November 3, 2010 - Pilots for Continental Connection carrier CommutAir conducted an informational picket at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport to protest proposed pay cuts that would make them the lowest-paid pilots for their aircraft type in the airline industry.

Coming at a time when experts agree the regional airline sector needs improvement, the pilots warned that CommutAir management?s plan to lower their wages is a direct assault on efforts to raise standards among regional carriers.

?No one wins in a race to the bottom,? said Colgan Air Capt. Mark Segaloff, who was recently elected to represent the CommutAir group as an executive vice-president of the Air Line Pilots Association, Int?l. (ALPA). The CMT pilots joined the Association in 2008 and are negotiating their first union contract.

CommutAir was established in 1989. It had a marketing affiliation with US Airways. Its headquarters were in Plattsburgh West, Town of Plattsburgh, New York.  The airline changed affiliations to Continental Airlines in December 2000, when US Airways did not renew the codeshare agreement. In July 2001 the company announced plans to downsize its fleet and workforce by approximately half and begin a reorganization of the airline.

In early 2002 the company began a "micro-hub" operation based in Albany, New York. At its high point in 2003 and 2004 the hub served the following cities: Allentown, Harrisburg, Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Burlington, Manchester, Portland, Bangor, Providence, Islip, Hartford/Springfield, White Plains, Ottawa and Montreal, all with a fleet of Raytheon Beech 1900Ds.

Service was also provided out Boston's Logan International Airport to Rutland, White Plains, Allentown, Burlington, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Islip, Saranac Lake, and Plattsburgh. Following unprofitable operations as Continental's regional affiliate in Albany and Boston, all operations were gradually shifted towards the midwest in 2005.

In January 2003, CommutAir announced an agreement with Continental to feed the latter's Cleveland, Ohio hub. Service was commenced on March 16, 2003 with service to Kalamazoo, Michigan and Elmira, New York. Two cities were added the following month and by August 2003, CommutAir served 12 cities from the Cleveland hub. As of May 2007 the company has expressed plans to move operations from Plattsburgh to the Cleveland area.

On May 20, 2008, Commutair's pilot group voted, 107 out of 118 eligible voters, for union representation by the Air Line Pilots Association. On June 5, 2008, Continental Airlines announced that it would cut flights and more than 3,000 jobs. A week later, it was announced that some of CommutAir's flights would be eliminated following Continental's announcement, beginning September 3.