The summer of 2001 saw regional airline executives sweating from more than the heat of the season, as 89 days of uncertainty produced by the pilots of Cincinnati-based Comair threatened to halt the growth momentum of an entire industry. Of course, the strike severely hurt Comair’s parent airline, Delta, to the tune of at least $200 million. But to accede to the demands of Comair’s pilots would have disrupted a cost structure on which regional airlines have prospered for decades. Instead, Delta Connection management chose to risk its Cincinnati subsidiary’s demise rather than set a potentially devastating labor cost precedent.
To Comair’s dismay, the pilots’ resolve proved just as unwavering, evidenced by their willingness to endure the removal of their crew base in Orlando, Fla., and the early retirement of 37 airplanes, as well as the loss of some 200 flying jobs. For ALPA, the Comair case presented an opportunity to remove major airlines’ incentive to outsource flying to their regional affiliates and, in the process, quash conflict-of-interest charges stemming from union-imposed scope restrictions at the regionals.
