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'''Comair''' is a wholly owned subsidiary of [[Delta Air Lines]] headquartered on the grounds of [[Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport]] in [[unincorporated area|unincorporated]] [[Boone County, Kentucky|Boone County]], [[Kentucky]], [[United States]], west of [[Erlanger, Kentucky|Erlanger]], and south of [[Cincinnati, Ohio]].
'''Comair''' is a wholly owned subsidiary of [[Delta Air Lines]] headquartered on the grounds of [[Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport]] in [[unincorporated area|unincorporated]] [[Boone County, Kentucky|Boone County]], [[Kentucky]], [[United States]], west of [[Erlanger, Kentucky|Erlanger]], and south of [[Cincinnati, Ohio]].


Comair is one of the world's largest [[regional airlines]] and, with over $1 billion in annual revenue, would be considered a [[major carrier|major airline carrier]] except for the fact that its aircraft seat less than 100 people. Another particularity of Comair's for an airline of its size is that the entirety of its fleet consists of variants of a single type, the [[Bombardier Aerospace]] [[CRJ]]. Operating under the brand name [[Delta Connection]], Comair operates passenger services to a large number of destinations in the USA, [[Canada]], [[Mexico]] and the [[Bahamas]].<ref name="FI">{{cite news | title= Directory: World Airlines | work= [[Flight International]] | page= 67 | date= 2007-04-03}}</ref>
Comair is one of the world's largest [[regional airlines]] and, with over $1 billion in annual revenue, would be considered a [[major carrier|major airline carrier]] except for the fact that its aircraft seat less than 100 people. Another particularity of Comair's for an airline of its size is that the entirety of its fleet consists of variants of a single type, the [[Bombardier Aerospace]] [[Bombardier CRJ|CRJ]]. Operating under the brand name [[Delta Connection]], Comair operates passenger services to a large number of destinations in the USA, [[Canada]], [[Mexico]] and the [[Bahamas]].<ref name="FI">{{cite news | title= Directory: World Airlines | work= [[Flight International]] | page= 67 | date= 2007-04-03}}</ref>


In late 2006, Comair opened an additional crew base and hub city at New York's [[JFK Airport]]. Comair had the lowest percentage of on time flights of all major U.S. carriers during late 2006. This was the result of starting operations at JFK, congested airport with poor staffing and a poor terminal and aircraft ramp layout that severely dropped Comair's ratings in the DOT listings. In 2008, Comair tied with American for the lowest on-time performance, with 70% of its flights arriving on-time.<ref>http://airconsumer.ost.dot.gov/reports/2009/February/200902ATCR.PDF</ref><ref>{{cite web
In late 2006, Comair opened an additional crew base and hub city at New York's [[JFK Airport]]. Comair had the lowest percentage of on time flights of all major U.S. carriers during late 2006. This was the result of starting operations at JFK, congested airport with poor staffing and a poor terminal and aircraft ramp layout that severely dropped Comair's ratings in the DOT listings. In 2008, Comair tied with American for the lowest on-time performance, with 70% of its flights arriving on-time.<ref>http://airconsumer.ost.dot.gov/reports/2009/February/200902ATCR.PDF</ref><ref>{{cite web
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**[[Baltimore, MD|Baltimore]] - [[Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport]]
**[[Baltimore, MD|Baltimore]] - [[Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport]]
*[[Michigan]]
*[[Michigan]]
**[[Detroit, MI|Detroit]] - [[Detroit Metro Airport]]
**[[Detroit, MI|Detroit]] - [[Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport]]
**[[Grand Rapids, MI|Grand Rapids]] - [[Gerald R. Ford International Airport]]
**[[Grand Rapids, MI|Grand Rapids]] - [[Gerald R. Ford International Airport]]
**[[Kalamazoo, MI|Kalamazoo]] - [[Kalamazoo/Battle Creek International Airport]]
**[[Lansing, MI|Lansing]] - [[Capital Region International Airport]]
**[[Saginaw, MI|Saginaw]] - [[MBS International Airport]]
**[[Saginaw, MI|Saginaw]] - [[MBS International Airport]]
**[[Traverse City, MI|Traverse City]] - [[Cherry Capital Airport]]
**[[Traverse City, MI|Traverse City]] - [[Cherry Capital Airport]]
*[[Minnesota]]
*[[Minnesota]]
**[[Minneapolis St. Paul International Airport|Minneapolis/St Paul]] - [[Minneapolis St. Paul International Airport|Minneapolis/St Paul International]]
**[[Minneapolis, MN|Minneapolis]]/[[Saint Paul, MN|St. Paul]] - [[Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport|Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport]]
*[[Mississippi]]
*[[Mississippi]]
**[[Jackson, MS|Jackson]] - [[Jackson-Evers International Airport]]
**[[Jackson, MS|Jackson]] - [[Jackson-Evers International Airport]]

