Originally Posted by
JoeMerchant
Nevets and others try to blame all of this on some grand conspiracy of SkyWest Inc. to purposely make XJT unprofitable. That simply isn't true.
The fact is, LXJT pilots are living in a bubble from the past. They think this is still the world when they were CAL's exclusive feed and had a 10 percent cost plus CPA as the exclusive feed. In addition, CAL Exp. and later XJT, never experienced the whipsaw that Delta and United have been using for decades. The DCI and United Express battlefield are littered with corpses of dead regionals or regionals that rebranded after Delta and United got done with them. WestAir, AirWisc, Comair, ACA, etc.
These aren't "little trivial" differences. There is a huge cultural difference between the two carriers. There are huge differences in expectations. And then there is the very real difference pertaining to scheduling methods.
After four years, not only haven't those differences been narrowed, they have actually grown. It is time to move on. As Nevets says, everyone needs a plan B. The ASA side is executing their plan B. That is protecting the interests of their pilots.
And let's not forget these industry outliers, which are the true reason XE is losing money:
Industry leading 50 seat RJ rates
Company paid defined contribution retirement plans
90% company paid PPO health insurance
Company paid On the Job Injury (OJI) bank
Line Bidding with vacation touch/drop
Inability of the company to contact on-duty crew members for rescheduling except in person
No operational flexibility
Angry labor groups, unwilling to perform above minimum requirements of contracts.
This is not a union vs union pi$$ing contest. This is a very real merger failure because of diametrically opposed cultures clashing in a vacuum of leadership.
So yes, it's time for the ACQUIRED (not hired) carrier to get on board or get parked. The SKW BOD has clearly run out of patience. They are not going to let the angry money losing side sink the profitable and willing side.