Posted on 08/27/2006 2:37:56 PM PDT by BenLurkin
ERLANGER, Ky. (AP) -- The fatal crash of a Comair regional jet Sunday morning dealt an emotional blow to a commuter airline trying to emerge from bankruptcy. "These are tough things and it's very difficult," Comair president Don Bornhorst said at a briefing in a hotel near Comair headquarters in northern Kentucky. Choking up at times, Bornhorst said he was "emotionally devastated" and said he's certain all of Comair's 6,400 employees share those feelings.
Bornhorst, a 15-year aviation industry veteran, pledged that the carrier would do all it could to help with the investigation of the crash while also keeping up normal operations.
"We all recognize that we're professionals in an industry that has these risks, and you hope and pray that these things do not happen, but when they do, the team we have at Comair is one that will work through this," said Bornhorst, who was promoted from chief financial officer to president three months ago. "We will continue to offer service to our passengers, we will do it in a certainly safe manner and with the customer service emphasis that we have always had with our flights."
Comair, a Delta Air Lines Inc. subsidiary that offers 850 flights daily to 110 cities, last suffered a crash Jan. 9, 1997, when an Embrarer 120 flying from Cincinnati to Detroit crashed in icy conditions near Monroe, Mich., killing all 29 people on board.
The carrier now flies all Bombardier CRJ's, most of them 50-passenger planes. Its 168-plane fleet also includes some 40-seaters and 70-seaters. The plane that crashed Sunday was a 50-passenger plane Comair said it bought new from Bombardier, a Montreal-based company, in January 2001. Bornhorst said the plane had "a clean maintenance record."
Bombardier has about 1,300 of the regional jets flying for a variety of carriers worldwide.
Like its parent, Atlanta-based Delta, Comair filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September 2005 and has been restructuring. Both hope to emerge from bankruptcy by next summer.
Comair has been seeking concessions from its unions, and last week reported some progress after two days of negotiations with its flight attendants.
The carrier wants $7.9 million in pay and benefit cuts and work rule changes from its 970 flight attendants. A federal bankruptcy judge in July ruled that the company could void its contract, but Comair has been trying to work out an agreement. Flight attendants had said they would consider job actions if negotiations failed.
Comair earlier reached agreements with its pilots for $17.3 million in cuts and for $1 million from its mechanics, but those deals were contingent on Comair getting $8.9 million in givebacks from flight attendants. Comair met with both of those unions in early August after reducing the amount needed from the flight attendants, but neither Comair nor the unions would discuss their talks.
Comair also had to rebound from a Christmas 2004 holiday weekend debacle, in which a computer system failure forced cancellation of more than 1,000 flights.
Comair was founded in 1977 as a three-plane commuter airline and became a Delta partner in 1984 and a wholly owned subsidiary in 2000.
Delta CEO Gerald Grinstein said Sunday his company was offering Comair any help it needs in the crash aftermath.
Interesting. Thanks for posting.
May I suggest that some of the airline's passengers and their families also suffered an "emotional blow" this morning?
Gotta wonder if 5 hours rest is enough for a pilot, and one controller in the tower is enough.
That is disturbing and I am sure will be one of the factors in the cause of the crash.
Seemingly this was not about the plane but the pilot.
Flying in storms is just risky.
Ordinary drivers also crash their cars and trucks at an even more alarming rate than usual in any kind of storm.
I prefer to watch a storm from the safety of a sturdy building.
Weather was not a factor in this case. The pilot turned on to the wrong runway for whatever reason. It was still dark and a lot of runway lights were out due to construction.
One time I was driving down I-81 during a powerful thunderstorm with torrential rains and vivid lightning. Suddenly my visiblity got poor and I found that I had to reduce my speed in order to maintain control of the vehicle. I was happy that I was not up in a plane in that storm - that was one heck of a storm.
Locally,there have been two recent fatalities where a person drove down a boat ramp in the dark instead of the road itself! Even at 55 mph by the time your headlights shine on the water,you see and react, you are going into the lake or river. Poor lighting and signage(or lack of) contributed to these crashes.
Sunrise is NOT weather!
Comair pre Delta was a major money maker. Delta used to be ervery bit a good at making money. Something changed for them some years ago. Crappy management.
Weather conditions can include the degree of cloudiness or sunshine,so I maintain darkness can not be ignored.WHo hasn't fallen over something in the dark.
The loss of life is terrible,regardless. I wish the business writer could have seemed more caring of the passengers and crew .....
Question not asked:
Had the pilot ever flown out of Lexington before today?
If so, would know the runways. If not, well....
The crew was based out of JFK, but I'm sure they had flown out of there before. The runway construction may have made things look "different", but I'm just guessing.
How I long for the good old days when airlines were run by guys with names like Dave Garret, C R Smith, and Bob Six.
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