USA: First Year Pilot Pay Goes Up To $41.00 Per Flight Hour At Compass Airlines

First year, First Officer pay at Compass Airlines will soon be the highest in the regional airline industry.

Compass is pleased to announce that effective October 1, 2017, its first year, First Officer pay will increase to $41.00 per flight hour.

Additionally, First Officers at all pay steps will receive an increase.

The nationwide pilot shortage has made it challenging for regional airlines to meet hiring targets, said Rick Leach, President and Chief Executive Officer of Compass Airlines. This increase ensures that Compass remains competitive in a very difficult hiring landscape.

Compass has so much to offer pilots, including crew bases on the West Coast, a new crew base in Phoenix, and the opportunity to fly the Embraer 175, added Bob Gleason, Chief Operating Officer at Compass. “This increase will really enhance our ability to recruit effectively.

Additionally, Compass pilots will soon have the opportunity to earn a referral bonus of up to $10,000 for each successful pilot they refer to the company.

Compass Airlines, LLC, is a regional airline headquartered in Delta Air Lines Building C at Minneapolis−Saint Paul International Airport in Fort Snelling, Hennepin County, Minnesota;prior to December 16, 2009, it was headquartered in unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, United States, east of the Chantilly CDP.

The airline launched inaugural service with a single Bombardier CRJ200LR aircraft under the Northwest Airlink now Delta Connection brand between Minneapolis/St. Paul and Washington, D.C. on May 2, 2007. On August 21, 2007, it began flying two Embraer 175 76-passenger aircraft, and expanded to 36 aircraft by December 2008.

In July 2010, the airline was purchased from Delta Air Lines and became a wholly owned subsidiary of Trans States Holdings.

Compass Airlines was formed as a result of a contract dispute between Northwest Airlines and its pilots' union, the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA).

The Northwest Airlines pilot group was asked to give relief on a section of their collective bargaining agreement governing scope, which protects pilot jobs by ensuring that an airline's customers are flown by the employees of that airline.

The pilots eventually agreed to a concession on the scope of their contract allowing a limited number of 76-seat aircraft to be flown by outsourced pilots working for a subcontractor regional airline.

In exchange for their concession the Northwest Airlines pilots demanded in return that the pilots of these new aircraft would eventually flow-up into mainline pilot jobs at Northwest Airlines, and that Northwest Airlines pilots would retain the ability to flow-down into the newly subcontracted pilot jobs in the event that Northwest Airlines were to furlough the mainline pilots.

In order to adapt to the agreement, and fulfill a need to serve the regional markets with smaller, more efficient aircraft and a dramatically reduced wage labor force, Northwest bought the operating certificate of bankrupt Independence Air on March 10, 2006 for $2 million.

During the concept phase, the subsidiary was known as NewCo. Compass' operations are limited to 76-seat aircraft or less, due to the language in the pilot contract at the mainline carrier.

On September 28, 2006, Compass Airlines officially received approval from the United States Department of Transportation to begin operations. On April 5, 2007, Compass Airlines received FAA certification to begin commercial passenger operations with a CRJ-200

On May 2, 2007, the airline had their first revenue flight from Washington Dulles International Airport to Minneapolis−Saint Paul International Airport,which maintained the operating certificate.

Compass implemented Embraer operations on August 21, 2007.

On July 1, 2010, Delta Air Lines announced that it sold Compass Airlines to Trans States Holdings for US$20.5 million.Despite the change in ownership, Compass still shares many things with their former parents, including the pre-merger Northwest online crew scheduling software RADAR, headquarters in a Delta-owned building, and a logo that is a modified version of the final Northwest Airlines logo.

On March 27, 2015, the airline began flying one of twenty brand new Embraer E-175, operating for American Airlines under the American Eagle airline brand, with the initial flight being from Los Angeles International Airport to Houston Intercontinental Airport.

