Judge Rules Against Comair’s Motion

[andyperkins]

April 26, 2006
TO: Comair Team
FROM: President Fred Buttrell
RE: Judge Rules Against Comair’s Motion
Today, the Bankruptcy Court ruled against Comair’s motion to reject the current flight attendant
working agreement. The current contract will remain in place, and we will continue to fly our
operation and serve customers for as long as possible.
The judge’s decision is a tremendous setback for us, and as difficult as it is to acknowledge, the
survival of our airline is clearly in jeopardy. Today’s development takes the future from
Comair’s control, and now our destiny – including our fleet size, flying and potential
replacement by another carrier – is unclear.
Without an agreement from our flight attendants, our restructuring plan and flying operation are
likely to fail despite the incredible progress we have made on our fleet negotiations and other
cost reductions in our operation, supply chain and maintenance. As we’ve known, any future
growth awards from Delta and our return to profitability was predicated on the $70 million
reduction across our organization, including $42 million in controllable costs.
The changes to pay and benefits over the last months have been difficult on employees, and the
court process has been unsettling for many. We truly regret that our company and people are in
this position.
We will keep you updated on any developments.

 

[PITbull]

Congratulations F/as of COMAIR, and KUDOS to the TEAMSTERS for another job well done!

USAirways unions could take lessons from the Teamsters for their courage and strength in standing together with strong leadership fighting for balance.

DL will survive, no doubt...just like United and USAirways. Keep your eyes on the anit-union, union-busting consultants they hire. CHeck the attorney's background that sits at your table.

DL and NW are reading from the same "playbook" written by United and USAirways.

 

[ualdriver]

Without an agreement from our flight attendants, our restructuring plan and flying operation are
likely to fail despite the incredible progress we have made on our fleet negotiations and other
cost reductions in our operation, supply chain and maintenance. As we’ve known, any future
growth awards from Delta and our return to profitability was predicated on the $70 million
reduction across our organization, including $42 million in controllable costs.


OK, I'm confused. This is a company that brings in over 1.2B a year in revenue. They were asking for 8.9M from the flight attendants. This 8.9M cut represents less than 1% of their total operating expenses (.741%) and this miniscule number, practically a rounding error for a billion dollar company, is the difference between the life and death of Comair according to its president? Were the other cuts at Comair dependant upon the flight attendants taking their cuts?

 

[coolflyingfool]

The statement by the company makes it sound like we will be lucky to survive until Friday. What a horrible doom-and-gloom letter. If things are that dire, you would have the creditors SCREAMING for their money. just my thoughts..........

 

[DLFlyer31]

Were the other cuts at Comair dependant upon the flight attendants taking their cuts?

Yes. Without cuts from the FA's, the cuts from the mechanics and the pilots will NOT go into effect.

I don't think these labor cost saving really mean that much to Comair's bottomline. However, mother Delta wants cuts and if mother Delta doesn't get want she wants, she's liable to replace Comair with someone else (Mesa???).

 

[767jetz]

Yes. Without cuts from the FA's, the cuts from the mechanics and the pilots will NOT go into effect.

To all,

Regardless of this fact, the letter is laughable and a cheap shot by management to blame the f/a's and create ill will throught the other employee groups to pressure the f/a's to roll over.

How convenient to tell everyone that if the company fails, it's due to the "greedy" f/a's and not managment failures. Perhaps the failure to reach an greement in the first place is the fault of unreasonable demands by the very people who are crying about their loss in court!

 

[bluetoad]

To bad none of the pilots unions took it all the way to the judge. Might have had a better outcome. Guess we will never know for sure

 

[LGA Fleet Service]

Yes. Without cuts from the FA's, the cuts from the mechanics and the pilots will NOT go into effect.

They said that at Continental too, then they promptly allowed the cuts to be implemented while the F/A's were still negotiating with the company.

 

[JAMAKE1]

I read in another forum, the judge's ruling. It was pretty lame of Comair management to go on record as saying that the cuts that they require from the flight attendant group are NON-NEGOTIABLE. So much for "consentual" good-faith bargaining. Congratulations to the Comair flight attendants for this small, but important victory. It is truly regrettable that Delta would acquire controlling interest in a well-run successful regional partner, only to threaten with dumping them a few short years later for the likes of Mesa. Best of luck to all of the Comair folks...

 

[HPGUY]

Congratulations F/as of COMAIR, and KUDOS to the TEAMSTERS for another job well done!

USAirways unions could take lessons from the Teamsters for their courage and strength in standing together with strong leadership fighting for balance.

DL will survive, no doubt...just like United and USAirways. Keep your eyes on the anit-union, union-busting consultants they hire. CHeck the attorney's background that sits at your table.

DL and NW are reading from the same "playbook" written by United and USAirways.

FYI .. Comair flight attendants are the highest paid among the regionals. They actually get paid better than US Airways flight attendant. Last time I saw a payscale they started close to$20 per flight hour, pay protection for cancelled flights, and a 78hr guarantee for reserves. I believe that beats out the pre-merger US Airways "legacy" carrier on every front. I think they can stand to take the pay cut considering that everyone else in the company has except for them.

Anyone know what a mainline delta flight attendant starts? I'd like to see that comparison.

 

[deltaflyboy]

FYI .. Comair flight attendants are the highest paid among the regionals. They actually get paid better than US Airways flight attendant. Last time I saw a payscale they started close to$20 per flight hour, pay protection for cancelled flights, and a 78hr guarantee for reserves. I believe that beats out the pre-merger US Airways "legacy" carrier on every front. I think they can stand to take the pay cut considering that everyone else in the company has except for them.

Anyone know what a mainline delta flight attendant starts? I'd like to see that comparison.

Mainline flight attendants have base pay of $792.44 for 45hrs and $17.61/hr for each hour flown over 45...

 

[john john]

Mainline flight attendants have base pay of $792.44 for 45hrs and $17.61/hr for each hour flown over 45...

Couldn't this change at any time without negotiations?