This is the mentality I'm talking about. Its not that something hasn't worked a half dozen times. Its that there is different amount of leverage from company to company. Mesa for example, they used up most of their leverage in their scope clause in order to reign in their alter ego airline. Like I said, things would have been MUCH MUCH worse without a union at places like Mesa, TSA, etc but people dont understand that and expect that everything should be as if their airline was successful and run by a competent management group. Its just unrealistic to think that ANY union can make things happen in an instant.

Again, my approach is to tell it like it is. ALPA is not omnipotent or perfect. But a union does mitigate a lot of things that would otherwise be worse. If the truth isn't good enough for people than nothing will.

Yes but considering they have more than $700 MILLION in the bank and made about $150 MILLION last year, their "at-will" work rules and pay should be just a little bit more. Maybe just a bit more than the next more successful regional. I don't think that is too much to ask.

Anyways, I dont think their pilots were rewarded enough for their hard work and loyalty in defeating the ALPA vote.

Skywest should be the undisputed, without a doubt, THEE best paid regional considering their continued success. Without a union, that will probably never happen.

And why are they making just as much as XJT when they should be getting paid more considering Skywest's balance sheet? By the way, XJT's COLA is 3% compared to Skywest's 1%.

Point is that without a union Skywest pilots will never get more than just at or around ASA rates when they should be the FDX/UPS of the regional industry.

Because what you have affects us all especially when your company is thee most successful regional. We are not your parents but we are your neighbors and would just like you guys to get some landscaping to bring the value of our homes up.

Part of QOL is whether you are an "at-will" employee or not. But considering that with a union recognized by the National Mediation Board has, by that virtue alone, has more leverage, its hard to see how they can not do better than what they were given by management.

Amen, and I would take a bit farther and say that any jet over 30 seats should have been at mainline.

 

You just want to see us lose our Contracts...LoL - I'm on to you! There can be no such thing as a "regional UPS/FDX" as long as mainline uses each and every one of us to whipsaw against eachother. It 'aint gonna happen...

 

What I meant to say is that Skywest should have the best work rules and pay out of all the regionals. I'm not saying that you need to price yourselves out of the market but clearly Skywest is able to improve work rules and pay. Right now other regional managements use your work rules and pay to whipsaw the rest of the regional industry considering Skywest is thee most successful with the healthiest balance sheet.

It 'aint gonna happen...overnight.

 

Thats exactly what mgmt wants you to think. Dont fall for that. Your company pays you not the major you fly for. All the major cares about it waht your mgmt charges them. Instead of giving you more they would prefer to pocket it themselves and throw fear grenades that if they pay more you will lose flying. Whipsawing is not good for anyone.

 

the half dozen times I'm referring to are the previous failed union drives at SkyWest.

 

Ah, my bad. I thought there were only three total unionizing drives in the past. That is what confused me.

Again, at this last drive (its the only one I was involved in), I only told people the truth. I was not going to make promises that were just not realistic even if it meant that it would persuade people. Many people wanted to know if there would be results the day after the vote (assuming it was successful, for the pilots that is). Things don't happen overnight and I wasn't going to say everything would happen overnight.

Do you have any suggestions that doesn't involve not being truthful?

 

Air Wisconsin flying? The flying was United's and Air Wisconsin lost the contract. Simple as that. No regional has their own flying. 90 percent of the regionals wouldn't even be in business if it weren't for the majors they get in bed with. Why is Air Wisconsin flying the same number of airplanes for USAir that they were flying for United?

How exactly did SkyWest put Skyway out of business in less than one year of flying for Midwest? Skyway was not making bundles of money flying 16 airplanes or they would have expanded. Ask yourself why Midwest/Skyway (same thing really) didn't buy CRJ's or ERJ's and fly them. The airplanes have been around for 15 years. How is a company with 11000 employees and significantly higher operating costs and pay that is higher in many other departments (such as mx) somehow cheaper than a company with fewer than 500 employees?

Midwest/Skyway management put Skyway out of business with their inability/reluctance to expand them. Simple as that. Why were they never given more or larger airplanes? Midwest/Skyway management put Skyway out of business just as Kerry Skeen put ACA out of business and Geoff Crowley lost Air Wisconsin's United flying.

 

ExpressJet does!

Gotta agree with you though, SkyWest didn't put Skyway out of business, poor choice of aircraft, no plan for growth and a lack of economies of scale did.

 

ExpressJet does and I should have clarifed what I said. ExpressJet is already cutting branded flights because it just simply doesn't work for airlines to operate 50 seat airplanes with their own brand. It didn't work for Indy, it isn't working for GO! in Hawaii and it doesn't appear that ExpressJet's own brand is working. The gravy train the regionals enjoy is a result of the contracts they have with majors. Not criticism or flaming, just a fact.

 

You should also then be clarifying that while flying is getting cut in the east it is getting added in the west. Pretty much nothing in common with INDY. No Flaming, Just A FACT. The XJT brand is doing much better than INDY ever did. While some routes are being dropped they are tweaking the routes. Would you expect it to be an Instant success?