Originally Posted by
DMEarc
No...SkyWest is a good company and their pilots are great. The fact of the matter is, without a union, management can do WHATEVER they want to them. That means fly a 90 seat airplane at 50 seat rates (or very close to it)
Their first year pay is worse than Colgan! Their second year pay is average where Colgans is still terrible.
SkyWest pilots need ALPA to protect them. I'm not saying it will happen but it can- If SkyWest management wanted to, they could easily turn that airline into Mesa Jr.
They constantly win RFPs...which is great, but better companies like Air Wiskey are left in the crapper because they refuse to fly for such shytty rates.
The biggest mistake that the un-informed (or intentionally misleading) make is to look at just the SKW hourly rates. The work rules are what make the difference.
SKW first year pay is quite good by regional standards as long as you fly. (if you sit reserve with no flying it's gonna s*ck for sure). The work rules ensure that you get significantly more pay credit than the flight time.
Second year pay is $40K+ (some guys claim $50K).
Also after first year you start getting performance bonuses.
It is entirely true that SKW management could do whatever they want tomorrow, but several things have prevented that (for 30 years) and will continue to do so:
1) The threat of unions.
2) The desire to recruit and retain quality employees (Quality is job one at SKW, and unlike a lot of other organizations they know that quality employees are the key to a quality product).
3) Management's sincere desire to provide their employees with a good working environment and quality of life. Before you deny this remember, they have 30 years of history to prove it. Also note that I did not say that they want to give away the company store or make their pilots rich. I understand that this is a very difficult concept for traditional union members to grasp, since the union-management relationship at most airlines is a balancing act of mutual hatred, loathing, deceit, and distrust.
This is not intended to be SKW koolaid, but just to state the facts. It is possible (if unlikely) that JA could turn SKW into mesa with one days notice. Of course I could vote in alpa pretty quickly too if necessary...