Seaport discontinues service in CA and KS

Some reports say some aircraft were repossessed. This sounds more likely than a sudden shortage of pilots.

Salina, KS, is talking about approaching Great Lakes. Unlikely to happen unless they subsidize 'em. I believe that Salina is ineligible for EAS - too close to Wichita; Great Bend, KS, too few PAX and too close to Hays.
 
ChasenSFO said:
Sucks for these EAS cities. Some went through the whole Great Lakes B1900 "real" airplane service, to "just kidding, pretend 10 of those seats don't exist", to "yeah...we still can't staff those flights...", to "Hey, if you're going to have 9 seat service, hows about a carrier that can complete flights, like us at Seaport", to...this.

Poor people who actually rely on these flights.
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Give it 2 or 3 years... It won't just be EAS cities hurting for air service. You will begin to see reductions in regional flying as staffing because a larger and larger issue.
 
People aren't going to stop flying because ticket prices go up $10. Or 20. That's a fantasy brought to your attention by every American's best friends on Wall St. And there are plenty of pilots out there in circulation who would be happy to fly "small" airplanes for a middle class wage.
 
hook_dupin said:
I don't think many actually do.
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Not sure how many Seaport cities were heavily traveled, but some EAS routes were. SkyWest dropped several from SFO when the Brasilia retired. Some, like Crescent City, got service back. Others, like Chico, were heavily traveled but now people are left with no option but to drive 1.5 hours(with no traffic) to Sacramento, where they usually then have to connect. I personally know a few people who traveled heavily to/from the airport which no longer has any airline service. For example, when one of my friends throws concerts in Chico, the artists and their crews need to be picked up from SMF and driven the rest of the way. Which is a bit awkward in that business of pleasing divas and needing to appear bigger than you really are. In this example, United was getting a first class booking to SFO and likely a full Y fare onwards to Chico to fill that seat. It is just a shame to watch these communities lose service as turboprops and smaller RJs are retired and existing EAS carriers fall into economic woe.
 
The pay wasnt an issue. For flying a caravan, I thought the pay was adequate. Receiving it however is another matter. SeaPort has at times failed to pay pilots, or under paid them. They have failed to pay fuel bills resulting in FBOs refusing to sell and forcing diversions because of it. Theyve failed to pay the rent at crew apartments which has resulted in several threats of eviction.

If I were a bettin man, Id say they failed to pay the people that leased the airplanes to them so the other day they came and took the planes back.

I feel terrible for the CSAs who are all now unemployed but Im hopeful they will all be better off for it. If any pilots were forced to resign it wouldnt surprise me in the least if they still tried to milk them for their training contract.
 
ChasenSFO said:
Not sure how many Seaport cities were heavily traveled, but some EAS routes were. SkyWest dropped several from SFO when the Brasilia retired. Some, like Crescent City, got service back. Others, like Chico, were heavily traveled but now people are left with no option but to drive 1.5 hours(with no traffic) to Sacramento, where they usually then have to connect. I personally know a few people who traveled heavily to/from the airport which no longer has any airline service. For example, when one of my friends throws concerts in Chico, the artists and their crews need to be picked up from SMF and driven the rest of the way. Which is a bit awkward in that business of pleasing divas and needing to appear bigger than you really are. In this example, United was getting a first class booking to SFO and likely a full Y fare onwards to Chico to fill that seat. It is just a shame to watch these communities lose service as turboprops and smaller RJs are retired and existing EAS carriers fall into economic woe.
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Makes me wonder if we will pick up service to Chico. I was told we are adding Redding and Arcata this spring, with more routes on the horizon.
 
ASpilot2be said:
@JDean3204 Does this mess up your upgrade? How close are you to ATP mins? Our PDX base is supposed to be growing in the next few months. They need 5 new crews. If you are close to ATP mins you can probably fly the freighter for a couple months, then do your ATP ride. Let me know and I can get you in contact with our CP.
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PM sent
 
ChasenSFO said:
Not sure how many Seaport cities were heavily traveled, but some EAS routes were. SkyWest dropped several from SFO when the Brasilia retired. Some, like Crescent City, got service back. Others, like Chico, were heavily traveled but now people are left with no option but to drive 1.5 hours(with no traffic) to Sacramento, where they usually then have to connect. I personally know a few people who traveled heavily to/from the airport which no longer has any airline service. For example, when one of my friends throws concerts in Chico, the artists and their crews need to be picked up from SMF and driven the rest of the way. Which is a bit awkward in that business of pleasing divas and needing to appear bigger than you really are. In this example, United was getting a first class booking to SFO and likely a full Y fare onwards to Chico to fill that seat. It is just a shame to watch these communities lose service as turboprops and smaller RJs are retired and existing EAS carriers fall into economic woe.
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I don't feel bad for them at all. If you want to live in the boonies, you have to accept living in the boonies.

