Originally Posted by
Go Ugly Early
Air Wisconsin flying? The flying was United's and Air Wisconsin lost the contract. Simple as that. No regional has their own flying. 90 percent of the regionals wouldn't even be in business if it weren't for the majors they get in bed with. Why is Air Wisconsin flying the same number of airplanes for USAir that they were flying for United?
How exactly did SkyWest put Skyway out of business in less than one year of flying for Midwest? Skyway was not making bundles of money flying 16 airplanes or they would have expanded. Ask yourself why Midwest/Skyway (same thing really) didn't buy CRJ's or ERJ's and fly them. The airplanes have been around for 15 years. How is a company with 11000 employees and significantly higher operating costs and pay that is higher in many other departments (such as mx) somehow cheaper than a company with fewer than 500 employees?
Midwest/Skyway management put Skyway out of business with their inability/reluctance to expand them. Simple as that. Why were they never given more or larger airplanes? Midwest/Skyway management put Skyway out of business just as Kerry Skeen put ACA out of business and Geoff Crowley lost Air Wisconsin's United flying.
OK, where to start with this one? All UAL flying? Hardly. AWAC had been doing most of those routes, at least out of ORD, since before UAL bought them (in 1993) to get the ROUTES and the LANDING SLOTS at ORD. And was doing that flying under our OWN TICKET STOCK AND RESERVATIONS, not UAL's. So that flying was, in fact, ours. As to why we are flying 70 CRJ200's for US, because AWAC NEGOTIATED to fly 70 CRJ200's for US, that's why. Re: 70+ seat airframes, we as a pilot group were asked to match your pathetic 50-90 for 50 seat rate, which we refused to do.
Oh, you are right about one thing. Crowley was/is a screw up!
I can't speak to the rest of you post, don't have any direct knowledge of those situations.
Don't for a minute think though that the actions of the Skywest pilot group don't have an effect on other pilot groups. Your failure to accept a real raise, when your company is so profitable, or at least a decent COLA increase, will have an effect on any other carrier trying to negotiate a better contract in the near future.
Peace.
ID
PS. To answer the original question, no, don't envy SKW for even 1 second.