Originally Posted by
avi8tor4life
If SkyWest were to go in-house, it would fail miserably. We don't make enough as regional pilots to support any union actions.
Average regional salary: $50,000yr (capt/fo combined)
2% dues - $1,000
x2,800 pilots=
$2,800,000 per year
Now 1/2 of that goes to pay the salaries of SkyWest MEC -
chairman
vice chairman
secretary/treasurer
we cover their benefits, health insurance, equivelent flight pay (the company sure isn't gonna pay this). Remember they don't fly. They are full time running the business of representing you.
That leaves us with 1.4 million for:
legal representation
FAA representation of pilots
medical assitance
not to mention a strike (how far would 1.4 mil go to pay the salaries of the strikers?)
$1,400,000\2800=
$500 each. good luck!
One lawsuit against a pilot, by the company, would bankrupt the fledgling in-house union.
How much money do you think the company has to throw into a lawsuit?
How much experience do Ford and Harrison have(SkyWests on-call legal team)?
How much would your new union have? They read about negotiations in a book?
SkyWesters, in the last 6 months, how many pilots have had to fight to keep from being fired? How many HAVE been fired? Who would pay to fight for them? Where would that money come from?
It's all math and an in-house SkyWest union would not add up. The company would sink it in 6 months!
And you are way off base if you think 1/2 of union dues would go to salaries and benefits of a regional MEC's officers, let alone to those at a major airline! 50%? That's pretty funny. MAYBE 10% based on the numbers you stated above, but even that is probably a bit high for total salaries, benefits, etc. for MEC officers on full-time trip loss.