Originally Posted by
OldSF3Dude
Anyway, I have some questions-
First off, I read online that Silver was getting rid of their last 8 Beech-1900s and was going to all Saabs. It was a May 10th 2013 wire that I can't find anymore. Did anyone else hear that? Are the EAS routes going to be flown with Saab-340s?
I haven't heard anything concrete about the Saabs replacing the Beechs, but it wouldn't surprise me.
Originally Posted by
OldSF3Dude
Is CLE a crew domicile?
No.
Originally Posted by
OldSF3Dude
I've read through many of the old posts on here and a while back there was talk about basing crews in hubs instead of out-stations. Is that still the plan? How do pilots commute... or don't they? What are schedules like... days on/off, days off per month, etc.?
Silver will most likely stick with outstation basing to avoid 365 days of hotel costs. In the CLE system alone, we've calculated hotels to cost ~$250,000/year.
Most commute, some don't. It's a PITA, period.
Schedules in the CLE system consist of three lines; weekday mornings, weekday afternoons, and weekends. All day trips. Days off per month are between 12-14 for line holders, 11 for reservists.
Originally Posted by
OldSF3Dude
I also read all sorts of rumors from a year ago about MSP becoming a base, among other places, but nothing recently. What ever happened with that?
Nothing happened. Last I heard about it was DR (former CEO) announcing we'd turned down Q400s that would've been based in IAH and MSP.
Originally Posted by
OldSF3Dude
From what I've read it sounds like a year ago there was massive expansion plans and then everything sort of imploded. What happened? Seems like very little growth in the past year, unless I'm missing something. Guys on here say they've been on reserve for a year and there are few upgrades. But your management says that if they're not growing they're dying. It's hard to get a read on what's going on there.
I suspect they slowed the pace of growth to let everything else catch up. Your guess is as good as ours.
Originally Posted by
OldSF3Dude
What's up with that flying in Montana? Seems wierd that that's way out there by itself. Does Silver plan to build on that or connect it with the rest of their system? Why isn't Silver competing head to head with Great Lakes? If Lakes went belly up would Silver even be capable of taking over that flying?
Montana is just government cheese. They'll hang on to it as long as it's turning a profit. I'd like to see Silver go head-to-head with Lakes, but I doubt that'll happen.
Originally Posted by
OldSF3Dude
In short, it's confusing to me what direction Silver Airways is thinking of going. If they want to go the prop niche it seems like there is a lot of plums out there that they're not trying to pick (especially in the upper midwest). Do they have no desire to expand outside the southeast, or are they just not capable due to lack of infrastructure, qualified pilots, etc.?
I think they bit off more than they could chew in the beginning and its taken them some time to sort out what's already on their plate.
Originally Posted by
OldSF3Dude
What happened to all the talk of expansion from a year ago?
It stopped.