Originally Posted by
Utah
I know what are they thinking..
Living in domicile, flying locals 3 -4 days a week, showing up at the airport at 8:00 am and off by 4:30. Home every night for dinner with the family, off every weekend, holiday and special occassion. And all for the measely sum of a $120K+ a year. (If they only work three days a week they'll only make 110K so they'll have to throw another local in there once a month to hit $120K) The fools.
They could have chased a job in a Boeing, commuted to reserve half way across the country, then held a line or maybe got a transfer somewhere closer. If they timed it right they'd have only spent maybe have of the last decade furloughed. Of course their crystal ball told them not to go to Eastern, Braniff, ATA, TWA, Midwest, and a long list of other places. Perhaps they should gone to Usair or American 15-20 years ago. Maybe they might be a junior captain on a narrowbody. More money? Sure. Better schedule? NO. Nore than likely, they'd still be in the right seat.
Yep, they should have left for United or TWA back around 2000-2001. They'd have been much better off. Way more time with the family.
Obviously, they won't have the luck that you will in your career. You'll have your choice of which Legacy or Cargo company you'll go to. You'll have quick movement on the seniority list, a quick upgrade to a widebody - as a captain of course, never be furloughed, with great pay and benefits, all in a domicile in your home city.
Of course were not talking about a lot pilots here at SkyWest. We'll retire less than 50 out of 2700+ in the next 10 years.
All that's true, however...
The people who fit your description started before the advent of the RJ and never dreamed at the time that they would make $100K+ at SKW. Their dreams mostly involved getting PIC and moving on, I doubt that very many planned on doing 6-8 leg days in a small turboprop for the next 40 years.
Their circumstances improved dramatically due to unforseen events...basically they got lucky. Nothing wrong with that, but it's not wise to rely on luck, except for the kind you make yourself.
The vast majority of the SKW pilot group will not have the same opportunities and circumstances that the current 20-year guys have. The regional industry has changed dramatically, and can and will do so again...and probably not in a good way.
Also SKW does not have fixed contracts for the next 40 years...if everybody stays put they will max out the payscale and SKW will have trouble competing for new and renewal business. Need more details on that? Check the dictionary under "COMAIR". Regionals have a finite lifecycle...
The best those guys can probably hope for long-term is that SKW goes branded...and somehow succeeds where so many others have failed. Credit where credit is due...those guys are pretty smart, if anyone can do it they can. But if they get forced into hail-mary branded flying due to cancelled feed contracts, I would not be optimistic.