Revision as of 17:59, 8 January 2011

This article is about the airline based in the United States. For the airline based in South Africa, see Comair (South Africa).
Comair
File:Comairnewlogo.png
IATA ICAO Call sign
OH COM COMAIR
Founded1977
Frequent-flyer programSkyMiles
AllianceSkyTeam
Fleet size100
Destinations70
Parent companyDelta Air Lines, Inc.
HeadquartersBoone Co, KY, U.S.
Key peopleJohn Bendoraitis (President)
WebsiteComair.com
Former Comair logo

Comair is a wholly owned subsidiary of Delta Air Lines headquartered on the grounds of Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport in unincorporated Boone County, Kentucky, United States, west of Erlanger, and south of Cincinnati, Ohio.

Comair is one of the world's largest regional airlines and, with over $1 billion in annual revenue, would be considered a major airline carrier except for the fact that its aircraft seat less than 100 people. Another particularity of Comair's for an airline of its size is that the entirety of its fleet consists of variants of a single type, the Bombardier Aerospace CRJ. Operating under the brand name Delta Connection, Comair operates passenger services to a large number of destinations in the USA, Canada, Mexico and the Bahamas.[1]

In late 2006, Comair opened an additional crew base and hub city at New York's JFK Airport. Comair had the lowest percentage of on time flights of all major U.S. carriers during late 2006. This was the result of starting operations at JFK, congested airport with poor staffing and a poor terminal and aircraft ramp layout that severely dropped Comair's ratings in the DOT listings. In 2008, Comair tied with American for the lowest on-time performance, with 70% of its flights arriving on-time.[2][3] During the course of 2007, Comair closed down its crew bases in Greensboro, North Carolina and Orlando, Florida (for the 2nd time). Parent company Delta Air Lines replaced Comair's service in these destinations with Atlantic Southeast Airlines, a subsidiary of SkyWest, Inc., and Chautauqua Airlines, a subsidiary of Republic Airways Holdings. In early 2008, Delta announced it was going to reduce its domestic capacity by 4-5%, in which Comair will reduce its 50-seat Canadair Regional Jet fleet by 8-14 aircraft. In March 2008, when oil reached over $110 per barrel (see Oil price increases since 2003), Delta announced it would further reduce domestic capacity. In September 2010, Delta announced they would shrink Comair's fleet to 44 aircraft, focusing more on the CRJ 700 and 900 and consequently lay off half its work force, specifically furloughing the pilot group to around 500 pilots, or down to a 1999 date of hire.

History

The airline was established in March 1977 and started operations in April 1977. It was founded by Patrick J. Sowers, Robert T. Tranter, David Mueller and his father Raymond in Cincinnati and began scheduled services with two Piper Navajo aircraft. Under its parent Comair Holdings, it became a public company in July 1981 to support the growth and capital requirements to upgrade their fleet. It became a Delta Connection carrier in 1984. In July 1986 Delta Air Lines acquired 20% of Comair stock. Delta Air Lines acquired full ownership on October 22, 1999[1] at a cost of over 2 billion dollars.

Comair CRJ-100ER with new livery at Boston Logan International Airport
Comair CRJ-700 at Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport

On March 26, 2001, Comair's pilots went on strike. The strike cancelled the airline's flights and grounded its fleet. The strike ended after a new contract was agreed to 89 days later. Comair came to nationwide attention in the United States during Christmas 2004 when it canceled all of its 1,160 flights for Saturday December 25 and Sunday December 26, stranding 30,000 people, many of them never reaching their destination for the holidays. The reason was a twofold combination of record snow and crew scheduling software flaw. On December 23 and 24, a record snowfall hit the Cincinnati area, forcing the airline to deplete its entire supply of deicing solution. With the area highways closed due to the blizzard, no additional deicing fluid could be delivered to the airport, and Comair was forced to cancel all flights beginning on Friday December 24. After receiving necessary supplies overnight, the airline began the process of startup when the computer system that handled flight crew assignments shut down. It had been designed with a hard coded limit of changes for a month, which were far exceeded due to the poor weather in the prior days. The software, ironically, had been in the process of being phased out at the airline in favor of a new system with more capabilities. However, as of May 2008 the original scheduling software has not been replaced. Comair's parent company Delta Air Lines, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on September 14, 2005, forcing Comair into bankruptcy along with it. Comair announced that would cut costs by $70 million annually. These savings were achieved by aircraft, flight, and employee reductions.[citation needed]

