So it's a "pick 'em" between the two (SKW & Compass) now? Neither one is better than the other, for someone who lives in base, all things considered?

And if you were a dumb newb....like I am....where would you go today, knowing what you know??

 

Naw, whatever works for you. Don't limit yourself to those two.

My point is Compass' time was last year. Things were a jolly good time for all these clueless kiddos, but being hired on the very back side of a hiring wave is not a good place to be. Especially when 2-3 years out a majority of the fleet is up for renewal.

 

OK

It sounds to me like you really know what you're talking about. You say Compass was the place to go 1-2 years ago, and you were right.

Now, you're saying Compass is definitely not the place to go, but I notice you are not saying SKW is either.

Where would you go as a newb today, knowing what you know? Who is the Compass of 2016-2017?

 

I don't know much. If I knew the next Compass was if be doing better things than flying airplanes because I'd be like those people in da movies who see the future.

What I do know is-

Don't listen to the squids. They're just selling newbs to come sit in the right seat only to make the second act in their play work out the way it's supposed to.

 

Your troll game is strong as always FB but you know as well as I do that pilots are commodities. I can't predict the future. But I can tell you official attrition numbers just came out and it's even better than I thought... 35 so far this year, and it's only Feb 19th. Again, 600 active pilots. I'm not promising an 18 month upgrade, but is it going to be faster than Skywest? Absolutely yes it is... and the math sure works out pretty decently close /if things stay the same/ as I said.
But you really think we're positioned to lose flying as one of the cheapest operators of an extremely in demand jet? I highly doubt that. DL would like to give us MORE flying. AA stuff... we are doing so well with it and we're cheap enough that the economics state it'll stay around, plus who the hell is gonna be able to staff it? Envoy? you must be joking... not on that concessionary contract. Even if it did go away, regional pilots aren't so cheap or easy to find these days, so that's a commodity. And we are basically a staffing agency, we don't own the planes or the gas or the engines. We just have pilots.. which have value. I'm not selling anybody down the river, I'm just backing up the math. 14 in jan and 22 so far this month. Granted some are FOs, but the CA attrition alone is high enough that with the size of the pilot group movement is gonna continue to be quick. That's not a pyramid scheme, you can do the math the same as I can.

 

Every Regional in the country is going to have a 2-3 year upgrade in the future, even Skywest. The stability, resources (to attract new pilots) and base selection of Skywest is worth the extra few months it would take to upgrade. If Compass announced more flying then that might change things.

 

I'll say this, FaceBiter...

You seem to know a lot about Compass while at the same time inferring, as a SKW pilot, that I should look elsewhere rather than come to SKW.

For me, the takeaway is that...Compass aside...I should definitely NOT go to SKW.

Which is interesting. Because ya don't hear anyone from Compass saying that about their company.

 

You sir, are the burn master. I can feel the heat from here.

 

Skywest is a solid place and I came very close to coming there myself. Most of the people at the company seem damn happy. I can't in good conscious sit here and say bad things about a company that I don't work at. Especially when my friends there are happy, and they seem to value their employees. Trans States certainly doesn't. All I can do is tell you about Compass and what's happening there and why I think it's a better idea, but it's up to every individual's circumstances. If you live in ORD then of course Skywest is a better option. That said, if you live in SEA or LAX and you choose Skywest I think that's maybe not the best career decision but I don't have a crystal ball. Skywest is the 800 lb gorilla and they will certainly continue to grow and gain flying. And in a few years hopefully it is all rainbows and unicorns for everyone as we get our dream major jobs and are finally paid what we're worth. But.. pragmatically? There are also 3800 pilots according to APC. I would love to see the attrition numbers, but many of the Skywest CA are older and not going anywhere. That slows it down, it has to... maybe it's a small amount of the math, but I don't know. Every time I have a Skywest DH, I see an older CA that doesn't look like he's going anywhere anytime soon. That's out mostly on the west coast though - where are you hiding the 30 year olds doing everything they can applying everywhere to get out as fast as they can? Because that's most compass CA. And that IS a difference, and it does matter. I posted the attrition numbers, you know the size of our pilot group, you can do the math on your own to try and project the upgrade time. And in a year everything could be totally different and hopefully you like where you ended up. But right now that is the way things look.

 

I'm moving up 30 to 35 numbers a month with just over 1.5 years in. 1150 pilots under me. I've moved up about 550 numbers since I started.