ASA Cuts More Pilots

A regional carrier for Delta Air Lines is cutting more of its workforce. Atlantic Southeast Airlines is furloughing an additional 56 pilots this fall. The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports the layoffs go into effect September 1st, and its on top of the 80 laid-off earlier this year. The cuts are the first in the history of ASA. It was last month that Atlanta-based Delta announced it would be making deeper cuts to its capacity to help weather the economic downturn.

ASA Grounds Some Planes, Delays Service

A major regional carrier for Atlanta-based Delta Airlines has grounded 40-percent of its fleet in order to conduct engine safety checks. With a good portion of its fleet temporarily grounded, ASA says Delta and other connected partners have stepped-in to get passengers on different flights.

Atlantic Southeast Airlines took all 60 of its CRJ-200 model jets out of service Tuesday after self-reporting concerns to federal aviation officials. ASA made the move after a recent internal review showed uncertainty over whether engines in the planes had been inspected according to the manufacturer’s recommendations.

A spokesperson for Atlanta-based ASA says the re-inspections should be complete by mid-morning Thursday.

ASA operates as a contract carrier for Delta, which is now the world’s largest airline.

Delta Connection Carrier to Cut 80 Pilots

Eighty pilots with Delta Connection carrier Atlantic Southeast Airlines are losing their jobs in the face of tough economic conditions. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports the furloughs are the first in the history of Atlanta-based ASA. All of the carrier’s 1,700 pilots are based in Atlanta. A company spokeswoman says those affected have been offered voluntary retirements and voluntary leaves. As Atlanta-based Delta has plans in-place to cut capacity by six to eight percent, ASA is affected by those cutbacks--being a Delta Connection carrier. The ASA layoffs take effect February 9th.

Macon gets second airline

A second airline is planning to start up flights from Macon to Atlanta on the 1st of November. Wings Air bills itself as a way to avoid traffic, parking, and security issues at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. The airline started flying from Athens to Atlanta this week. The flights from Macon to Atlanta start up in November. A one-way ticket is 79-dollars.
Atlantic Southeast Airlines is pulling out of Macon's Middle Georgia Regional Airport, saying that even with federal subsidies they are losing money. Hawaii based Pacific Wings recently contracted with the City of Macon to provide service and receive that subsidy. That service has yet to begin.
Both airlines plan to fly to Atlanta in propeller planes that hold nine passengers.

FAA Investigating Near-Collision at Hartsfield-Jackson

The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating a near-collision of two airplanes on the runway at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Friday.

Investigators believe an Atlantic Southeast Airlines flight bound for Greensboro, N.C., ignored orders from the control tower to stop its taxi across the runway, coming within seconds of running into a Mexico-bound Delta Air Lines Inc. jet, FAA spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said.

The ASA pilot acknowledged the orders and repeated them back to controllers in the tower but did not stop, Bergen said.

The ASA jet was carrying 44 passengers, and the Delta flight had 130 aboard.

Air traffic controllers estimated the planes came within 1,250 feet - or about 2 to 3 seconds - of colliding. Both continued on their scheduled flights and arrived safely at their destinations, airline officials said.

ASA is a Delta Connection carrier and is owned by SkyWest Inc.

(The Associated Press)

NOAA: expect a dry winter

Click image for larger map. (NOAA)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association forecasters say this winter will hold a continuation of drier-than-average conditions across much of the southeast, and above-average temperatures, according to an Oct. 18 update.

NOAA chief of forecast operations and acting deputy director of the Climate Prediction Center, Michael Halpert, says,

“The prediction for a warmer than normal winter is still on course,”

The seasonal assessment:

"...much of the drought region in the Southeast, Tennessee Valley, and mid-Atlantic can expect some temporary improvement during the last half of October, with locally heavy rains in a few locations. Unfortunately, the expected rainfall is unlikely to lead to lasting drought relief over the Southeast, as the ongoing La Niña should lead to below-normal rainfall during November-January, resulting in drought continuing or re-intensifying.

The next NOAA outlook is scheduled to be released on Nov. 1, according to the agency.

Click here for more GPB News drought coverage.

Atlantic Southeast on bubble for Macon airport

The only commercial airline flying out of Macon wants three million dollars a year from the federal government. But the government is balking at the request.

The U.S. Department of Transportation says Atlantic Southeast Airlines wants triple the money it usually pays airlines for traveling to smaller cities. The department would prefer new bids from carriers.

