Screaming_Emu
Well-Known Member
Especially high now, when one could argue that we are pretty closet to having a home at a major airline for anyone who wants it.
United — Dropping Regionals in Favor of Mainlines, May Lose Two Hubs
- Thread starter RDoug
- Start date
Especially high now, when one could argue that we are pretty closet to having a home at a major airline for anyone who wants it.
Avgirl
Well-Known Member
So, are you thinking that all express routes would go back to being entirely owned by the mainline carriers like they were in the beginning? Or are you suggesting that all of the jets used with fewer than 100 passenger capacities be entirely eliminated?
Is it really that easy to get a job at a mainline just yet? I know that pilot shortages are reality in the regional category, especially for FO's, but that doesn't seem to have reached mainline just yet. After all, the interview and application process threads wouldn't be as long as they are if that were the case?
BobDDuck
Island Bus Driver
SFO has weather delays. All. The. Time. LAX... sometimes, but not nearly so often. The throughput an airline can get out of LAX is many, many times higher than SFO. Hence VX slowing growth at SFO (prior to the Alaska merger anyway) and increasing growth at LAX. Same reason American pretty much abandoned SFO in favor of LAX years ago. United does have a huge hub there, but it is severely restricted in growth potential.
EWR has some of the same problems but the biggest reason to keep IAD is for mid coast connections. For somebody trying to go south, from any place south of EWR, it's silly to fly backwards to go forwards. An airline needs a mid latitude hub to be able to compete.
Screaming_Emu
Well-Known Member
If it were up to me, everything would be owned by mainline. I'm sure on some routes smaller planes still make sense, so I'd like to see those go back to mainline too.
As for jobs at majors, obviously not everyone can be absorbed at once. But most airlines are hiring as many as physically possible and show no signs of slowing down. The standards aren't lowered yet, but eventually they'll have too be.
jtrain609
Antisocial Monster
It doesn't matter how many aircraft you can get on and off the airport in LAX when nobody has gate space, especially on the south side of the airport. It's not unheard of (as in it happens at last a few times a month for me) to wait 45-60 minutes for a gate to open up.
Screaming_Emu
Well-Known Member
It might be just because I live there, but I think IAD could handle a lot more traffic than it does right now. Pay some attention to the terminals and work with ATC a little bit and I think it could be a much better hub for connecting traffic than it currently is. Plus they're finally going to finish the train out from DC in a couple years. It won't be as convenient as DCA, but it's certainly an improvement.
The one big problem I see is how ATC works during storms. I've never been out of an airport that when a storm is approaching, closes a departure fix and literally will not allow planes to go that direction. I understand that with BWI, DCA, and IAD all in one area it gets extra complicated. But the only significant delays there were during storms for that very reason.
BobDDuck
Island Bus Driver
Right... but that has a long term solution. Gates are easy to build, especially at an airport that has as much open area as LAX. Airspace... not so much so.
Avgirl
Well-Known Member
I get that, but when has a mainline proven that they can run a regional well and profitably? I see the side for pilot career advancement...who wants to jump from airline to airline or deal with the frustrating application and interview process over and over, in a career that rewards loyalty, its a horrible situation to wait. It's a double edged sword because you can look at it from a pilot's perspective or from both that and a profitability stance. In the example of ASA at least, was it better before Delta owned them entirely, when Delta owned them, or when they were sold to SkyWest? Delta seemed to run the operation into the ground. I am sure there might be an exception, but regionals wouldn't even exist if it wasn't for the shortfalls the mainlines had with trying to do that themselves.
Screaming_Emu
Well-Known Member
I don't think they should own regionals, I think they should take the flying in and do it themselves.
Avgirl
Well-Known Member
If they can do it well, I totally agree. If they are prepared to train their pilots from the moment they graduate to the moment they retire, makes sense to me. Less hassle all around. I just am a little skeptical about it being something they can accomplish and still maintain the profits they have become accustomed to. Because ultimately, it is all about the investors. They created that monster.
amorris311
Well-Known Member
Damn you've been with the boyfriend a long time!
Avgirl
Well-Known Member
It's going to accelerate when the Canadairs come online.
Consistency and reliability is the name of the game.
cmhumphr
Well-Known Member
Well they better get the building because being 25 minutes early, only to wait an hour for a gate is getting pretty old fast. lol
tcco94
Future GTA VI Pilot
Why not just keep the same jets and etc but make the crews mainline and axe the regional company? Get rid of older aircraft (like CRJ-200 models) and make it a lot easier for passengers to understand who they're flying with....or is that what you're saying pretty much?
Then we don't have the "What airline am I flying?! It says Delta on the airplane!!!"
Cptnchia
Dissatisfied Customer
More construction ahead as Delta relocates at LAX
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-travel-briefcase-delta-20160723-snap-story.html
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-travel-briefcase-delta-20160723-snap-story.html
Avgirl
Well-Known Member
Delta doesn't want passengers to know they aren't flying Delta. Unless there is an incident, then it has to be a regional, and when it's not, oopsie.
Delta doesn't want passengers to know they aren't flying Delta. Unless there is an incident, then it has to be a regional, and when it's not, oopsie.
Do you want a Starbucks coffee or for the lady at the kiosk at the Radisson to say, "You're paying Starbucks prices, but honestly, we just have the regular coffee you can get in your hotel room in that micro-carafe but our color scheme is that pleasing green".
In another decade, perhaps sooner, the regional business as we know it is going to be a lot smaller. Which is why I pull my hair out over the 21 year olds that think they're going to retire at SkyBolt Airways d/b/a Mainline Express.
Delta doesn't want passengers to know they aren't flying Delta. Unless there is an incident, then it has to be a regional, and when it's not, oopsie.
You mean like "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Ellsworth Air Force Base. The local time is 8:42. We should be arriving at base operations as soon as we clear the Security Police vehicles, and we're a tad unexpected, so we'll have to wait momentarily in the dearm area since B-1 bombers are currently occupying our designated parking spot. Your baggage should be arriving in Hangar B, where you will need to temporarily stand by, while buses arrive to take you to your actual destination of Rapid City."
