SkyWestPilot1

Hey shaken whats shaken,,, sorry I couldn't resist. I'm in a good mood this morning, sorry for my enthusiasim. Anyway thought I'd reply to your post. You don't have a good qol? If your fairly new, be patient that will change. If your not new then you need help with PBS, there is no other explanation. As far as the protection goes, from what? Have you been having problems with the company, have they been cheating you? If so I strongly recommend that you talk to your chief pilot, I gaurantee he'll go to bat for you every time. Those guys are on our side. Trust me I know. As far as a 4th carrier let me quote a fairly famous and very wealthy man before he past away.... "You can never have enough customers"........Ray Kroc.. founder of McDonald's.

I think its fairly obvious that if we have more customers that buy our product that we'll have more destinations, which will lead to more AC which will lead to needing more pilots which will eventually lead to you having more people below you which leads to you having a better qol (which in my opinion you should have now, or will shortly anyway)
Now, on the other hand. Why not take a few moments the next time you see an Air Whiskey guy and ask him what we need more, a union or plenty of business. I'll tell you what he's going to say... A union, know why? Because they lost a bunch of customers (flying) and MANY of them have a poor qol compared to what they had. Soooo, if we could possibly loose some of our flying (or stop the growth) then they have a chance at getting back to where they were. Plain as that.

And now for my final point. Be very careful to stay humble and thankfull for what we have, it could all be gone in a heartbeat. Don't be fooled that just because we've been around for 35 years and are making money that it couldn't change. Every time I go into the crew lounge in DEN I'm aware of this, know why. That was Air Whiskeys crew room not very long ago. They were where we are, both literally and figuratively. History shows that no matter how big, tough or fast you think you are there is always somone waiting to take your spot.

I want to say somthing about Air Whiskey: I had planned on leaving corp flying and going to work for them, I really like that company and I have a ton of friends over there. Right when I was about to make the leap is when all the changes started happening and I took a step back and waited to see how it was going to shake out. I went to SkyWest for my future, I really like it here too, and am very thankful for how it has worked out for me. I am still sickened by how far Air Whiskey has fallen, I would never have dreamed that would happen. So for all you Air Whiskey guys,,,, hang tough, It'll get better.

bizzum

Know the real reason why an AWAC'ER would tell you that you need a union? Because before YOnited told us we were to expensive, we too had a great relationship with our management. Contracts were negotiated over a keg of beer in ATW. Our management would NEVER steer us wrong, we would NEVER lose any U flying. (Sound familiar SKW guys?) What happened? Well, we listened to our "we will never steer you wrong" management and we took concessions. We STILL lost the flying, and now are operating under that same contract. What would have happened if we had no union? Well, first off, they would have imposed what ever they wanted on us. We would have had ZERO control of what "it would take to keep the U flying." If you think that it CANNOT happen to you at SKYW, ask any ACA or AWAC guy. The only thing that will protect you and your families is a union. United is NOTORIOUS for screwing its regionals, they don't care how great your service is, just about how cheap you can do it. If you are happy with your current work rules, then why would the company have a problem putting it in writing and be legally bound to it? It is because they will have NO WAY to change it on a whim. There is absolutely no reason that voting in a union has to change they way the pilot group and management interacts. Good luck either way, but just remember, just because things are so great TODAY at SKYW, does not mean they will be tomorrow, and when things go bad, do you want your management to be able to take away your ability to make a decent living, or do you want the guarantees that a contract provides.

ToiletDuck

Have you read the new terms in the ASA TA that SKW doesn't want the pilot group to have?

SkyWestPilot1

Sorry, I stand corrected. I thought that you guys were ALPA when you lost the United flying. My mistake.

ToiletDuck

He brings up a great point. Try not to sound like some rich old guy who thinks his hot young wife actually loves him. Shoulda got the prenup!

bizzum

ALPA does not come in on white horses to negotiate your contract. Your OWN PILOTS do that, your negotiating committee. ALPA provides classes and techniques to your committee, as well as lawyers who know and understand contract language for the process. Why do you think that voting in ALPA will stop your growth and upgrades? What happens when you are flying as a CRJ-900 CA for $30/hr because United decided you were too expensive, Jerry had to lower your costs, so he issued a "policy manual revision?" If your pilot group is happy with your current work rules, then there should be no problem putting them in a legally binding CBA.

bizzum

We were, we just had a good relationship with management, AT THE TIME.

SkyWestPilot1

Bizzum

I can certainly understand your point of view. If I may, let me try to explain mine. I've used this anology before so if you've already heard it I apologize.

If you've been happily married for 35 years and you have a great relationship with your spouse, do you hire a divorce attorney just in case you may need him? And if you do hire one does that affect the relationship with your wife. You see, its, as my grandfather used to say, a conundrum. Your damned if you do and damned if you don't.

Now, if you are having trouble in your 35 year old mariage then you may consider going to talk to an attorney to see what your best legal move would be IF you decided to take action. That being said, if your wife finds out you went and did that she may be mildly upset. More likely she'll go get her own having seen the writing on the wall so to speak.

Now, if you are happily married and things have been good, and now, they are continuing to improve even more, would that be the time to get an attorney? No, not if you want to keep things going towards improving an already great relationship. You see, bringing a 3rd party into a relationship is only good if your having trouble. Thats why we have divorce attorneys, marriage counslers, and even your pastor to help smooth out the wrinkles in troubled times.


Now for a little view on life that I have learned after several times around the block. Human nature is such that we do not like to see others succeed even if we ourselves are doing well, and certainly not if we are having trouble in life. Therefore it makes perfect cents that everyone wants us to become an ALPA carrier,,,,,hoping that we fall from our perch, thus making everyone else's life seem better. This is a human trait that is built in ever since the fall of man.

ToiletDuck

In general a wife has a moral obligation. A company doesn't. A wife is supportive of your goals, a company is supportive of its goals. A wife is a lover that shares an emotional bond, a company is your employee and demands obedience and strict compliance to its regulations. A wife doesn't have regulations.

Yes insert jokes all over it because someone here mentioned a woman but you understand the reality of what I'm getting at.

BTW your last statement sounds like some brainwashed answer built on a pile of ignorance. Do you really expect us to want to see you fail? Why in the hell would we want someone to fail? It's that very reason we want you guys in a union. So that when your company tries to drive you down you don't tumble and take USwith YOU. As was mentioned before ALPA doesn't negotiate your contract your pilot group MEC does. They just keep it legal and keep your job safe. Without them you may still be able to negotiate a contract but there is nothing to keep them from saying "the hell with it" and tossing it out.

TonyWilliams

Unfortunately for ALPA, you're right, things are pretty good at SkyWest. Sure, they could go down the toilet just like they have at ALPA AirWhiskey, ALPA Unitied mainiline, ALPA Mesa, etc.

I guess ALPA will have their awesome track record to sell and for SURE, SkyWest guys will vote in ALPA when that rainy day comes, right?

For now, it's five days to another ALPA failure.