Congressman Jim Marshall represents central Georgia's 8th district. He says even if Atlantic Southeast stops flying to Middle Georgia Regional Airport, eventually a long-term commercial replacement will be found.

"Who knows what we'll ultimately get here in Macon. I expect we will have a commercial provider and that commercial provider will cost taxpayers a lot less than the three million dollars that's proposed by ASA".

Atlantic Southeast Airlines says it needs the federal subsidy because it's losing money on the Atlanta route. Macon's airport has never received this particular federal handout.

Columbus: ASA/Delta pilots picket airport

Pilots from Delta Connections carrier Atlantic Southeast Airlines picketed their management at the Columbus Municipal Airport on Tuesday.

They are dissatisfied with a five-year contract, and are demanding better pay, and an improvement in scheduling and company policies.

Air Line Pilots Association spokesman and ASA pilot Captain Rick Bernskoetter told GPB News that he hopes an upcoming pilot - management mediation in Washington on August 28th will succeed:

“We will sit down with management for the 290th time, and we would like to challenge our management to actually show up and be ready to negotiate, and be ready to hammer out the final core issues of our contract, and lets get this thing done.”

Bernskoetter warns that customer service could take a nosedive if the talks do not succeed:

"Their airline service could be severely disrupted or rendered non-existent if we don't see this deal brought to a conclusion."

ASA spokesperson Kate Modolo counters:

"ASA isn't happy either about the time we've been in negotiation, because it really is in the best interests of our pilots and our customers, and of ASA to come to an agreement as expeditiously as possible."

Modolo contends:

"...ASA will not enter into a contract that doesn't make sense for our people, or for our long-tern success."

ASA is currently the sole carrier to the regional airport. The airport is negotiating with other potential carriers, American Airlines among them, and is planning expansion of its facilities. More on that here.

The pilots have also picketed at airports in Albany, Panama City and Fort Walton Beach, Fla. They took their case to the airport at Dothan, Ala. Wednesday morning.

In related aviation news:

• Government and business leaders think now is the time for the Northeast Georgia Surface and Air Transportation Commission to meet after a 15-year hiatus. The idea of a regional airport in northeast Georgia is gaining steam. More on that here.
  
  
• The nation’s most consistently late flight goes from Atlanta to Chattanooga. More on that here.
  
  
  
  
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Atlanta-Chattanooga flight latest in nation

The nation’s most consistently late flight goes from Atlanta to Chattanooga. The U.S. Department of Transportation says in June the 7:38 PM Atlantic Southeast Airlines flight 4104 was, on average, two-and-a-half-hours late. More than one-third of Atlanta-based ASA's flights arrived late last year, according to the DOT. An ASA spokeswoman said June brought many changes for the airline that led to delay problems, including adding 120 new flights to its schedule and changes in operations at its Atlanta hub.

Drunk stewardess cancels Delta flight

A flight attendant faces charges she was drunk on the job of an Atlanta-bound Delta Air Lines flight. Atlantic Southeast Airlines says it was operating the Delta flight yesterday out of Lexington, Kentucky. The airline says a 26-year-old Sarah Mills was escorted off the plane on a stretcher. She was charged with operating a motor vehicle under the influence, alcohol intoxication and terroristic threatening. The flight was canceled for lack of enough crew members.

Columbus Airport seeking new carriers, businesses

Columbus Metropolitan Airport wants to revitalize regularly scheduled air traffic, and boost business. They're trying to get American Airlines back, after a decade's absence.

Currently, Atlantic Southeast Airlines, which serves Delta Air Lines, is the only regularly-scheduled carrier servicing Columbus, with just a few flights a day.

The airport commission is trying to revitalize the flagging facility and is weighing going ahead with comprehensive plan to bring long-term lease businesses to the facility.

Don Cook, one of five airport commissioners, who currently chairs the group, says they are aiming high, and have a good business case:

“We don't get a conversation with United, we don't get a conversation with Allegiance [Air], we don't get a conversation with US Airways or American Airlines if we can't build that business case... the facts say we can support three to four airlines.”

Cook says that they are seeking commercial development of the area, and are weighing several development proposals.

He says they are in intensive talks with American Airlines, and - if talks go according to their plan – expects flights by year's end.

“From June to July would be the decision-making process for American Airlines, and the first flight – if all the numbers go well – would land in December 2007.”