Uh oh . . Big signing bonuses. That means they are having REAL trouble finding people, similar to MESA and TSA. . . . My prediction, four regional carriers will either go out of business OR be bought up in the coming 18-24 months.

You could even consider the PNCL purchase of Colgan #1 of 4 if you like.

 

Signing bonus?! uhm, the chief pilot didn't mention anything about that.. I'll have to look into it, but I'm wondering if that's only for street captain hires. does anyone know the details?

 

Ask for it, or tell the CP you won't go to work for them. See what is said

 

Big Sky only has signing bonuses for street captains at the moment, a similar bonus is being offered to BIL captains to move to BOS, as well as a bonus for current FOs to upgrade to captain.

They are hurting for captains in Boston. Many of the current captains have lived in MT for a long time and don't want to have anything to do with the North East.

The 8 new planes are going to BOS and are supposedly fairly new with a GPS and Flight Directors (they won't be old Mesa planes like the others). The planes currently in BOS look like they will be going back to BIL (where they came from).

From what I hear, Big Sky is in court to get out of the Mair contract. Something about no termination date of the contract being illegal. So, Big Sky might not be Mair's to sell in the future. FYI, it is this contract that is limiting the airline to 19 seat planes, so, possibly, when that is over, there is a possibility of larger planes.

 

This is true. Planes are being taken from BIL and are going to BOS. Cities out of BIL are being dropped because of this. However, they are already providing service out of the EAS cities and are planning lots of expansions to other cities, including into Canada that are not EAS routes. I wouldn't be surprised if they pull out of Montana one day and focus on the new Delta contract. This is where the talk of Salt Lake and LAX come from, feeders for Delta.

 

Thanks for the update Shaun. It'll be intersting to see what happens. Any pilot attrition with the guys that live in MT?

 

Just a little, and only for FOs. The little attrition there, is due to FOs upgrading and being sent to BOS as captains.

Little to no attrition for Captains.

 

Awesome...I did my COMP check a week ago and my first week on the desk this past week...Im excited about the new DL biz.I only miss the people at BSY....I wonder if Fred is having to write those $5K checks out of his own checkbook????...lol

 

You are right. They are "planning" expansion to more cities in the Northeast. However, right now the operation that Big Sky has going over there is out of control. They are growing too big too fast and it's not working well at all. There are plans to expand into Canada(Quebec and Fredericton) as well as three other cities(Burlington, Allentown, and somewhere else..can't remember right now) at the beginning of June. The new airplanes will not be on property by then and with the current 4 airplanes in the BOS area how do you expand on the flights already there? Big Sky is going to have to take a realistic look and not go full throttle with that plan just yet.

If Big Sky doesn't improve on their current performance I don't think you will get to see any of those Salt Lake and LAX rumors. At the moment Big Sky is pushing the BOS flying hard because it's what actually has full loads and people buying fares on.....EAS cities in Montana do good to have a few on a flight. The lack of crews and aircraft in BOS makes for the house of cards where when one thing goes wrong it all falls apart. If you like that have fun with Big Sky!

If anyone has any other questions let me know....I work there....I see the problems every day.

 

jetlink_dx,

would it be possible to live in Manchester NH if based in boston with big sky (mapquest shows a 1 hour drive)? What is a typical schedual? show times, end times, how many days a week? I'm guessing that there are no overnights, only out and backs, but I'm not sure.

I have a place I could stay in Manchester that makes big sky really tempting, but if it's a 6am show every morning and 9pm end time then that extra 2+ hours a day in my car would be brutal! Also, how many days off a month do you get? Can you get these days in chunks of 3 or more (and with how much seniority?) or are they always scattered here or there? Thanks.

(I'd PM you but cant cause this forum is stupid...thats right mods! )