PAUL LEWIS / WASHINGTON DC
Despite threats to look for another partner, Airlink carrier has eyes on CRJ200s
Mesaba Airlines has dropped plans to seek a second major carrier to partner, and instead the Northwest Airlink operator is focusing on securing at least half of the Bombardier regional jets that were recently ordered by Northwest Airlines by moving to cut operating costs and improve efficiency.
According to Mesaba president and chief executive Paul Foley: "It didn't make much sense to knock on United and Delta's door when the first question they would ask is how are you doing with Northwest. We didn't think we would be as successful changing to another partner and so are focusing on Northwest." As recently as July the airline had been looking for a second regional feed to a US East Coast carrier.
Mesaba's volte-face appears to be part of a wider strategy to put pressure on Northwest to allocate it new aircraft in the face of competing bids from Northwest's wholly owned regional partner Express I. Northwest in turn has threatened to find a third regional partner with which to place some of its new Bombardier CRJ440s in a move to make Mesaba cut costs.
Northwest's initial purchase of 54 CRJ200s are all earmarked for Express I. Mesaba, in the absence of securing any of the follow-on order of 75 44-seat CRJ440s, will be left operating a fleet of increasingly unpopular Saab 340 turboprops and BAE System Avro RJ85s. Numbers of the latter are capped at 36 aircraft by Northwest's scope clause agreement.
Mesaba is now in the process of negotiating a new contract with its pilots and in the process is wanting to improve the ratio of pay hours with actual block flying time. The airline at the same time is having to invest in training new pilots to replace those recruited by Northwest and build up crew numbers to man the anticipated influx of CRJ440s, which will start to be delivered to Northwest from January 2003 at the rate of two jets per month.
According to Foley, the number of Saab 340s in the Airlink fleet is expected to shrink to 49 aircraft over the next four to five years, down from the 73 currently flown by Mesaba and 29 operated by Express I.
Midwest Express Airlines is acquiring an additional four Fairchild Dornier 328JETs plus another 10 options for its regional feeder operation Skyways, as part of its settlement with the manufacturer over the cancellation of the larger 428JET programme. Skyways had been threatening to withdraw its current fleet of eight 328JETs as a result of the 428JET decision, but in the end reached an arbitrated compensation settlement with Fairchild Dornier. This is understood to have included a discounted price on the additional 32-seat jets and the early delivery of the first aircraft in January, that had originally been earmarked for another carrier but financing for which fell through. Midwest Express claims that ordering additional 328JETs will not affect its planned order for 20 40-seat Embraer ERJ-140s and another 20 options. Deliveries of the Brazilian-built aircraft, however, have been pushed back nine months and will not start until early 2003. Skyways at this point is expected to begin retiring its 15 Beech 1900D turboprops.Source: Flight International
