A scope clause is part of a contract between a major airline and the trade union of its pilots that limit the number and size of aircraft that may be flown by the airline's regional airline affiliate.
A scope clause is part of a contract between a major airline and the trade union of its pilots that limit the number and size of aircraft that may be flown by the airline's regional airline affiliate.
The scope clause's goal is to protect the union pilots' jobs at the major airline from being outsourced by limiting the regional airlines' passenger capacity. [1] These clauses exist primarily in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
Scope clauses are supported as a means of saving union jobs. Major airline pilots are usually higher paid than regional pilots. Criticism of scope clauses centers on the limits they place on the regional airlines they target. They are a way of artificially maintaining the pay of major airline pilots when regional pilots will in theory fly the same-sized airplanes for less pay. [2]
Scope clauses place restrictions on how many and what size of aircraft a regional airline may operate. Some holding companies operate a large number of individual airlines, with each airline's fleet specifically tuned to the scope clause of that airline's contracted major carrier. [3]
| Carrier | Up to 50 Seats | 51 - 76 Seats |
|---|---|---|
| American Airlines | No limit | Above 65 seats, a number not to exceed 40% of the mainline narrow-body fleet |
| Delta Air Lines | Up to 125 aircraft | Up to 102 70-seat aircraft, up to 223 76-seat aircraft (may be reduced by 35 aircraft if the flow provisions of Delta LOA #9 cease to be available at Endeavor Air) [5] |
| United Airlines | Up to 90% of the United Airlines single-aisle fleet | 255 aircraft between 51-76 seats, not to exceed 153 76-seat aircraft |
| Alaska Airlines | No limit[ verification needed ] | 43% of the mainline aircraft total. [6] |
| Hawaiian Airlines | Cannot be flown on trunk routes serviced by mainline aircraft [7] |
Within American Airlines, regional flying between specific cities listed in contract may not exceed 1.25 percent of mainline block hours [8] CRJ-900 and E175 aircraft that used to fly for US Airways, and their future replacements, are grandfathered in to the seat limitation and may operate with 79 or 80 seats, respectively. [9]
At Delta Air Lines, 85% of flying have to be less than 900 miles, and 90% of flying will be to and from hubs. [8] For United Airlines, regional block hours must be less than mainline block hours. Mainline routes flown in last 24 months are prohibited unless United could not earn an adequate return. [8]
Scope clauses have a major influence on manufacturers of regional aircraft. Manufacturers will create airplanes specifically tuned to the scope clauses of most airlines. For this reason and others, regional aircraft tend to be manufactured in families, and competing regional aircraft will often have identical seating capacity. [10]
| Seats | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manufacturer | 44 | 50 | 70 | 90 | 100 |
| Bombardier | CRJ440* | CRJ100/200*, CRJ550* | CRJ700*, Q400 | CRJ900*, Q400 | CRJ1000* |
| Embraer | ERJ140* | ERJ145* | E170*, E175 | E175, E175-E2 | E190/195*, E190-E2 |
| ATR | ATR 42 | ATR 42 | ATR 72 | ||
| Airbus | A220-100 | ||||
[*] Indicates aircraft is no longer in production
In 2012, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines capped their regional airlines' jets at 76 seats and a maximum take-off weight (MTOW) at 86,000 lb (39 t). [11] Between 2013 and 2017, Embraer booked nearly 400 E175 orders in the United States, besting the CRJ900 by over 4 to 1. [12] Delta Air Lines was reported in December 2017 to have maxed out on its 153 allowable 76-seat aircraft, and was forced to fly its 102 70-seaters. [12] The E170 has six fewer business seats but the E175SC has 70 seats, keeping the same premium seats with 400 nmi (740 km; 460 mi) more range than the E170 or the CRJ700. [12] SkyWest ordered 30 E175SCs for Delta to enter service in 2018. [12] The E175SC is sold at E170 pricing, a 76-seat retrofit having to go through Embraer. [12]
The 76 seats and 86,000 lb (39 t) MTOW limits could not be amended through negotiations until 2019 at United and 2020 at Delta and American, limiting the sales of the new Mitsubishi SpaceJet M90 and Embraer 175-E2 to the smaller M100 and E175. [13]
