Trying To Replace Birds Who Flew The Nest

Worker issues halt SkyTaxi Service In Pacific-Northwest

Salem (OR)-based SkyTaxi has suspended its charter-style flights for at least two weeks because two key managers left the company.

The airline’s two flight operations managers left the company within one week of each other, according to Chief Executive Officer Dan Waldron. Without those positions filled, the FAA won't allow the company to fly passengers, Waldron said.

Flight operations managers oversee all aspects of the flights, Waldron said, including safety issues and compliance with FAA regulations.

“These guys carry the weight of the world on their shoulders,” Waldron said. “They are highly specialized people and are not easily found. They are not floating on a street corner.”

Why did they take off? For “strictly life circumstances,” Waldron said. He told local reporters the issues had nothing to do with their job performance or their working conditions.

“Both had things come up in their life that they had to make a priority,” he said. He wouldn't elaborate.

Waldron said the company has identified one replacement already and should have that person ready to work in about one week. But the FAA says it takes two to taxi. Waldron said a search is underway for the second one.

Canceling flights for two weeks will likely cost the company $80,000 to $100,000 in revenue. Waldron said some of SkyTaxi’s employees may be temporarily laid off until flights resume. The company has 21 workers, and 26 in a sister company that provides aircraft maintenance.

SkyTaxi offers a a cross between air charter and scheduled passenger flights. They're aimed at smaller areas of the Northwest where airlines are loathe to go. Prices are typically more than a large airline would charge but one-half or one-third of a full charter fare.

The company operates in an area from the San Francisco Bay Area (CA) north to the Canadian border, and east to Salt Lake City (UT). The company hopes to resume flights Oct. 20.

FMI: http://www.skytaxi.com