You must have missed the fact that I said I was leaving.

 

so are you staying or are you leaving? This sounds like you are staying!

 

This is just my opinion, but they never intended to be a company that owned an airline. From their website "Working primarily with US-based companies across a variety of industries, we typically seek to invest between $10 million and $50 million per transaction. However, we are also able to complete transactions requiring more than $50 million in capital through our syndication capabilities. We work primarily with small cap public companies and middle market private companies that typically generate less than $150 million in revenue and $30 million of EBITDA." (EBITDA=Earnings before interest taxes depreciation amortization.)

Airlines don't have high profit margins so unless they're huge like a major they're not going to make money hand over fist. So how else does a company like VPC make money on an investment? By selling it, so it doesn't make sense for them to pump it full of brand new RJ's or Q's and be some super regional at least in my opinion. Buying the Saab's, Sabre, etc etc is just the beginning for another company to see the potential future value and further grow. This is all just the bored ramblings and $.02 input being thrown around by us.

 

Do you have some infatuation with my career and what I choose to do with it?

 

Nope, I just find amusing how you contradict yourself and don't know what to do but find yourself qualified to tell another pilot that he is just a T-prop pilot and that he shouldn't expect to make a decent living. So where are you going?

 

Dude you're creepy

 

And to further make my point I'm going to a T-Prop operator that allows you to make a decent living. Go back to the Eagle threads.

 

Ha ha, ok Cruz... I will go back to being creepy in the Eagle threads. good luck with whatever decision you make, hope it works out for you and your family.

 

Why would the company and your union need to meet to discuss how to improve a pilot retention situation? Does that make any sense to anyone?

If the company wanted to do you a favor, they would. They wouldn't need the unions permission to give each of you an annual $10,000 bonus to stick around.

Let's face it. Right now, Silver is a very tiny player in the airline world. It doesn't have any money to do anything to make itself better. The investment company that owns you isn't in the business of doling out one extra dime. They are in the business of making about 12% on their investment by any means necessary (otherwise they would have invested in real estate). Retention is a management problem, and management can be replaced if they don't dance to their drum beat. But what Silver does have, just like all other airlines, is the rumor mill hope fantasy to get you to stick around a little longer on the possibility that something big might be coming, but it isn't. If something big was coming, you would know, you would see things changing, reading about such things in various news outlets.

Most pilots stick around a poor company like Silver because of a quick upgrade path. But if that is not to be, what's holding you at Silver? Might as well sit FO at a better airline that doesn't open and close bases every few weeks.

And here is the other thing that I bet none of you think about much. There is going to be a certain percentage of you who get stuck at a regional airline and never make it to the majors. Which regional are you going to be stuck at?

You have to honestly ask yourself what's in it for you at Silver? Many pilots will want to stay because they like where they are at in Florida with its outstation basing. That might be the only legitimate reason to stay. Obviously it is a very personal and subjective decision.

 

Well said my friend