United Airlines has been renegotiating its agreement with the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) after it became amendable on January 31, 2019. As of September 2019 [update] , "noneconomic" matters relating to pilot scheduling had been agreed and ALPA expected to start discussion of scope aspects. [14] United is seeking to fly more aircraft in the 76-seat category, given that no manufacturers currently produce 50-seaters. [14] ALPA wishes to tie scope discussions to United's overall fleet, including wide-body aircraft, whereas the current contract links regional restrictions only to the narrow-body fleet size. [14] Any agreement reached with United is expected to set a standard for subsequent negotiations with Delta and American, whose pilot contracts become amendable in December 2019 and in 2020, respectively. [14]
In February 2019, Bombardier launched the CRJ550, a 50-seat variant of its CRJ700. The reduced seating capacity and maximum takeoff weight were specifically designed to comply with scope clauses. [15] United had been pushing to renegotiate the clauses, whereas pilots were arguing against what they see as a "flawed strategy of outsourcing". [16] The decision to reconfigure larger existing models implies that the scope clauses remain frozen. [17]
The Embraer 175-E2 first flew on December 12, 2019. [18] The Mitsubishi SpaceJet program was suspended in October 2020, [19] and then cancelled in 2023. [20] This left the US market with the Embraer 175 as the only US scope clause compatible jet engine aircraft still in production. [21]
Bombardier Aviation is a division of Bombardier Inc. It is headquartered in Dorval, Quebec, Canada. Its most popular aircraft included the Dash 8 Series 400, CRJ100/200/440, and CRJ700/900/1000 lines of regional airliners, and the newer CSeries. It also manufactured the Bombardier 415 amphibious water-bomber, and currently makes the Global Express and the Challenger lines of business jets.
A regional airliner or a feeder liner is a small airliner that is designed to fly up to 100 passengers on short-haul flights, usually feeding larger carriers' airline hubs from small markets. This class of airliners is typically flown by the regional airlines that are either contracted by or subsidiaries of the larger airlines. Regional airliners are used for short trips between smaller towns or from a larger city to a smaller city. Feeder liner, commuter, and local service are all alternative terms for the same class of flight operations.
The Bombardier CRJ/Mitsubishi CRJ or CRJ Series is a family of regional jets introduced in 1991 by Bombardier Aerospace. The CRJ was manufactured by Bombardier Aerospace with the manufacturing of the first CRJ generation, the CRJ100/200 starting in 1991 and the second CRJ generation, the CRJ700 series starting in 1999.
Shuttle America Corporation was an American regional airline based in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. It fed United Airlines flights at Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD) and Houston Intercontinental Airport (IAH) under the United Express brand, as well as Delta Air Lines flights at Atlanta (ATL), New York-LaGuardia (LGA), and New York-JFK under the Delta Connection brand. Shuttle America also operated two of three Delta Shuttle East Coast routes, serving Washington, D.C., and Chicago from New York-LaGuardia.
The Embraer E-Jet family is a series of four-abreast, narrow-body, short- to medium-range, twin-engined jet airliners designed and produced by Brazilian aerospace manufacturer Embraer.
Republic Airways Inc. is an American regional airline headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. Republic operates and maintains aircraft used on flights that are scheduled, marketed and sold by a partner mainline airline. The company is contracted by American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and United Airlines.
GoJet Airlines LLC is a regional airline headquartered in Bridgeton, Missouri, United States. Wholly owned by Trans States Holdings, it has 1,670 employees. It operates commuter feeder services under the United Express brand of United Airlines. United Express flights are currently operated out of United's hubs at Chicago–O'Hare, Newark and Washington-Dulles. GoJet's Delta Connection branded flights came to an end on March 31, 2020. Most of the flying at the end of the agreement was out of Detroit and Minneapolis–St. Paul as well as Raleigh-Durham. GoJet Airlines' system operations center (SOC), training center and corporate offices are co-located in the former Trans World Airlines and Ozark Airlines training center in Bridgeton, Missouri. The airline uses the former McDonnell Douglas factory hangar at Saint Louis Lambert International Airport as its primary maintenance facility, with maintenance staff available at all of the airline's destinations. Its call sign, "Lindbergh", is named for aviation pioneer Charles Lindbergh, who flew the Spirit of St. Louis solo across the Atlantic Ocean in 1927: the first person to do so.
