When Alaska adds the 90 plus seaters to the route structure, a spun off version of Skywest will be doing it...The big 3 scope clauses bind Skywest inc...which includes the remnants of ASA and XJet. and of course Skywest mainline.....Nothing will prevent them from spooling up another airline rapidly outside of Skywest inc. We do not enjoy 3rd party scope at all....If we get it it will be from our flight attendants....Just finished a 3day trip and nary an orange lanyard to be seen except the two we were wearing...lots of sheepish looks from company lanyard men and women......The arbitrators got it right...We have not earned and dont deserve legacy pay and benefits....The Alaska pilots union is being renamed: Apologist Line Pilots Association

That’s sad to hear

Where are you going to find the qualified staff to do a startup regional airline right now? You'd have to compete on the open market for those people... paying enough to lure people to a startup alter-ego regional instead of a major???

Qualified people are not going to take a chance on a startup regional, they'll just go work for the big four and skip the low pay, RJ schedules, startup workrules, and alter-ego stigma.

We're talking initial certification of a new operating certificate, flying an airplane that nobodies every operated before.

Yes, I remember how zero pilots went to Compass to become street captains when it started up in the worst recession since 1929. We have nothing to worry about.

Ahh, the ol'e "Need not fear, they can't staff it even if they wanted to!" comfort blanket. Trust me, they will find a way to do so. They'll offer pay rates $20-$30 above the "industry standard" E-175 rates for both seats and voila, they'll have pilots. If SJS was strong back in the day when the CRJ-900 was new...imagine a UND/ERAU grad looking at the prospect of flying a CS-300 or E195-E2 right out of the gate for compensation far better than what they imagined it would be.

PWNflyer: Any agreement can be dismantled and done away with, especially when it comes to this matter. All it takes is a team of attorneys and a check...look at all of the "iron clad agreements" between regionals and mainline carriers that "ended early" due to a "mutual agreement" between the two parties. SKYW would LOVE to fly the larger RJ's, especially the E195-E2. AAG has the pocketbook and legal team to make any arrangement happen...

As for your comments re: supporting each other and working towards Contract 2020, I agree 1000%.

That's because there were very few opportunities for pilots at the time...

Nobody who's qualified to be a DEC at a startup regional is likely to leave their current job when they can sit tight and wait for the bigs to call.

I didn't say get comfortable, I said "get scope". But I don't think you need to lose sleep for the next two years.

Yeah sure you can get CFI's to do anything, but you can't do a startup airline with a startup jet with CFI's. You need experienced LCA and SIM guys. BTDT, the FAA is pretty picky about who they let do things like that.

Of course you can do it, but you're not saving any money if you have to pay pilots 80% of narrowbody rates to fly a plane that carries 60% of pax a NB can. Outsourcing doesn't work when there's a labor shortage, the existing regionals are fraying at the seams already. And the shortage hasn't even got warmed up yet.

The bigs are not trying to push the boundaries to do more outsourcing right now, they're trying to setup flow mechanisms to recruit pilots to man the regional flying they have today, and man mainline in a few years.

Trans States Holding has the MRJ (90 seats) on order and they're not bound to any size or weight limitations . Their management would be drooling over the chance to fly them painted in Alaska colors.

Some can't wear the orange lanyards because...probation.

pretty easy to tell the probies....they look scared and wear hats...again today...Not an orange lanyard but ours....And Tom Kemp for the win....I am sure as herd we have added value to his end of year bonus.....over before it started....looking forward to contract 2022

I wouldn't worry about TSA. I used to work for them. They can't even staff what they have right now.