ASA CRJ-900 landing drama at JFK ends well for all on board

by B. N. Sullivan

High drama at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport on Saturday evening, September 25, 2010:  A CRJ-900 aircraft (registration N133EV) operated by Atlantic Southeast Airlines (ASA) landed with its right main landing gear retracted.  ASA Flight 4951 -- also listed as Delta Connection Flight 4951 -- had been en route from Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport (ATL) to Westchester County (HPN), but diverted to JFK after the crew were unable to lower the right main gear while on approach to HPN.  The aircraft landed on JFK's runway 31R and came to a stop with its right wing scraping the surface.  The aircraft was evacuated on the runway.  To the credit of the pilots and flight attendants, no one among the four crew and 60 passengers on board was injured.

The video below was posted on New York Daily News YourTube channel.  The video reportedly was shot during landing by a passenger on board the flight.



If the video does not play or display properly above, click here to view it on YouTube.

SkyWest moves to acquire ExpressJet and merge it with ASA

by B. N. Sullivan

SkyWest Inc. and Express Jet Holdings, Inc. announced today that they had signed "a definitive merger agreement" whereby SkyWest will acquire ExpressJet and merge it with SkyWest subsidiary Atlantic Southeast Airlines (ASA). The parties hope to close the deal by the end of this year, subject to regulatory approval.

In a press release about the merger deal, George Bravante, Chairman of the ExpressJet Board, said that "the combined airline will be able to provide a stable, platform for growth for ExpressJet employees after this transaction closes."

More from the ExpressJet press release:

It is anticipated that the combined airline will maintain significant operational presence in each of the hubs ExpressJet currently serves, including Continental's current hubs in Houston, Newark/New York and Cleveland, as well as hubs in Chicago O'Hare and Washington Dulles for United Airlines. In addition, it is expected that the vast majority of front-line employee positions will not be impacted by the acquisition.

The Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), which represents ExpressJet's 2,700 pilots, immediately issued a statement about the merger plans. Capt. Chris Cashmareck, chairman of the ExpressJet pilots’ unit of ALPA, said, "Every transaction presents opportunities and risks. We need to review and evaluate the plan for the combined airline before we can commit to taking a position to support or oppose the sale/merger. What I can state unequivocally is that, just as airline mergers over the past few years have shown us, it will take pilot involvement and support to realize any true measure of success for this or any transaction."

The pilots union for ExpressJet sent a letter to ExpressJet Holdings management stating the fundamental requirements for support of a sale/merger. Among them are the following:

• the transaction must result in a profitable airline that provides long term stability and progressive career potential for our pilots;
• the transaction must fully honor the scope and successorship provision of our collective bargaining agreement;
• management must commit to negotiating a joint collective bargaining agreement with all involved parties that benefits all pilots; and
• there must be a fair and equitable seniority list integration.

It should be noted that once this merger is realized, SkyWest Inc., the parent of both SkyWest Airlines and ASA, will be the world's largest regional airline company, with a combined fleet of aircraft numbering nearly 700.

SkyWest, Inc. also may be interested in further expansion. According to a Bloomberg article, SkyWest "would consider purchasing Comair from Delta Air Lines Inc. and said U.S. commuter carriers may benefit from further consolidation."

Regional carrier ASA recruiting flight attendants

by B .N. Sullivan

Looks like ASA (Atlantic Southeast Airlines) is hiring flight attendants. ASA is a regional airline in the United States that provides service under contract to Delta Air Lines (as Delta Connection) and United Airlines (as United Express).

According to the job vacancy page on ASA's Web site, the airline is accepting applications for flight attendant positions at their Atlanta base from today, Jan. 28, 2010, through February 4, 2010 (so if you're interested, better hurry!).

Here's the link to information about Flight Attendant Careers at ASA. There you will find a list of the requirements, and instructions for how to apply online.

Good luck to those who apply!

ASA grounds 60 aircraft for GE CF34 engine re-inspections

Last night, Atlantic Southeast Airlines (ASA) grounded 60 of its CRJ200 aircraft for engine re-inspections. The Delta Connection carrier reportedly discovered through an internal audit that the General Electric CF34 turbofans on some of its aircraft may not have been inspected according to the manufacturer's recommendations.

