, it is reasonable to ask how the lack of a new pilot CBA has affected our recruiting situation. It’s a fair question, but a hard one to answer. It seems reasonable enough that not having a new CBA isn’t helping and certainly may be hurting our efforts in recruiting new pilots now, even though it wasn’t a problem before the new law went into effect last year. However, while we very much want to get the negotiation behind us, the reality is a new CBA won’t create a single new qualified pilot in the USA. I do think it will help bring some people to us that otherwise do not want to consider Republic because of the uncertainty here, but that is a hard thing to quantify. Suffice to say we want to close out the negotiations with a fair deal and, when that happens, if it allows us to hire more pilots such that we could staff more aircraft, of course we will discuss adding these small jets back to service with our airline partners.
For the time being, we should all keep our focus on providing the outstanding levels of service that have become a hallmark of our three great companies. We have faced challenges in the past and as a team, we have prevailed. We will face challenges in the future and, together, again, we will prevail.
God bless,
Bryan
Firebird2XC
Well-Known Member
I find it interesting that Bedford states that a CBA will help spur recruiting, then states that nothing in the CBA will change recruiting.
Whut?
Given the somewhat hurried movement from 145 flying, it seems as if they're cannibalizing the 145 fleets to staff the 175 flying being done for AA.
This would stand to reason, especially if what I heard about them warning AA they'd be in breach in two months due to staffing is true. Given the source, I think it is.
This is important for Eagle pilots and Republic both- we have mutual interest in what we all do now. I think Republic management really was about to raise wages to attract applicants with a new CBA, but now waits with baited breath to see what Eagle pilots decide to do.
These are in fact quite interesting times. And regardless of what you think of the term of 'shortage', the regionals definitely have a shortage of cheap labor that is causing serious issues.
Perhaps wage increases are in order?
Whut?
Given the somewhat hurried movement from 145 flying, it seems as if they're cannibalizing the 145 fleets to staff the 175 flying being done for AA.
This would stand to reason, especially if what I heard about them warning AA they'd be in breach in two months due to staffing is true. Given the source, I think it is.
This is important for Eagle pilots and Republic both- we have mutual interest in what we all do now. I think Republic management really was about to raise wages to attract applicants with a new CBA, but now waits with baited breath to see what Eagle pilots decide to do.
These are in fact quite interesting times. And regardless of what you think of the term of 'shortage', the regionals definitely have a shortage of cheap labor that is causing serious issues.
Perhaps wage increases are in order?
deadringer86
Well-Known Member
Dear Republic,
I meet your minimums. I like jets. I promise I won't raise the flaps in the flare.
Just show me the money.
I meet your minimums. I like jets. I promise I won't raise the flaps in the flare.
Just show me the money.
wildfreightess
Well-Known Member
Personally, I'm a little pissed they're waiting until springtime to close ORD and CLE. After the winter we've had, the last thing I want to do is spend all summer in training! And how am I to live without the Pot Roast Sandwich?
Betchya'dollar it'll spark both a drive to gut the 1500hr rule and provide pressure to the Feds to expedite the MCPL:
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Republic Airways says lack of pilots to cut 2014 profit
19 minutes ago
Feb 11 (Reuters) - Republic Airways Holdings Inc, which provides regional flights for bigger airlines, said on Tuesday that pretax income would be reduced this year because a lack of qualified pilots forced it to pull planes from service.
Its stock dropped 8.4 percent.
The company, which owns regional carriers Chautauqua Airlines and Republic Airlines, said in a federal filing "the company is no longer seeking extensions for 27 of 41 Embraer planes." It cited a "significant reduction" in pilots who meet U.S. experience rules.
Republic added that it expected to take the 27 planes out of service this year, a move that will reduce pretax income between $18 million and $22 million. It did not give more financial details in the filing. Airline officials were not immediately available for comment.
The company also said it would create 750 fewer jobs because of the change.
U.S. Federal Aviation Administration rules that took effect last year require U.S. pilots to have 1,500 hours of flight time to operate commercial jets or cargo planes, up from 250 hours previously required for co-pilots.
Airlines also must comply with separate U.S. rules that took effect this year, requiring more rest for pilots. Industry observers said the rules were putting a strain on the supply of U.S. pilots as airlines expand to meet rising demand for travel.
Robert Mann, an aviation consultant in Port Washington, New York, said the beefed-up qualifications put regional carriers at a disadvantage versus the bigger airlines in attracting workers.
"There are a limited number of qualified applicants under the present limitation of 1,500 hours and those applicants will generally gravitate toward jobs at major carriers including cargo carriers as opposed to regionals," said Mann.
Because of the new rules, the shortage is especially acute for regionals, "where the pay is so poor by comparison," he added.
Republic stock was down 83 cents to $9.02. Other airlines shares also fell, with United Continental Holdings Inc down 2.4 percent to $44.04 and industry leader American Airlines Group Inc off 1.7 percent to $34.99.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Republic Airways says lack of pilots to cut 2014 profit
19 minutes ago
Feb 11 (Reuters) - Republic Airways Holdings Inc, which provides regional flights for bigger airlines, said on Tuesday that pretax income would be reduced this year because a lack of qualified pilots forced it to pull planes from service.
