First of all, I want to thank the numbers of Skywest folks that have treated me with respect and dignity as I make my way to/from work on a route that USED to be flown by our 757's, 737's and A320's, but in the last couple of years has transitioned to mostly RJ's. This is a stinky business sometimes, and I DO appreciate the ride.

A little bit of history, however. I was on the receiving end of NUMEROUS threats (some recently) from Skywest pilots saying they were going to deny me the jumpseat because of a mixup in the computer that UAL management was not bothering to fix whereas UAL guys would show up ahead of Skywest guys on their own flights....because you use our computer system for the jump. A couple of times, I hear a UAL pilot slipped through the cracks and snuck on the airplane in front of a Skywest guy. This was brought up to me time and time again, every time I tried to jumpseat (which is the only way I would EVER get a seat on a route that typically has a load factor in the high 90's... ALL YEAR LONG thanks to UAL pulling mainline from it). I was told I needed to get our guys to fix it, or I would be left behind. My answer was always the same. "I hear you, but unfortunately I'm afraid this is low on the alarmingly high totem pole that we have between the pilots and management. Feel free to deny me, I could use the time off anyway". I was threatened denial as recently as 3 months ago.

Fast forward, and now a "jumpseat war" is the most horrible thing in the world. Not trying to start a debate about the rights/wrongs, just remember that it always looks different when its YOUR issue.

One more thing that I feel needs to be pointed out. The pilots in question that will be forced to IAH through no fault of their own are the junior pilots on the property according to the posts I'm reading here. Every pilot hired at Skywest in the last 7 years was hired as a direct replacement for a UAL pilot that is now out on the street... some of them raising gear for the very guys that were hired in their place for 1/5th their pay. When each and every person in these junior position was hired, they were fully aware (or should have been) that they were replacing a mainline pilot with their lower paying job flying airplanes that were painted the same, flying the same routes, and doing the exact same thing as our 1400+ brothers and sisters were doing before UAL used Ch 11 to destroy our contract and what was left of our scope clause.

I'm not saying Skywest pilots shouldn't have gone out to try to get hired, and I'm sure I'll hear all about how United pilots "voted in" this scope clause "voluntarily" (go through a Ch 11 process and see how you feel about the word "voluntary" when/IF you come out the other side - see Mexicana). But the simple fact remains that at SOME POINT the pendulum was going to shift, and you HAD to know that the seat that you are in at someone else's expense was going to get awwwwwfffulllly uncomfortable. Best of luck to both sides, and I do truly hope a solution can be found that doesn't include the jumpseat.