ASA voluntarily reported the possible discrepancies to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).  Details about exactly what is entailed in the engine  inspections are not clear, but an airline spokesperson was quoted this morning as saying the inspections should be accomplished within 36 hours.

Coincidentally (perhaps),  aviation news website FlightGlobal.com reports that the FAA will publish a final rule tomorrow that will  mandate replacement of a certain seal inside GE CF34 turbofan engines. 

Specifically, says FlightGlobal.com, the new FAA rule "calls on US operators of some 2,450 CF34 engines to replace the original 4-step air balance piston seals with 8-step seals at the next life-limited parts replacement interval, a relatively inexpensive modification expected to take five hours per engine."

It has been found that excessive friction between the static and rotating portions of the seal can create an unsafe condition "under certain high-power, high-altitude engine shutdown events."

I'm not suggesting that the ASA re-inspection of their GE C34 engines is related to the seal problem, but the timing is interesting.

[Photo Source]

Bad News and Some Good News for Atlantic Southeast Airlines Pilots

Pilots at Atlantic Southeast Airlines (ASA) received some bad news and some good news this week. The bad news: 80 of ASA's 1,700 pilots will be furloughed as of Feb. 9, 2009. On the more positive side, ASA soon will be flying 10 new CRJ-900 regional jet aircraft.

Furloughs

The furloughs resulted, in part, from planned capacity reductions for the coming year by Delta Air Lines. As a Delta Connection operator, ASA is directly affected by Delta's reduction in flying.

An article about the ASA pilot furloughs in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution quoted David Nieuwenhuis, chairman of the ASA group of the Air Line Pilots Association union, who said the pilot furloughs may last for at least a year, though that could change.

The ASA pilots union is working with the union’s national office to help find jobs for furloughed pilots, such as at other carriers, charter operations or overseas operations, Nieuwenhuis said.

The pilots’ contract protects pilots from furlough if they were hired by the date it was signed in November 2007, Nieuwenhuis said.

All of ASA's pilots are domiciled in Atlanta.

Fleet Re-shuffle

Yesterday, SkyWest, Inc. announced that 10 CRJ-900 regional jet aircraft previously ordered by Delta will be flown by ASA. ASA is a wholly-owned subsidiary of SkyWest.

ASA currently operates 110 CRJ-200s and 39 CRJ-700s. Several months from now, when the new CRJ-900s begin flying, 20 of the CRJ-200s will be removed from Delta Connection service. SkyWest says that the CRJ-200s are scheduled for removal from contract service between April 2010 and August 2010, which is earlier than the existing scheduled termination dates as contained in the Delta Connection Agreement.

In a statement to the press, SkyWest said, "ASA will evaluate how it will redeploy the CRJ-200s based on market conditions at the time of removal from Delta contract operations. Options may include, but are not limited to, subleasing the aircraft and operating certain aircraft in pro-rate operations."

Bradford R. Rich, SkyWest Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, said, “This transaction represents a good faith effort by SkyWest, Inc. to help Delta right-size its fleet through the replacement of 50-seat CRJ-200s with the larger, more efficient 76-seat CRJ-900s. Additionally, we expect the deal to solidify ASA as Delta’s primary regional carrier in Atlanta through the addition of the CRJ-900 aircraft to its fleet portfolio.”

Last year ASA retired 12 ATR-72 turboprops from its fleet.

[Photo Source]

ASA flight attendants ratify new three-year contract

Flight attendants at Atlantic Southeast Airlines (ASA) have a new contract. The Association of Flight Attendants (AFA), the union representing ASA's flight attendants, announced today that the flight attendants had overwhelmingly ratified a three year agreement.

According to the union, the new contract contains economic gains, as well as significant work rule improvements that will improve the lives of the hardworking flight attendants at ASA. In addition, the new contract will serve as a good building block for the next round of contract negotiations that will begin in three years.