Compass has its maintenance bases in Phoenix, San Jose, Los Angeles, Louisville Closing Dec. 2017, reverting to Trans States Airlines maintenance base, Minneapolis/St. Paul, San Francisco, and Seattle/Tacoma.

Both the pilot and flight attendant groups are unionized, with pilots being represented by the Air Line Pilots Association, and flight attendants represented by the Association of Flight Attendants.

The flight attendants negotiated and approved a five-year contract with the company on May 1, 2013, following a failed vote on a tentative agreement in late 2011.The new contract gave employees pay increases, a larger 401(k) match, a signing bonus, and other working condition improvements.

On August 25, 2010, Compass Airlines fired a flight attendant after she appeared on a local television program admitting publicly that she qualified for food stamps, even though she was a full-time employee of the airline.

On May 8, 2008, Compass Airlines Flight 2040 bound for Regina, Saskatchewan from Minneapolis with 74 passengers and 4 crew on board was forced to land in Fargo, North Dakota after a fire broke out in the restroom.

The plane landed at 11:00 pm; no injuries to passengers were reported. A week after the incident, a 19-year-old flight attendant was charged with starting the fire.

He pleaded not guilty, but before trial, he fled to Mexico. He was arrested in Mexico April 5, 2011, and was extradited to the US to stand trial.

He was sentenced to seven years in prison on December 16, 2011.

On November 15, 2010, Compass Airlines Flight 5887 bound for Missoula, Montana from Minneapolis with 76 passengers and 4 crew on board was forced to return to Minneapolis after the aircraft received substantial damage when it collided with a flock of birds.

The plane landed 22 minutes after departure; no injuries to passengers were reported.


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Embraer E-Jet Family

Embraer 175

The Embraer E-Jet family is a series of narrow-body medium-range twin-engine jet airliners produced by Brazilian aerospace conglomerate Embraer. Launched at the Paris Air Show in 1999, and entering production in 2002, the aircraft series has been a commercial success. The aircraft is used by mainline and regional airlines around the world. As of 30 September 2015, there is a backlog of 263 firm orders for the E-Jets, 433 options and 1158 units delivered.

The Embraer E-Jets line is composed of two main commercial families and a business jet variant. The smaller E170 and E175 make up the base model aircraft. The E190 and E195 are stretched versions, with different engines and larger wing, horizontal stabilizer and landing gear structures. The 170 and 175 share 95% commonality, as do the 190 and 195. The two families share near 89% commonality, with identical fuselage cross-sections and avionics, featuring the Honeywell Primus Epic Electronic flight instrument system (EFIS) suite. The E-jets also have winglets to improve efficiency.

All E-Jets use four-abreast seating (2+2) and have a "double-bubble" design, which Embraer developed for its commercial passenger jets, that provides stand-up headroom. The E190/195 series of aircraft have capacities similar to the initial versions of the McDonnell Douglas DC-9 and Boeing 737, which have always been considered mainline airliners. The E-Jets have jet engines that produce less noise, which allows them to operate in airports that have strict noise restrictions, such as London City Airport.

Embraer first disclosed that it was studying a new 70-seat aircraft, which it called the EMB 170, in 1997, concurrently with announcing the development of its ERJ 135. The EMB 170 was to feature a new wing and larger-diameter fuselage mated to the nose and cockpit of the ERJ 145. In February 1999, Embraer announced it had abandoned the derivative approach in favour of an all-new design.

The E-jet family was formally launched at the Paris Air Show in June 1999. Launch customers for the aircraft were the French airline Régional Compagnie Aérienne Européenne with ten orders and five options for the E170; and the Swiss airline Crossair with an order for 30 E170s and 30 E190s. Production of parts to build the prototype and test airframes began in July 2000. Full production began in 2002, at a new factory built by Embraer at its São José dos Campos base. After several delays in the certification process, the E170 received type certification from the aviation authorities of Brazil, Europe and the United States in February 2004.

