ok.. The 2 to 3 year reserve thing is not at every base and not every aircraft type. There are a few FO's that has been on reserve for 2 years. The 7 year upgrade thing is not in every aircraft either... It's about 7 for CRJ captain in PDX. With Alaska hiring FO's and us having new orders of airplane that upgrade time will go down. Some of the guys that waited 7 years for upgrade did that by choice. I know of a couple guys that passed up Q200 captain upgrade for about 2 years...

Your numbers are probably right, i think about that all the time.. But let me ask you a serious question... Why is it that every pilot out there right now that is looking for a job all think they are going to go to skywest and upgrade in 2 years... Eventually after hiring all those pilots, someone is gonna have to be the FO. Every body cant upgrade it 2 years...EVERY INDIAN CANT BE CHIEF AT THE SAME TIME... . Horizon use to have 2 years upgrades but then 9/11 happen so people had to stay a little long and upgrades slowed down, they are starting to upgrade a lot of pilots now...Who knows what could happen to the industry and slow down the rapid ugrade at Skywest and other companies.

 

So True, people think that current upgrade times will last until they upgrade. The fact is you can't trust upgrade times until your number's called and you've complete CA IOE. That's why I used 3 years as FO at SKW as an average. Before 2003, when our growth really started to move, upgrade was about 4.5 years. I'm sure that they'll be there again. With our contracts, growth and attrition upgrade should stay around 2-3 years on average. I know that I've been with SKW for about a year now and I have several CA on the EMB Jr to me and I'm only 70 #'s away from jet CA.

One could say that people don't look at the big picture when choosing an airline. An example is all those MAG newbie's who think they will upgrade in 2 yrs. Ya! LOL

Thank you for your input.

 

Why did you bid the jet after being on the Bro? Do you currently have the time to upgrade?

 

thought you would bash me on that one.. But that is something I think about every time i read a post on here about skywest, asa, pinacle and all the others

 

I'm about 500 hrs from upgrade. I'm forced to commute from PHX because of my wife job. I chose to go to the jet for 3 main reasons:

a. EMB CA can hold a line at about 20-22 months, by the time I have the mins and they break my seat lock, it'll be about that time frame so IF I sit reserve it will be short lived. Where as on the jet I could sit reserve for over a year, in ORD. YEEK!

b. I wanted operational experience on the jet seeing that once I can hold a line as a Jet CA I will transition over and experience helps.

c. 2nd year Jet pay of $35 an hour is better than the Bro's $27.

If I must commute I want to hold a line so that I can spend more time with my beautiful family.

 

I don't bash, or at least I try not too. It's not worth the stress and I feel that we can have a better, more productive conversation if I keep it civil. I only ask the same.

Plus, you speak the truth. But not just about SKW newbie's, for some reason this has become an industry expectation. I didn't expect things to go this way when I got hired, but I'll take them.

 

hey jetjock, was your avitar before the picture of the bro from in front?

 

Sorry, not quite sure what you mean. I took the picture of the Bro in LAX when I was flying with a CA who had the coolest sun shades. There dragon eyes the color of the UAX Bro and look great. Wasn't SOP so he was taken a risk but awesome none the less. The picture is still in my collection so you can check it out. If you want a bigger picture, it's really cool, then PM me your email address and I'll send it. Same goes for anyone who wants it.

The Pic of my little girl, Julia, was taken about 3 months ago; turns 1 on the 3/28. She's after he dad's heart seeing I'm a Texas fan (from Dallas) and she is sucking on her two middle fingers creating a UT sign. LOV IT!

 

i guess my question is was your avitar before the picture of your little girl a picture of the bro?

 

Correct, I don't know if you can make out the eyes but it's really sweet!