PAUL LEWIS / CINCINNATI
Strike-hit regional airline says six month hold-up was at request of manufacturer
Comair is finalising details with Bombardier to reschedule delivery of 68 regional jets remaining on order in the wake of the Delta Connection carrier's recently resolved three-month pilot strike. This includes a six month delay in the handover of its first CRJ700 which the airline claims is at the behest of the manufacturer and not linked to the industrial action.
"We're in the process of finalising our plans for 2002. We're going to get about 30 aircraft next year. We're behind with the 70-seater schedule, but there is nothing we need to do and were prepared to take the aircraft on the old schedule. We're talking with Bombardier now-a lot depends on them," says Randy Rademacher, Comair president.
Comair was due to receive the first of 27 CRJ700s in December, but this has been put back to May. Delivery delays have also hit sister Connection carrier Atlantic Southeast Airlines (ASA), as well as Horizon Air. Bombardier confirms: "We have renegotiated our CRJ700 delivery schedule with Delta to accommodate both ASA and Comair," but declines to provide an explanation other than say "there are no technical issues with the aircraft."
The rest of Comair's order comprises a mix of 40-seat and 50-seat CRJ200s, with the first of the new smaller configured jets now due for delivery in November. "The number of firm orders has not changed. We've pushed back the delivery of some because of the need to retrain pilots, but we have also pulled forward some others from the back of the order line," says Rademacher.
Comair is trying to recover 28 of its fleet that were remarketed during the strike, eight of which went to ASA and Skywest. "We've taken back 10 aircraft that were never signed for, leaving 18 more, some of which we will get back in the short term and others over the next couple of years. The objective is to get all the aircraft back or replace them," says Rademacher.
Prior to the strike, Comair operated 119 aircraft on 815 daily flights and since early July has put 79 aircraft back into service. The airline hopes to increase this to 102 jets and turboprops and more than 750 flights by January.
Source: Flight International