In November 2011, Embraer announced that it would develop revamped versions of the E-Jets family with improved engines, rather than an all-new aircraft.The new variants are to be powered by new more efficient engines with larger diameter fans, and include slightly taller landing gear, and possibly a new aluminum or carbon fiber-based wing. The new E-Jet variants are to be better-positioned to compete with the Bombardier CSeries. The new variants are to enter service in 2018.

GE, Pratt & Whitney, and Rolls-Royce were all possible engine suppliers.Pratt & Whitney's geared turbofan engine was selected in January 2013 for the new E-Jets versions. The Honeywell Primus Epic 2 was selected as the avionics package.

In February 2012, Embraer announced it was studying the development of a new variant with 130 seating capacity. The study was expected to be completed by the end of 2012

The first E170s were delivered in the second week of March 2004 to LOT Polish Airlines, followed by US Airways subsidiary MidAtlantic Airways and Alitalia (launch customer Crossair had in the meantime ceased to exist after its takeover of Swissair; and fellow launch customer Régional Compagnie Aérienne deferred its order, not receiving its first E-jet—an E190LR—until 2006. LOT operated the first commercial flight of an E-jet on 17 March 2004, from Warsaw to Vienna. The largest single order for any type of E-Jets has come from JetBlue, which ordered 100 Embraer 190s in 2003 and took its first delivery in 2005.

The 400th E-jet was delivered in 2008, to Republic Airlines in the U.S. On 6 November of that year, JetBlue set the record for the longest flight of the E-190 family when one of its aircraft made a non-stop flight from Anchorage, Alaska (Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport) to Buffalo, New York (Buffalo Niagara International Airport), a total of 2,694 nmi (4,989 km). This was an empty aircraft on a non-revenue flight. The aircraft eventually returned to JFK after a two-month-long charter service with Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin. In September 2009, the 600th E-jet built was delivered to LOT Polish Airlines. Kenya Airways received its 12th Ejet from Embraer which was also the 900th Ejet ever produced on October 10, 2012.

On 13 September 2013, a ceremony was held at the Embraer factory in São José dos Campos to mark the delivery of the 1,000th E-jet family aircraft, an E175, to Republic Airlines. The E175 was delivered in an American Eagle colour scheme with a special "1,000th E-Jet" decal above the cabin windows

E170 And E175
The E170/E175 models in the 80-seat range are the smaller in the EJet family. They are powered with General Electric CF34-8E engines of 14,200 pounds (62.28 kN) thrust each. The E170 and E175 directly compete with the Bombardier CRJ-700 and Bombardier CRJ-900, respectively, and loosely compete with the turboprop Bombardier Q400. They also seek to replace the market segment occupied by earlier competing designs such as the BAe 146 and Fokker 70.

The Embraer 170 was the first version produced. The prototype 170-001, registration PP-XJE, was rolled out on 29 October 2001, with first flight 119 days later on 19 February 2002. The aircraft was displayed to the public in May 2002 at the Regional Airline Association convention. After a positive response from the airline community, Embraer launched the E175. First flight of the stretched E175 was on June 2003. The launch U.S. customer for the E170 was US Airways, after FAA certification, the aircraft entered into revenue service on April 4, 2004 operated by the MidAtlantic division of US Airways, Inc. The first E175 was delivered to Air Canada and entered service in July 2005. The 170-001 prototype performed its last flight on April 11, 2012. Its destiny was disassembly in the US for spare parts.

E190 And E195
The E190/195 models are a larger stretch of the E170/175 models fitted with a new, larger wing, larger horizontal stabilizer and a new engine, the GE CF34-10E, rated at 18,500 lb (82.30 kN). These aircraft compete with the Bombardier CRJ-1000 and CS100, the Boeing 717-200 and 737-600, and the Airbus A318. It can carry up to 100 passengers in a two-class configuration or up to 124 in single-class high density configuration.

The first flight of the E190 was on March 12, 2004 (PP-XMA), with the first flight of the E195 (PP-XMJ) on December 7 of the same year. The launch customer of the E190 was New York-based low-cost carrier JetBlue with 100 orders options in 2003 and took its first delivery in 2005.

