This whole situation with Skywest buying out Horizon's CRJ's and opening bases in the PNW is really crappy. In fact, that AAG was willing to farm out this flying to Skywest is the main reason I left Horizon. For all my friends on the Q4 in PDX and SEA, I hope only the best for them and their families.

However, to say that this was the result of pitting one pilot group against another simply isn't true. Horizon may have at one point in time had good pay, but that's no longer the case. The only reason the QX pilot group currently has higher AVERAGE pay rates is because of the relatively high longevity of it's pilot group. Most of the captains I flew with at QX had been there for 20+ years. A CR7/CR9 captain at SKYW doesn't make much less than a CR7 CA at QX after 15+ years. When was the last contractual pay raise at QX? If I remember correctly, 2007. And the new contract that the Teamsters negotiated for the pilot group reduced min guarantee (which the union tried to argue as an increase in scheduling flexibility, but at the end of the day leaves you with less $$$ in your pocket) AND left them with pay arbitration. Needless to say, I don't think the union helped much in negotiations. Pay rates at Skywest have increased steadily over the years with Cost of Living Indices, and were recently given a new pay package that I'm pretty sure was not "thanks to" QX's pay rates. The fact of the matter is that Skywest is the largest operator of CRJ's in the U.S., and can operate the jets at a lower total cost due to averaging fixed costs over a large fleet (Economies of Scale...as most posts on this thread have mentioned)

My guess is that this will likely only be a temporary solution until Alaska figures out who they want to fly jets in the 90 - 110 seat market...Mainline, QX, SKYW, or ________ ...This will likely replace the CR7 lift contract between AS and SKYW, IMHO