Comair's Closing

Comair started in 1977 in Cincinnati, Ohio by four friends with two Piper Navajo airplanes according to The New York Times.  Comair originally was operated for business travelers in Cincinnati to less populated areas around it in Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky and Pennsylvania.  This is why when Delta looked to expand from Atlanta to the North Comair was a great choice.  In 1984, Comair partnered with Delta when Delta bought approximately 10% of their company and became wholly owned by Delta in 2000. Comair only operated approximately 1% of Delta's operations and Delta has assured that there would not be a decrease in their flight schedule to Cincinnati.

Comair seized their operations as a decision sent down by Delta.  Delta has been moving toward using 76-seat aircraft as opposed to the 50-seaters that Comair largely operated.  This is a decision based on cost and efficiency and not about Comair's operations or quality, said Don Bornhorst, senior vice president of Delta Connection and a former Comair president.  There have been a few reasons for their downfall, which include their bankruptcy in 2005, the aging fleet, fuel inefficiency, and Delta's shift to use 76-seat planes rather than the 50-seat planes in order to increase their efficiency and better economical benefits. 

Overall I would say that the status of the regional's in not looking very good.  There have been numerous closures, and a lot of merging in the regional world.  As well as with Major airlines limiting service to a lot of smaller locations and only flying to and from major locations, which the major will mainly provide flights for.  I do not see many opportunities for regional airlines unless they simply break off their relationship to the majors.  This would be nearly, if not completely impossible for any regional airline to actually do.  This puts all regional airlines in a very difficult place that I think will eventually put them out of business all together. 

A regional airline that I researched that is currently hiring, according to Airline Pilot Central, is ExpressJet.  The starting pay for the first officer is $23 an hour with a guarantee of 75 hours a month.  This accumulated to $1,725 a month and in total about $20,700 pay for a year.