Originally Posted by
IQuitEagle
Actually, it IS different at other airlines. For example, at my last company (Eagle), every month there was a "bid vacancy announcement", and you bid for what you wanted. It the bid came out about the 15th EVERY month, and it closed at the end of the month. Awards posted a few days later. So yes, an airline CAN know when a base will open, plan for the near future, etc. But this assumes that management actually PLANS, fulfills its obligations, and communicated with its pilots.
Colgan is Colgan. Don't assume it is the same everywhere else. It isn't.
Colgan is different because we fly at risk. Eagle doesn't. Eagle gets its flying handed to them From AMR months in advance. Colgan has to sell the tickets in most of its markets, do the marketing etc. IF the outstation isn't preforming well, then colgan has to adjust the schedules, close the base, re-open it 100 times etc. Colgan doesn't just get a schedule from Airways 3 months in advance. Colgan has to determine if it is feasible for them to serve those markets for those 3 months. Old way of doing stuff and I'm sure it worked in the past with 15 planes and 200 pilots, but not now as we all see. I'm not defending it by any means, just trying to explain how it works, used to work etc. It's inefficient now with our size and I'd expect stuff to change for the better as the "old school" types slowly leave HEF. Colgan is one of the last "OLD" regionals left. OLD planes, OLD pay, OLD schedules, etc. Colgan is today what XJT was in 2000. A small regional with old planes that was bought and grown quickly for lack of a better explanation.