“We are very pleased that this agreement ratified,” said Jeannie Babb, AFA-CWA Master Executive Council President. “It represents almost five years of hard work which could not have been accomplished without the commitment of the negotiating committee and the support of the flight attendants at ASA. We would like to also acknowledge the assistance that the National Mediation Board provided during the negotiations.”

[Photo Source]

Engine fire on Atlantic Southeast Airlines regional jet

An apparent fire in the number two engine of a CRJ-200 regional jet operated by Atlantic Southeast Airlines (ASA) prompted a rejected takeoff from Baton Rouge Metro Airport on the afternoon of May 18, 2008. All 50 passengers and four crew members on board evacuated the aircraft without injury.

The aircraft, operating as Delta Connection Flight ASQ4320, was preparing to depart from Baton Rouge for Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta when the incident occurred. The Bombardier CL-600-2B19 model aircraft (registration number N914EV) is owned by ASA, according to FAA records.

The FAA preliminary incident report attributed the rejected takeoff to an "engine problem," however several news reports quoted a Baton Rouge airport spokesman who said that the engine had caught fire. News photos and television footage showed fire-fighting equipment spraying the aircraft.

[Photo Source]

New pilot contract in place, ASA is hiring

Pilots at Atlantic Southeast Airlines (ASA) have voted to ratify a new labor contract. With the new agreement firmly in place, the airline is aggressively hiring more pilots for its Atlanta hub.

According to the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), the union representing ASA's pilots, 81% of the 1,239 ASA pilots who were eligible to vote did so, 83.45% of the ballots cast were in favor of the agreement.

The new collective bargaining agreement is the culmination of five years of negotiations between the union and the airline's management. ALPA announced that the terms of the new contract reflect improvements in wages, work rules, job protections, and scheduling.

Expressing his approval of the new agreement, Capt. Dave Nieuwenhuis, chairman of the ASA ALPA unit, said, "Despite many obstacles over the past five years, our pilots persevered and achieved a contract that further secures their jobs and provides overdue increases to their compensation. While we enjoyed invaluable assistance from the 41 other pilot groups in our international union and its professional staff, I cannot begin to describe the impact of the resolve and professionalism demonstrated by each and every ASA pilot."

ASA, a wholly owned subsidiary of SkyWest, Inc., operates as a Delta Connection carrier. The airline's fleet includes both 50- and 70-seat Canadair Regional Jets (CRJ) and the ATR-72.

ASA is actively recruiting pilots at the present time, hiring about 40 per month. ASA pilots are based in Atlanta and fly Delta Connection and SkyTeam codeshare flights.

[Photo Source]

Atlanta runway incursion causes aborted takeoff

A Delta Air Lines Boeing 767 that had just begun its takeoff roll had to abort after a controller mistakenly cleared two other aircraft to taxi across the runway into the path of the departing aircraft. The Delta flight aborted the takeoff, turned onto a taxiway and rejoined the line-up for its departure to Los Angeles.

The incident happened at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. This was the second aborted takeoff due to controller error at that airport in three months.

Here is an account of what happened, as reported by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

The controller cleared Delta 509 at about 12:10 p.m. to take off on Runway 26 Left, which is about 10,000 feet long. Fourteen seconds later, the same controller cleared a Midwest Airlines Boeing 717 and an ASA CRJ to taxi across the runway downfield.

The Midwest jet had moved onto the runway and the ASA plane had crossed the "hold short" line that separates the taxiway from the runway when alarms in the control tower alerted air traffic controllers of the danger. The controller cancelled Delta Flight 509's takeoff while the plane was traveling about 40 miles an hour, then slowed and turned off the runway. It got back in line for takeoff and left uneventfully a few minutes later.

The Delta and Midwest planes were about 3,500 feet apart at their nearest point.

Gary Brittain, a veteran controller at Hartsfield-Jackson, said mistakes are being made at the Atlanta tower because controllers are being short-staffed and overworked.

"This is the kind of thing that happens when you've got controllers working six-day weeks, week after week," he said. "They're beginning to crack a little."

The controller who reportedly caused the incident was decertified, subject to retraining.

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