Its stock dropped 8.4 percent.
The company, which owns regional carriers Chautauqua Airlines and Republic Airlines, said in a federal filing "the company is no longer seeking extensions for 27 of 41 Embraer planes." It cited a "significant reduction" in pilots who meet U.S. experience rules.
Republic added that it expected to take the 27 planes out of service this year, a move that will reduce pretax income between $18 million and $22 million. It did not give more financial details in the filing. Airline officials were not immediately available for comment.
The company also said it would create 750 fewer jobs because of the change.
U.S. Federal Aviation Administration rules that took effect last year require U.S. pilots to have 1,500 hours of flight time to operate commercial jets or cargo planes, up from 250 hours previously required for co-pilots.
Airlines also must comply with separate U.S. rules that took effect this year, requiring more rest for pilots. Industry observers said the rules were putting a strain on the supply of U.S. pilots as airlines expand to meet rising demand for travel.
Robert Mann, an aviation consultant in Port Washington, New York, said the beefed-up qualifications put regional carriers at a disadvantage versus the bigger airlines in attracting workers.
"There are a limited number of qualified applicants under the present limitation of 1,500 hours and those applicants will generally gravitate toward jobs at major carriers including cargo carriers as opposed to regionals," said Mann.
Because of the new rules, the shortage is especially acute for regionals, "where the pay is so poor by comparison," he added.
Republic stock was down 83 cents to $9.02. Other airlines shares also fell, with United Continental Holdings Inc down 2.4 percent to $44.04 and industry leader American Airlines Group Inc off 1.7 percent to $34.99.
Mark815
Well-Known Member
DE727UPS
Well-Known Member
Silly man. There are pilots out there that would love to work for you if you settled your contract with a pay increase at the bottom level. Maybe then your stock wouldn't go down and you could put out a press release about how smart you are because YOU found the answer to the "pilot shortage".
God bless!
ZapBrannigan
If it ain’t a Boeing, I’m not going. No choice.
Ever see the episode of undercover boss with him? Dude has a basketball court IN his house. I have no sympathy for his inability to manage his business.
Skåning
Well-Known Member
That's offensive! Maybe he should pray for the pilot shortage to go away?
Aroo!?
Skåning
Well-Known Member
Bedford should keep his personal beliefs to himself
Oh, I thought you meant me.
ZapBrannigan
If it ain’t a Boeing, I’m not going. No choice.
You too. ;-)
Skaning: that nothing new for Reverend Bedford. He's been doing it for years.
Skaning: that nothing new for Reverend Bedford. He's been doing it for years.
Skåning
Well-Known Member
Never!
JeppUpdater
Well-Known Member
Wait, wait, wait...so things are bad at Republic?
http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/Ex-Republic-Airlines-pilot-pleads-guilty-to-threat-5222132.php
http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/Ex-Republic-Airlines-pilot-pleads-guilty-to-threat-5222132.php
DE727UPS
Well-Known Member
Holy schnikees.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A former Republic Airlines pilot has pleaded guilty to threatening to torture and kill the company's CEO and his family.
The U.S. attorney's office says 37-year-old Matthew Richard Walker, of Faribault, Minn., entered the plea Monday in federal court in Kansas City.
Prosecutors said one threatening letter was discovered in August 2012 in the cockpit of an aircraft at Reagan National Airport in Washington. Four identical letters were later discovered on planes in Washington, Charlotte, N.C., and Kansas City, Mo., as well as aboard an aircraft en route from Reagan National Airport to Indianapolis International Airport. A fifth letter was discovered in the Kansas City airport's crew room.
Walker faces up to five years in federal prison without parole and a $250,000 fine.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A former Republic Airlines pilot has pleaded guilty to threatening to torture and kill the company's CEO and his family.
The U.S. attorney's office says 37-year-old Matthew Richard Walker, of Faribault, Minn., entered the plea Monday in federal court in Kansas City.
Prosecutors said one threatening letter was discovered in August 2012 in the cockpit of an aircraft at Reagan National Airport in Washington. Four identical letters were later discovered on planes in Washington, Charlotte, N.C., and Kansas City, Mo., as well as aboard an aircraft en route from Reagan National Airport to Indianapolis International Airport. A fifth letter was discovered in the Kansas City airport's crew room.
Walker faces up to five years in federal prison without parole and a $250,000 fine.
Firebird2XC
Well-Known Member
Looks like Bedford also wants a spot in the race to be crowned Lorenzo 2.0.
Sad, really. You'd think they'd learn.
Sad, really. You'd think they'd learn.
Firebird2XC
Well-Known Member
That'd take a lot of clout on the hill, especially after there was so much noise made for so long about implementing the program.
I wouldn't doubt they'd try it, but when has the FAA loosened safety and licensing protocols? I don't recall a time they've ever gone less restrictive in that regard. (Correct me if I'm wrong by all means, but wouldn't that be an entirely new kind of precedent?)
Even if they succeeded... We'd only need a few years to see a big status quo shift. That might be enough.