Comair cuts 200 pilot jobs in mid-strike

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Three weeks after its pilots went on strike, Comair said it was eliminating 200 pilot positions, or about 14 percent of the airline's force.

The nation's second largest commuter airline said the cutbacks were the result of financial restructuring that includes selling off 17 of its 119 aircraft.

The airline said the measures are the first in a series of moves to preserve its financial stability.

"These are regrettable, but necessary business decisions brought about by the economic reality of a prolonged strike," Comair President Randy Rademacher said in a prepared statement.

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The airline said it notified the pilots' union before announcing the cuts.

Mike Roberts, a spokesman for the Air Line Pilots Association, which represents Comair's 1,400 pilots, said union leadership called a meeting Monday afternoon to discuss the airline's announcement.

He said he was awaiting guidance from that meeting before commenting further.

Comair is a division of Delta Air Lines, which also is embroiled in a contract dispute with its pilots.

Rademacher said Comair is retiring its nine Embraer-120 Brasilia aircraft, which were scheduled to be retired in September, and removing eight regional jets from its fleet.

Reducing future flight schedules

The airline also will indefinitely defer all future aircraft purchases and reduce future flight schedules. The 17 aircraft being removed from its current fleet will be up for sale by the Bombardier Aerospace of Canada.

The steps are "necessary to preserve capital, reduce costs and put Comair in a better position to maintain its competitiveness when operations resume," a Comair press release says.

About 200 pilot positions will be eliminated as a result of the fleet reduction, including 86 pilots in training, the company said.

Spokesman Nick Miller said the 86 pilots in training had been notified of their termination and the airline was reviewing which other pilots would be cut.

Comair operated more than 800 daily flights to 95 cities in the United States, Canada, the Bahamas and Mexico, before pilots walked off the job March 28.

Comair and its pilots had been negotiating a new contract for the past three years. The pilots want higher pay, a company-funded retirement plan, more rest between flights and pay for all hours they are on the job, not just actual flying hours.

Pilots' strike grounds Comair flights
March 26, 2001

Comair
Air Line Pilots Association

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