Really, a whole nother hour and a half? If they were real Divas, they'd have chartered.
 
Isn't cape air, who flies almost all EAS routes expanding? How hard are they up for pilots?
 
mshunter said:
I don't feel bad for them at all. If you want to live in the boonies, you have to accept living in the boonies.

Really, a whole nother hour and a half? If they were real Divas, they'd have chartered.
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Yep. Its like the people who live in rural Alaska, and then complain about expensive fares. We need to make money so you can get to the city.
 
z987k said:
Isn't cape air, who flies almost all EAS routes expanding? How hard are they up for pilots?
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Dunno if SeaPort's got a flowthrough, but KAP has a pretty solid relationship with JBU. Not sure if they're caught up pilotwise though since they've started taking the Islanders. Last number I knew of was 20 short.
 
mshunter said:
I don't feel bad for them at all. If you want to live in the boonies, you have to accept living in the boonies.

Really, a whole nother hour and a half? If they were real Divas, they'd have chartered.
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Except, its not the boonies per say. They have had airline service from major airlines or airlines with codeshares with the majors from the 60s up until early 2015. At one point in the mid 90s, American Eagle, United Express, and Reno Air Express all had several flights a day in there. Times change. But you can't expect that any business people in CIC foresaw this.

And you would be surprised how much someone can be worth but still be willing to fly commercial. They like their miles. Seriously. I know of one artist who has a stipulation that he must fly a Star Alliance carrier. And he used to be part of the damn Swedish House Mafia. He could get a jet if he wanted one. But anyway, it is all just part of the game that is the entertainment industry. There are no resumes, you are what you say you are until somebody can prove you're not. Which is the blessing and the curse of it all.

But if I ever make it, I want a damn jet with @DPApilot ready for my hot oil massage.
 
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ChasenSFO said:
Except, its not the boonies per say. They have had airline service from major airlines or airlines with codeshares with the majors from the 60s up until early 2015. At one point in the mid 90s, American Eagle, United Express, and Reno Air Express all had several flights a day in there. Times change. But you can't expect that any business people in CIC foresaw this.
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If it were profitable, they'd have service. If it has to be subsidized, it's the boonies. That whole part of the state is the boonies. Hell, anything more than 30-40 miles inland in this state is the boonies pretty much. We're talking the central valley here. Meth labs and cow scat.
 
mshunter said:
If it were profitable, they'd have service. If it has to be subsidized, it's the boonies. That whole part of the state is the boonies. Hell, anything more than 30-40 miles inland in this state is the boonies pretty much. We're talking the central valley here. Meth labs and cow scat.
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It was at-risk flying for SkyWest so it must have been profitable as UA didn't pay them for a full load as they did for the regular cities. Just not a good market for a 50-seater. 100 seats is too much, but 1 daily flight doesn't get everyone where they need to go.

Totally agree with the second part.
 
ChasenSFO said:
It was at-risk flying for SkyWest so it must have been profitable as UA didn't pay them for a full load as they did for the regular cities. Just not a good market for a 50-seater. 100 seats is too much, but 1 daily flight doesn't get everyone where they need to go.

Totally agree with the second part.
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Cue the 30 seat saab.
 
FloridaLarry said:
It's a Brasilia where the end of every sentence goes up. What is Swedish for 'Desert?'

Still has places it fits, but that size will soon be a real orphan, and there's nothing in the builders' pipeline.
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In our operation the 340 is going to be around for a while. I don't think there is much that can replace it up here. We have its operation down to a science. It also seems to be working in out other markets as well. We are picking two of Silvers old 340s, plus we have aquired five 2000s.
 
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