LOL! This is great

Man, apply. See what the company has to offer. There is so much overreaction on here, its pathetic! This (forum) became a hair salon!!! Stop listening to every little drama queen on here who monitors these forums 24/7. Use your own head. be it Skywest, Horizon, Compass, Republic, Express or whatever...

Doesn't feel like an over reaction.

Sure, see what the company has to offer...but not if you're looking to fly jets, get a signing bonus, a flow agreement, or anything else most regionals have.

Not necessarily an overreaction, the company is of the belief that our current contract is more than the pilots are worth. At the same time other companies are sweetening the pot with bonuses, hotels etc. the only way that the company will change its stance is if the pilot supply suddenly starts to dry up.

And in true Alaska Airlines style......They are being very coy and sleazy in all of the communications about their intent......reminds me of the manner in which they built up to firing 700 plus union rampers one morning....

Good GAWD.......

In the town-hall meeting last week Mr Campbell stated a couple of things when I asked about attrition...paraphrasing, attrition is a reality in the regional airlines and ours is not out of line with he others. 12-13 year upgrades were ridiculous but a reality nonetheless. He thinks they will stabilize at about 3 years, (I'm betting it drops to around 2 first). The Board has approved a signing/retention bonus but Mr Tilden doesn't see any need to execute it as long as classes are full. It also seems to me the company is avoiding pay rates for the pilots as a negotiating tool but keeps mentioning work rules without saying exactly what hey want. My guess is they want break release vs door closure for start of pay. Time will tell...

I have a hard time thinking that this is how they would close the doors at QX. The email from the company essentially said "Bad news is we're cutting 20 Q400's, but the good news is we're giving you guys an opportunity here - cut us a deal and you get to fly jets!" If they wanted to shut us down, they wouldn't have told us outright that we are losing 40% of our fleet. Those leases aren't up until 2017-2018 yet they want a TA by the end of the year. Over 30% of our pilot group has been here less than 18 months. If we don't get those jets, I would expect the vast majority of our junior pilots would be gone by next summer. That means a major crew shortage - cancellations, parking airplanes still on lease, etc.

Beyond that, I think AAG has a lot to benefit from having QX fly the E175 for them alongside SKW. Put the majority of regional growth at QX, but just enough outsourcing to SKW to keep fear in the QX work groups of being replaced - like an ongoing reminder that Horizon isn't the only option. That way neither QX or SKW has any leverage and we can continue the race to the bottom just like every regional does to get new contracts from mainlines.

Does that mean that Horizon is the land of opportunity right now? Of course not. However, I highly doubt that we are legitimately at risk of being shut down.

They are looking for all ways possible to get the pilot group to approve productivity (i.e. cost saving) measures that do not affect hourly pay. Just look at the guy that posted on this thread about $40 an hour! Tons of potential new hires out there that will sell their souls for a couple bucks. SAP vs PBS? Duty/trip rigs? A lot of them don't even know what that any of that means! I'm not saying they're not intelligent (FAA gold seal guy is an idiot but he doesnt represent all 1500.1 TT newbies), but these changes to work rules will by and large not deter them from coming here.

Fact is, overall they are meeting their staffing goals, so why would they offer a signing bonus? They're offered time off without pay next bid. It'll catch up here eventually though. There are just not enough applicants for everyone to meet their staffing goals in the years to come.

A nice little threatening infographic posted from management on the company website.

http://imgur.com/6P8Pqp3