trk1

Commutair is a mess. Cancelled flights-delayed flights and Dh-200/300's subbing
for jets at the last min causing more delays.

Spoke with their VP of operations yesterday in North Olmsted Ohio yesterday
and he admitted the last 6 weeks have been a mess. Planning to cutback flying
totals in the next weeks to get back on track. The ramp up of new ERJ flying
has not gone well. In the 3 days I have had cancelled and late flights that have
nothing to do with weather.

Hope they get their act together.

EWR764

UA is rapidly transitioning ERJs from Expressjet to Commutair and I understand there is now a shortage of ERJ-current pilots to meet the schedule, hence the 'Dash Trash' subs. Apparently the growing pains involve training, not staffing or hiring. Not enough check airmen, instructors or simulators to cope with the influx of training classes, but these choke points have mostly been rectified (more hiring and a new sim) so things are moving smoother now.

Keep an eye on your UAX EWR/IAD itineraries...

FreqFlyerCLE

So is ExpressJet leaving UAX?

EWR764

Not yet, but I understand UAX is only on a year-to-year CPA with XJT, and a lot of non-UAX XJT flying is going elsewhere too.

It would seem that the company is getting out of ERJ-145 flying, with an aim of ultimately completing the merger integration with SkyWest.

smxflyer

Got bit by Commutair bug for SYR-EWR. Flight on a Q200 canceled 3 days ahead of time due to maintenance...

lincolnjkc

Co-worker was trying to fly RIC-EWR on a Q2 last night -- aircraft early to the gate but picked up a "we don't know why" delay of ~3 hours before boarding and they would up sending him home via AA and CLT.

Noticed the first flight of the morning out of RIC (didn't catch equipment type) cancelled as well.

Seems like the wheels are falling off...

thewayofthefuture

It really has been bad lately. My most recent anecdote was at EWR the other day, DCA flight canceled, swapped myself to a Q300 to BWI since nothing else open until evening, boarding started late but eventually we took the bus to the plane, sat on the bus just outside the plane for 30-45 due to mx (it was quite cold so that was better than being onboard with open door), before eventually being taken back to the gate. Now 4 hours after original ETD, I just canceled and took the Acela.

I've flown more than my fair share of UX segments over the years, and rather enjoy the sound and feel of a propeller plane, but I'm actively booking away from Commutair until it sounds like things have started to improve.

QBK

Argh. I've got three Q200 segments in/out of SYR in the next month. Sounds like I need to keep an eye on these...

cosflyer

i was told by a senior UA member of mgmt at the polaris event in denver that xjet turned over a lot of aircraft back to UA over pay rates and they in turn doled out to who ever would fly these aircraft for the cheapest rate hence the reason trans states has 36(iirc)aircraft added to their fleet, 2 cities i visit on a regular basis have alot of 145 flying now and it sucks. operational reliability is not on the list to fix i guess.

EWR764

Q200 reliability issues lately are only of the 'ordinary' kind and would not be related to a ramp-up of ERJ flying at Commutair. As I understand, they do not have any acute staffing issue on the Q fleet.

This is true, and I'd only add that the ERJs UA is allocating to TSA and Commutair are actually owned by United, so once they come off the XJT CPA, they are being transferred to other operators at (likely) lower cost.

gold23

I've had the worst run of my life over the past few months, almost exclusively due to Commutair. I started another thread complaining about UAX in general, and when a few posters commented on the individual operators I realized that it was ALL Commutair.

ExpressJet was perfectly fine- they'd get bumped during irrops quickly (I'm an EWR flier), and the 145's are not fun to fly unless you're in one singular seat. But if there was a problem, you could usually put your finger on the reason. It was UAX in general, weather, etc.

With Commutair, I'm running at almost literally a 70% major disruption rate (1.5+ hr delay or cancellation) in 2017. Closing in on almost 20 segments. They're a mess. I am on EWR-CHS and back about once a week, and I've started booking AA through CLT or DL through ATL instead of direct and conveniently timed Commutair flights.

Can anything be done?

transportprof

Yes. And you're doing it, as you noted above

SS255

I agree that CommutAir deserves its own thread, due to its distinctive blend of unreliability and awfulness.

My worst CommutAir experience was on a stormy summer night in EWR during the Summer of Smisek: No gate agent even bothered to show up at the gate (one of the Downstairs X gates). I kept getting delay texts from United, still with no gate agent anywhere in sight.

Finally, I received a text that they cancelled the darn flight, and a few minutes later the crew showed up, utterly confused that no gate agent was present. The pilot made a few calls, confirmed the cancellation, and I was off like a shot to pick up a rental car and drive 2 hours to Wilkes-Barre. I offered a ride to a young woman who was crying because she didn't know what to do.

In my experience, the 6AM departures from AVP into EWR tend to run relatively trouble-free, but that is with the enormous caveat that the aircraft has to arrive from EWR the night before. The app often states a massive delay on the night flight. I'm wondering if CommutAir builds these multi-hour delays into their crew scheduling to minimize disruptions due to crew availability?

gold23

Last two weeks, five CommitAir flights booked. Once cancelled, three delayed more than 1.5 hrs. Weather fine- no precip, rain, etc. All airports operating normally in each case.

Cancellation apparently due to a pilot no-show. No call...nothing. Just didn't show up or let anyone know.

As mentioned earlier in this thread, I'm actively booking away from UA when CommutAir is the carrier, but struggle to do so when I need to take first/last flight out. I do think I've booked my last ever on them, since schedules mean nothing and- rightly or wrongly- I fear for my eventual safety on a carrier that cannot operate professionally.

Ber2dca

Based on what is said in this thread, one could get the idea that CommutAir took a contract they knew they weren't going to be able to actually fulfill. Or alternatively, UA negotiated it with so many outs for CommutAir that they knew exactly what they were getting and just accepted it as the 'price of doing business'. It's not like crew availability for types is an issue you'd *suddenly* notice.