A few things I would consider. Silver and Great Lakes are such small airlines that its probably best to do things differently than other airlines. In marketing terms, you call that a niche, you are different than the others.

I don't believe there is anything any airline or industry as a whole is doing to address the real problem, the lack of pilots in the pipeline. All airlines whether major or regional are going to have to deal with this very soon.

The focus right now is only retaining what you have and poaching what you can. It's a short sited strategy to say the least and is only a year away from catching up to the real problem of the pipeline.

So what should Silver and GLA as a company do? What should the pilots that work at Silver and GLA do?

First, I think as pilots you have to accept the fact that these are simply not airlines you can make a career out of. If you get stuck at a commuter for whatever reason, and the fact is, some of you will get stuck, you have to know going in that you are gambling by staying here. The longer you wait, the harder it is to move on.

Second, what should the company be doing? If it was my company, I would eliminate the dual rates for Captain and FO. Silver and GLA are so small, the dual rates do not make sense for these airlines. What they should do is flatten the rates. Captain pay should be lower. FO pay should be higher. You can still have a longevity scale, but it should look like this for both positions. Year 1 should be $50/hour, or approximately $42,000 per year. Year 5 should be $60/hour, or approximately $50,000 per year. That's it- props, jets, captains, fo's. Nothing beyond 5 years.

It should be understood mutually by the company and the pilots that if you come to work for the company, it's not a place to retire. It's up front and honest and says to the world that 'hey, were not the biggest but we make do with what we have and do a good job at it.' You come to work, to put your dues in, you fly your hours, you get the captain time. You move on.

Further, your retirement 401k is such a pittance anyway, it doesn't even matter. Eliminate it. Saves the company money. What kind of sense does it even make to direct funds towards retirement when you have a large debt to payoff, whether college or flight school or both. If you have serious debt, you need to pay that off first before worrying about retirement. Doesn't make sense if your credit card interest rate is 18% and your investments are only making 10%. You want retirement? Marry a rich or working spouse and/or open yourself up an IRA.

No bonuses.

It sounds harsh, but that model might make the airline more competitive as a short term place to work.