Comair Loses Flying to SkyWest

Having made a deal to get 80 percent of all departures out of Altanta and maintain its percentage of Delta Connection flights as part of the contract with Delta to acquire ASA, SkyWest was selected for the first allocation of Connection flying. The new deal consists of 12 Bombardier (BBD) CRJ700s, once operated by Comair, Delta’s wholly owned subsidiary. SkyWest will begin serving the Cincinnati market in February. The additional service will mean the operation of 228 reginal jet aircraft and 24 turboprop aircraft for Delta. Comair’s labor troubles have made it less competitive in vying for such contracts since it does not know what its labor costs will be. Flight attendants recently ratified their contract with the carrier but an agreement with pilots remains outstanding.