Republic Airways Holdings, Inc. is an American airline holding corporation based in Indianapolis, Indiana, that owns Republic Airways, an American regional airline operating in the United States, and LIFT Academy, the only flight training academy owned by an airline in the United States.
Compass Airlines, LLC, was a regional airline in the United States that operated from 2006 to 2020, when it shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was 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 CRJ-200 aircraft under the Northwest Airlink brand between Minneapolis/St. Paul and Washington, D.C., on May 2, 2007. On August 21, 2007, it began flying two Embraer E175 76-passenger aircraft, and expanded to 36 aircraft by December 2008.
A regional jet (RJ) is a jet-powered regional airliner with fewer than 100 seats. The first one was the Sud-Aviation Caravelle in 1959, followed by the widespread Yakovlev Yak-40, Fokker F-28, and BAe 146. The 1990s saw the emergence of the most widespread Canadair Regional Jet and its Embraer Regional Jet counterpart, then the larger Embraer E-Jet and multiple competing projects. In the US, they are limited in size by scope clauses.
The General Electric CF34 is a civilian high-bypass turbofan developed by GE Aviation from its TF34 military engine. The CF34 is used on a number of business and regional jets, including the Bombardier CRJ series, the Embraer E-Jets, and Comac ARJ21. In 2012, there were 5,600 engines in service.
The Bombardier CRJ100 and CRJ200 is a regional jet designed and manufactured by Bombardier Aerospace between 1991 and 2006, the first of the Bombardier CRJ family.
The Bombardier CRJ550, CRJ700, CRJ705, CRJ900, and CRJ1000 are a family of regional jet airliners that were designed and manufactured by Canadian transportation conglomerate Bombardier between 1999 and 2020. Their design was derived from the smaller CRJ100 and 200 airliners, the other members of the Bombardier CRJ aircraft family. The CRJ program was acquired by the Japanese corporation Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in 2020, which ended production of the aircraft.
The Mitsubishi SpaceJet was a regional jet project by Japanese company Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation (MAC), a Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) subsidiary. MHI first announced the concept in June 2007, then targeting certification for 2012, as the first Japanese airliner since the 1962 NAMC YS-11. After a delayed development, the maiden flight of the MRJ90 took place on 11 November 2015. In June 2019, Mitsubishi rebranded the Mitsubishi Regional Jet program as the SpaceJet. As flight testing took longer than expected, the scheduled entry into service was further pushed back until development was first paused in October 2020, and subsequently cancelled altogether in February 2023.
Sky Regional Airlines (SRA) was an airline whose corporate headquarters was located on the property of Toronto Pearson International Airport, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. Linked with Skyservice Business Aviation, it began operation under the Air Canada Express brand on May 1, 2011. The airline began offering daily flights between Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport and Montréal–Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport.
Chautauqua Airlines, Inc. was an American regional airline and a subsidiary of Republic Airways Holdings based in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. Prior to the shut down of operations, it operated scheduled passenger services to 52 airports in the United States and Canada via code sharing agreements as the Delta Connection for Delta Air Lines, AmericanConnection for American Airlines, and United Express for United Airlines. Chautauqua previously flew feeder services for other airlines via code sharing agreements including Allegheny, USAir, TWA, Continental, Frontier, and America West. Its last day in operation was December 31, 2014, at which time all flying was absorbed by the Shuttle America certificate.
The Embraer E-Jet E2 family are medium-range twinjet airliners designed and produced by the Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer. It was developed as a successor to the original E-Jet family.
Delta Connection is a regional airline brand name for Delta Air Lines, under which a number of individually owned regional airlines primarily operate short- and medium-haul routes. Mainline major air carriers often use regional airlines to operate services via code sharing agreements in order to increase frequencies in addition to serving routes that would not sustain larger aircraft as well as for other competitive or operational reasons.
On 28 April 2016, Bombardier Aerospace, a division of Bombardier Inc., recorded a firm order from Delta Air Lines for 75 CSeries CS100s plus 50 options. On 27 April 2017, The Boeing Company filed a petition for dumping them at $19.6m each, below their $33.2m production cost. On the same day, both Bombardier and the government of Canada rejected Boeing's claim, vowing to mount a "vigorous defence".
This is a list of aviation-related events in 2019.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)