Compass will take to the air next month

The new Northwest subsidiary will fly regional jets, including new 76-seat models with leather seats later this year.

Northwest Airlines passengers will soon see 76-seat Embraer regional jets popping up on Northwest's flight schedule, and pilots for its new carrier, Compass Airlines, will be flying them.

Northwest said Thursday that Compass, a Virginia-based subsidiary created to fly large regional jets, has been given the go-ahead from the Federal Aviation Administration to begin offering flights.

In May, the new regional airline is expected to start flying twice daily between the Twin Cities and Dulles International Airport near Washington with a 50-seat jet.

By the end of this year, Compass will take delivery of 10 Embraer regional jets. They will feature leather seats throughout the aircraft and will be configured with 12 seats in first class and 64 seats in coach class.

Compass intends to fly 36 large regional jets by the end of 2008.

John Bendoraitis, Compass executive vice president and chief operating officer, said the Compass jets will serve cities out of the Twin Cities, Detroit and Memphis hubs.

The Embraer 175 has a range of nearly 1,700 miles, and Northwest management will decide which routes will be served by it.

The new jets to be flown by Compass, as well as 76-seat Canadair Regional Jets that will be operated by Mesaba Airlines, are expected to fill a gap in Northwest's fleet. Northwest wanted to acquire 76-seat regional jets to meet flight needs that fall between the 50-seat regional jets and 100-seat DC-9s.

Bendoraitis said Compass has hired 10 pilots to fly one 50-seat jet in the early months of the company's operations. He estimated that Compass will need to hire about 350 pilots to operate the 36 Embraer jets. They'll be hired under pay rates negotiated by the Northwest branch of the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) during concessionary bargaining last year.

Bendoraitis acknowledged there is a tight market for regional pilots. Some pilots are being hired by large carriers, some are jumping to other regional airlines for better pay and some are leaving the profession.

Pay rates, retirements and job security all have been affected adversely in the pilot profession, said Northwest pilot negotiator Ron Barnett. "Quite honestly, I think there is a looming pilot shortage for the right seat [co-pilot] at regional airlines."

Pilots are paid on an hourly rate when the airplane is moving. A starting co-pilot at Compass would be paid $23.18 an hour, and would earn $20,862 by flying 900 hours over one year. Furloughed Northwest pilots can start out at Compass as second-year captains. If the pilot flies 850 hours over the year, that pilot would be paid $53,049.

On its website, Compass said, "All 110 pilots hired this year should be a captain in less than a year!" Bendoraitis expressed confidence that Compass will attract enough qualified pilots, partly because of pilots' desire to fly new airplanes. In addition to providing captain flying jobs as Compass expands, he said, the ALPA contract gives Compass pilots the opportunity to one day be hired by Northwest.

SOURCE: Star Tribune
WRITTEN BY: Liz Fedor
LAST UPDATED: April 05, 2007 – 9:42 PM