British low-cost carrier Flybe launched the E195 operations on 22 September 2006. With 14 orders and 12 options airline was the first operator of this type of aircraft.

As the 190/195 models are of mainline aircraft size, many airlines operate them as such, fitting them with a business class section and operating them themselves, instead of having them flown by a regional airline partner. For example, Air Canada operates 45 E190 aircraft fitted with 9 business-class and 88 economy-class seats as part of its primary fleet. JetBlue and American Airlines also operate the E190 as part of their own fleet thus allowing airlines increased crewing flexibility by having the ability of cabin crews to work aboard narrow-body or widebody aircraft.

On 2 May 2006, Embraer announced plans for the business jet variant of the E190, type name ERJ190-100 ECJ. It has the same structure as the E190, but with an extended range of up to 4,200 nmi, and luxury seating for up to 19. It was certified by the USA Federal Aviation Administration on 7 January 2009. The first two production aircraft were delivered in December 2008.

Embraer considered producing an aircraft which was known as the E195X, a stretched version of the E195. It would have seated approximately 130 passengers. The E195X was apparently a response to an American Airlines request for an aircraft to replace its McDonnell Douglas MD-80s.Embraer abandoned plans for the 195X in May 2010, following concerns that its range would be too short.

Embraer E-Jets operators

Embraer 170 (E170 or EMB 170-100)—As of July 2015, 180 Embraer 170 aircraft (all variants) are in airline service, with 5 orders. Major operators include: Shuttle America (50), Republic Airlines (22), HOP! (16), Saudia (15), J-Air (15), EgyptAir Express (12), Aeromexico Connect (8), LOT Polish Airlines (7), Compass Airlines (North America) (6) and BA CityFlyer (6). Nine other airlines operate the type in smaller numbers.

Embraer 175 (E175 or EMB 170-200)—As of July 2015, 285 Embraer 175 aircraft are in airline service, with 165 further orders. Major operators include Republic Airlines (85), Compass Airlines (North America) (56), SkyWest Airlines (38), Mesa Airlines (30), Shuttle America (16), Sky Regional Airlines (15), Alitalia CityLiner (15), LOT Polish Airlines (12) and Flybe (11). Major firm orders include 55 aircraft for Shuttle America, and 40 aircraft for Envoy Air.

Embraer 190 (E190 or EMB 190-100)—As of July 2015, 506 Embraer 190 aircraft (all variants) are in airline service, with 47 orders. Major operators include JetBlue Airways (60), Air Canada (45),Bulgaria air,Tianjin Airlines (45), Aeromexico Connect (30), KLM Cityhopper (30), Azul Brazilian Airlines (22), Austral Lineas Aereas (22), China Southern Airlines (20), TAP Express (1), American Airlines (19), Virgin Australia (18), Conviasa (15) and other operators with fewer aircraft.

Embraer 195 (E195 or EMB 190-200)—As of July 2015, 134 Embraer 195 aircraft (all variants) are in airline service, with 25 firm orders. Major operators are Azul Brazilian Airlines (61), Lufthansa CityLine (24), Air Europa (11), Borajet (10), Air Dolomiti (10), Flybe (7), LOT Polish Airlines (6) and other operators with fewer aircraft. Azul Brazilian Airlines have ordered an additional 5 aircraft of this type.

Accidents and incidents
On 24 August 2010, Henan Airlines Flight 8387, an E190 that departed from Harbin, People's Republic of China, crash landed about 1 km short of the runway at Yichun Lindu Airport, resulting in 42 deaths.

29 November 2013, LAM Mozambique Airlines Flight 470, an E190, crashed in Namibia, killing all 33 aboard (27 passengers, 6 crew members). The co-pilot reportedly left the cockpit to use the toilet. He was then locked out by the captain, who dramatically reduced the aircraft’s altitude and ignored various automated warnings ahead of the high-speed impact.

Embraer's E-Jet family deliveries and orders as of December 31, 2015