On May 25, 2007, Delta announced that Comair would operate 14 CRJ-900 aircraft for the Delta Connection program. These aircraft will replace 14 CRJ-100 aircraft currently in Comair's fleet.[citation needed]

On February 10, 2009, Delta Connection announced that ground handling and gate service positions for Comair, Mesaba, and Compass Airlines would be transitioned to a new Delta Airlines subsidiary. The current name of the new company is Regional Handling Services until a new name is confirmed between now and September. Each airline will still have individual flying operations. Everything from ticketing to baggage handling will now be handled by RHS beginning in the 3rd Quarter of 2009. There will be a reduction in the workforce. The largest cut will come from Comair which will reduce its staffing by nearly half. A voluntary program is in place and involuntary cuts may come along later in the year as Delta mainline ground employees, take over positions of Delta subsidiary ground employees formerly contracted to Comair and then Regional Elite Airline Services.[1]

On September 1, 2010 Comair announced that they would reduce their fleet by eliminating all of their aging Bombardier CRJ200 aircraft and expect to have them all retired sometime in 2012. Retirement will start in 2011. Also they expect to operate a 44 aircraft fleet and they will also reduce their workforce. Layoffs can begin as early as September 2010. Their fleet will consist of only CRJ700 and CRJ900 aircraft. [2]

Destinations

Bahamas
Canada
Mexico
United States

Fleet

Comair CRJ-100ER

The Comair fleet consists of the following aircraft (as of May 2010):[4]

Comair Fleet
Aircraft Total Passengers
Bombardier CRJ100/200 (To be Phased out)[5] 72 50
Bombardier CRJ700 15 70
Bombardier CRJ900 13 76

All Comair aircraft are operated as Delta Connection.

Headquarters

Comair is headquartered in the Comair General Office Building,[6] on the grounds of Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport in unincorporated Boone County, Kentucky, United States,[7] west of Erlanger,[8] and south of Cincinnati, Ohio.[9]

The facility with the headquarters is a six story, glass-encased facility.[10] Evers Welding provided the welding for the building.[11] Elissa Sonnenberg of the Cincinnati Magazine said that the "sleek new" building has "smooth curves and soft bends reminiscent of air flow over aircraft wings."[10] In 2010 James Pilcher of the Cincinnati Enquirer said that the Comair headquarters was "relatively new." During that year Delta began to consider giving control of the building to the Kenton County airport board.[9]

Incidents and accidents

References

  1. ^ a b "Directory: World Airlines". Flight International. 2007-04-03. p. 67.
  2. ^ http://airconsumer.ost.dot.gov/reports/2009/February/200902ATCR.PDF
  3. ^ Mutzabaugh, Ben. "Which flights are always late? Delta partners, NYC airports top the list". USA Today. Retrieved January 4, 2007. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  4. ^ http://www.ch-aviation.ch/aircraft.php?search=set&airline=OH&al_op=1 Comair fleet list at ch-aviation.ch. Retrieved 2010-05-16.
  5. ^ http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story_generic.jsp?channel=none&id=news/avd/2010/09/02/02.xml&headline=Comair%20Plans%20To%20Slash%20Fleet,%20Labor%20Costs
  6. ^ "Comair Jobs." Comair. Retrieved on November 10, 2010.
  7. ^ "Career Area." Comair. Retrieved on May 19, 2009.
  8. ^ "Comair reinstates safety program." Business First of Louisville. Friday May 15, 2009. Retrieved on May 19, 2009.
  9. ^ a b Pilcher, James. "Delta looks to shed CVG buildlings." Cincinnati Enquirer. Thursday August 5, 2010. Retrieved on August 9, 2010.
  10. ^ a b Sonnenberg, Elissa. "New horizons." Cincinnati Magazine. April 2002. 87. Retrieved from Google Books on November 10, 2010. ISSN 0746-8210.
  11. ^ "Projects." Evers Steel Construction. Retrieved on November 10, 2010.
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