It's funny you should mention this and I actually thought it took awhile for somebody to try and make this connection. Well we don't have internal whipsaw at Inc. for a couple of reasons:

1. A lot of the actions of Inc. management clearly demonstrate who the preffered carrier is, Skywest. After we were bought a lot of the aircraft scheduled to be delievered to us ended up going to them. We also lost our SLC base while they grew in ATL.

2. We have furloughed they haven't

3. Even though Inc. worked out a nice deal for ASA for UAX, I'd say the best portions of that deal are going to Skywest. An extension on 40 airframes already at UAX and first shot at 30 turboprops for UAX. Any deal Inc. makes in the future will have the interests of Skywest first and ours second.

4. Neither Inc. or ASA management asked either group to give up concessions to bring our pilot costs in line with places like TSA or GoJet to win the United RFP. Further they didn't ask either of our groups to compete against each other and give up concessions to win the flying. We never heard statements or even rumors from our management saying whichever group did it cheaper would win. The rumors were always CR2s for ASA at IAD. Also Inc. essentially bought the contract with the $80 million loan to UA instead of asking for concessions to lower our labor costs closer to other regionals. I like the idea of management winning a contract by using money out of their back pocket not mine.

5. ASA could have come out and said they need PBS from us to win the UA RFP. Well the union has agreed in principle to it but it still needs to go to a vote. Whatever happens it'll be our own fault if we end up with PBS. It was however not forced down our throats to win the UA RFP.

6. I think management recognizes we won't easily roll over and die after the "safety campaign," we pulled to get our last contract finally complete.

7. Finally ASA wasn't created by Inc. so that management could avoid negotiating with Skywest pilots. There isn't hatred between our two groups so it would be much easier for us to stand together. Would it be easier if we were on 1 list? Absolutely but at this point in time Inc. management hasn't shown a willingness to play the whipsaw card. They have had ample opportunities to try. I know a lot of Skywest pilots and I don't think they'll stand for whipsawing either. Who knows though? It is absolutely an issue that both of our pilot groups need to keep an eye on and if it looks like management starts getting more agressive then we should both come together an integrate.


Now someone reading this might think I have a really bad case of Skywest Inc. kool-aid so before that happens realize I don't. I know picking a regional is like picking up an ugly fat chick at bar but we've all been put in this situation since the RJs aren't at mainline and mainline won't hire CFIs. It's like having to pick between a 0 and a 2 on the Tucker Max female rating system (for those unfamiliar 0 is known as a "Wildebeast" and 2 is known as a "Respectable Pig"). Yeah it's a terrible choice and I wish I had the choice of a 3-5 star female but at least the respectable pig might have a redeeming quality (nice face, boobs, etc.). However if picking the 0 encourages more of them to show up night after night, that'll drive more of the 3-5 star females away because these wildebeasts are the loud, obnoxious ones that order complicated drinks and spill them on the hot girls. I don't want to encourage that behavior so I'd rather have minimal impact on the bar scene so I'll choose the 2 star every time.