Less than two months ago, I noted that passengers are being hoodwinked by the major airlines with their “regional” feeder airlines. All of their advertising, some uniforms and airplane color scheme all lead consumers to believe “regionals” are part of the same airline. Tragedy tells it ain’t so.
Writing in Tripso I noted:
Perhaps even more pernicious and misleading is the major airline branding of regional carriers. Colgan Air flies under the colors of Continental Airlines. Mesaba operates as an arm of Northwest. Atlantic Southeast Airways has Delta spashed on its tail. Comair flies with similar Delta markings. These airlines are shown on websites and in Internet searches as part of a single seamless major airline. However, when problems strike, passengers learn quickly that, legally speaking, these airlines designated as part of a larger airline, are in no way related other than through marketing agreements.
Now in the NTSB hearings we are getting graphic details of the Feruary 12th crash. Poor pilot training and inexperience leads to 50 dead.
Corporate and government-approved prevarication has created a corporate mess and a legal money-making bonanza as Continental tries to separate itself from Colgan Inc. that is actually a part of Pinnacle Airlines, Inc. All three of the airlines have pilots who have been certified through FAA-approved training programs.
It turns out, according to reports, that the co-pilot on the ill-fated Colgan Air.Continental flight was only making something like $16,000 a year. Heck a Greyhound bus driver makes more than that! Today Senators conducting an FAA hearing vowed to look into the safety issues.
This is going to be a disaster for the Continental brand. Colgan flew under the Continental colors, their reservations were handled by the Continental reservations systems, their destinations are listed as “Continental-served” cities and towns.
On a recent flight from Boston to Washington on Delta (ahem, Comair at the time), I asked a handful of passengers what airline they were flying on. They looked at me like I had two heads. “Delta,” they all replied. Isn’t it obvious? I told them why I was asking the question and told them that the flight was actually operated by Comair. Three of the passengers, said now that I reminded them, they knew that. They had seen information that the flight was operated by Comair somewhere.
The bottom line is Continental is not Colgan Air. Delta is not Comair. Though the flight training is FAA approved, experience in the cockpit can’t be taught. Mainline Continental and Delta pilots have thousands of hours behind the yoke. Most have paid their dues moving up through the regional airline ranks where they started our making less than $20,000 to reach the point where they are in the six-figure salary range.
The major airlines do this to “extend their brand.” But, a brand is more than simply a logo and color scheme. A brand is made up of trust with the product, trust with the training, trust with the service that is developed over a period of time.
These corporate charades where one airline masquerades as another is defeating the purpose and ultimately will only hurt the brands they are designed to “extend.”
Charlie Leocha is the President of Travelers United. He has been working in Washington, DC, for the past 14 years with Congress, the Department of Transportation, and industry stakeholders on travel issues. He was the first consumer representative to the Advisory Committee for Aviation Consumer Protections appointed by the Secretary of Transportation from 2012 through 2018.
