Fleet Will Be Less Than Half Its Current Size In Two Years

Comair executives told its regional airline workers in Cincinnati Wednesday that the carrier would likely be about half its current size in two years. The company says it plans to shed both planes and employees during that period.

Comair currently employs about 2,600 workers, about half in the Cincinnati region. The airline reportedly has some 96 aircraft in its fleet, and the airplanes it is looking to cut are the less efficient, and profitable, 50 seat regional jets.

The Cincinnati Enquirer reports that Delta bought Comair in 2000 for over $1 billion, and it is still one of the most profitable regional airlines flying according to federal statistics. But that government data does not include debt service. Comair relies far more on contracts with Delta than it does ticket sales to make it profitable. Delta, meanwhile, has been trying to sell the subsidiary for about a year. It thought it would do so when it sold Mesaba and Compass airlines in July, but that did not occur.

 
Concourse C At KCVG, Now Closed

Comair president John Bendoraitis said in a memo that "the current cost structure ... does not enable us to be competitive in the current industry environment." The airline had expected to expand to 100 aircraft by the end of this year, but instead will enter a downsizing mode. It plans to shed almost its entire fleet of 50 seat regional jets leaving it with about 44 aircraft mostly of the 70- and 76-seat configurations. Bendoraitis said in the memo that the downsizing in aircraft would occur over 2011 and 2012, determined by lease returns and maintenance schedules.

Comair CRJ-700

And fewer planes means fewer people. "With such a significant change in fleet size, we must also re-align our staffing over the next two years to support the new, smaller size of the airline," the memo said. Bendoraitis said the staff would be the correct size to run a 44 aircraft airline by the end of 2012.

The move is also something of a blow to Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky International Airport. It was at one time Delta's second-largest hub, but the airline has cut two-thirds of its daily flights from KCVG, which has caused a further erosion of the workforce.

FMI: www.comair.com