Originally Posted by
Flip69
What he says. They wont change a thing at skywest. Not a thing. When the storm over PBS gets so bad that it is a constant drumbeat, then they will agree to publish the awards of everybody so anyone can see it. And the silent majority will think that "oh, pBS can't be bad because they are showing it to us now" Another few years will go by and the same old song and dance will continue. And that's the way they want it. Regionals are not a career. They were for a while but now it's back to cut throat operations and trying to stay alive a few more years while mainline absorbs back much of the regional flying. If you have not looked at the new UA pay scales with CRJ flying included including CRJ 1000 and 900, now is a good time to start realizing the end game is changing. When those 100 seat RJs start showing up on both DL and UA property, you can bet your bottom dollar that the regional model will turn on its head.
And looking at those scales you'll notice it's cheaper for mainline to outsource to cheaper crews. Beyond the hourly rate there's economies of scale from operating more than a few crjs for crew costs, maintenance costs etc. as well as diversification of risk by outsourcing.
I'm not saying it won't happen, but there will always be regionals in one form or another. If mainline can get their pilots to agree you will see 100 seaters at the regionals. The only way regionals will disappear is if staffing gets bad, so far SkyWest is staffing classes 80-100 people a month, where's the shortage? Surprisingly most new hires aren't not just making lateral moves but are military and CFIs.
On the up side the more planes mainline effectively take back the better the chance of moving on. There will never be a shortage at mainline.