Republic is in the process of buying both Midwest and Frontier. Suddenly it seems that this company has now gone from a small regional player to a truly national low cost carrier. It just goes to show that with a little tenacity, there can be opportunity to grow in this industry. It is going to be a challenge, though, for the two different unions, the Teamsters for Republic and ALPA representing both Frontier and Midwest. As the industry has already seen through the America West/US Airways merger, just integrating two pilot groups from the same union is trouble. Now we have three separate companies with all of the headaches involved in combination. Republic’s only plan should be to keep each company separate, operating under their own certificate and maintaining their autonomy. This should be able to prevent the same acrimony that occurred in the US Airways merger.
Archive for June, 2009
Republic Growth
Jun 30
DC-3 flyby
Jun 23
Very low pass by a Douglas DC-3
Regional pay at the airlines
Jun 23
The state of commercial aviation is in a state of disarray. It is, quite simply, impossible to manage to start a career at a Regional airline these days and make a manageable living. The vast cost of obtaining the training necessary to become a pilot at the regionals is prohibitive when factored into the likelihood of advancement. With the age 60 rule extended to 65, further open positions in major airlines are fewer.