i5xswipe

Doubt this!

I suppose next week when the vision of iAero and Swifts integration comes out, everyone may have more guidance to what is coming.

This is speculation alone by me here, it would appear the deal done with iAero and Swift, was structured similar to the Eastern and Xtra deals. It is possible Swift will re-brand, to get away from the previously reputations left in past public reviews, as they push closer to starting scheduled service, but will be the same underlying company as whole.

Essentially, Swift will remain Swift, with the same personnel. iAero is a shell company created to act as a holding company to bring three entities under one umbrella, AeroThrust, AeroTech, and Swift Air.

The former 4 billionaires that owned Swift, and the several managers whom hold a smaller stake in Swift "sold" a portion of the interest of the company to buy into the umbrella company, iAero. So now they will not only own Swift, but have vested interest in AeroThrust and AeroTech. I use "sold" loosely, as like Eastern and Xtra it is meeting of minds with another entity, to trade interests and assets to better all as a whole.

It will benefit all those with ownership, with a holistic partnership, to maximize purchasing powers, control expenses, consolidate, increase work, and to maximize profits, while allowing all to grow in market share. I wouldn't expect "new" owners to walk in the door, it's the same folks working with another group of like minded folks under one umbrella.

There is a lot of potential at Swift Air, contrary to what some believe.

While working for an airline is high paced, and in that pace is highly dynamic. It moves a lot slower on the business side due to the highly regulated nature. The changes many of us want to see are slow to come to fruition, and often meet setbacks with personnel changes, company structure changes, and other challenges that come up everyday.

Honestly, a good bipartisan working contract for all labor parties and company would go a long way to set expectations, and accountability. Bipartisan is the key word here, as all past working contracts have all been penned from the company, with no direct contribution from the working groups governed in said contracts, except the work group managers, who some if not all have a conflict of interest as they are given a piece of ownership to hold their title.

Additionally transparency, as there are several prominent folks whom flip flop loyalty from their work group to work backdoor deals to benefit themselves alone, costing the work groups as a whole.

Swift grew seven fold during my tenure. I contributed everyday to help the company grow for the better, to make it better for myself and my peers. I maintained my integrity everyday, and in good and bad times, never jeopardized my integrity, nor did anything illegal. While I needed to CYA often and bring things to attention more than I should have had to, as a supplemental self releasing captain. I was never forced to do anything unsafe and never gave an inch to do anything unsafe or illegal. I protected myself, but more importantly protected the air carrier certificate everyday, I utilized the ASAP program when needed as this program increases safety and results.

I always understood, every person in the company is expendable, from the CEO, COO, to myself. The most valuable thing at Swift Air is the Air Carrier Certificate. If that is suspended, or revoked, due to some cowboy antics, that cowboy would be jeapordizing not only their way of living, but every employees livelihood! Don't be a cowboy.

Swift Air is a small airline with lots of growth and teething problems. It also has been able to run lean and mean to maximize financials since bankruptcy exit in late 2013 and impress numerous investors. As an airline grows it inevitably slows and overhead costs grow. Swift has been trying to control these growing costs to stay attractive to buyers and investors a like, and this has caused much distress and frustration in the past year or so with the rapid growth understandably. I hope with the new holistic structure iAero will provide, some of the focus can return to focus on the company culture and improve QOL for all, and see increased incentives to steer toward a retention employer instead of turnover employer and increase QOL and benefits.

For many of those whom are new to the supplemental/135 world, Swift may not be the best fit. Most of the regional flying has the QOL modeled after mainline flying schedules (3-4 day trips), but lack much of the benefits. Swift will meet you in the middle on the benefits, but lacks good contract rules, soft-pay, and misses the mark on some QOL unless you live in base. It may be challenging for anyone coming from a regional background. Especially those with a young family or new wife. But if you enjoy bigger chunks of time off, with bigger chunks of working days, Swift may be of benefit, especially if you just need the B737 type to set yourself apart and be competitive to a growing pool of RJ pilots all applying to the same jobs as you. I wouldn't recommend anyone taking this job or any job based on upgrade times, as those fluctuate drastically based on growth, contracts, and to a lesser extend attrition. Just remember every job has its pros and cons, I made the best out of everyday with Swift, good and bad, and landed my dream job, due to my experiences, and the people I met and worked with at Swift.

Praise to Mexipilot for all his hard work. He is a great guy, with a young family, and has probably done more to better Swift than anyone else I know. I can't wait for the opportunity write a letter of recommendation for him given the opportunity!