I waited (or waded if you will) a couple of months before I got a class date.

 

No classes period until June 30th. I heard yesterday that we might not hold a new hire class until Sept unless something changes.

 

man this sucks

 

wavit, who are you ? send me an email at swol

 

SKW has a history of doing this. Don’t forget that they had a hiring freeze that lasted from Fall 05 through late Spring 07 which resulted in them hiring 750 pilots the next year and 1100 in 18 months. When times look like they might get tough they freeze (DAL/NWA merger, possible UAL/CAL merger, low attrition and no growth other than Midwest flying), this is so that can maintain their perfect record of no furloughs (they're not the kind of airline that continues to hire right up to the day they furlough. errrrrrrrr TSA) and ensure their expenses stay low (minimal reserves sitting around). When hiring does start back up, look for them to go strong seeing they’ll be back to being extremely short staffed again.

Sucks because I was going to be in either the Apr or May upgrade class. Looks like I’ll just have to stick with my 17-18 days off, 90+ hrs of credit and home everyday with only 2 or 3 overnights per month until late summer or early fall. Damn, life sux! (note sarcasm)

Looks like more red arrows on SkedPlus+. Here in ATL the only time we don’t see red arrows are on days that have already passed. LOL!

 

I guess this is the first time for me to go "swimming" in a hiring pool. Since my interview on the 5th and got the conditional hiring, how do you know say your status, such as did all the background stuff go thru? Do you email the recruiting people occasionally for any updates? or is it just sit and wait? Either way just curious

 

Hang in there for now. The pool is always frustrating but I honestly don't think you will be swimming for as long as we think right now. I really do think they are being conservative right now.

 

FWIW, I talked to someone in HR recently, and they said that my class size has changed, and as of right now, there would be no Mar. 10 CRJ class. When I asked when would I be notified further (good or bad), they said they would notify me by Mar. 1. We'll see......

Anyone else have any other HR-provided info?

 

I heard this same news from a few other guys. It seems like they had deep pilot reserves that were not being utilized. Can you imagine being 40 deep as a reserve pilot?

I will talk to my friend who is in the feb ground class and see if he has any other info to offer.

If you had the choice to instruct longer to pay the bills and hold out for skywest till summer or jump on another regional that would require a move and east coast flying, what would you suggest? I have always wanted to work for skw but I am not sure it is worth it with a hiring slow and slower upgrade times now.

 

Dude(or Dudette), as I'm sure you know, it's always a gamble with your aviation career progression decisions. It's so hard to say what to do. If you are single, not a lot of friends/family where you live, no pets, etc. then it might be an option for you to pursue that east coast option.

On the other hand, If I were you, I would stay put and wait out the Skywest scenario. IMO, the following are important:

-I assume you have already been offered employment at Skywest--it's not if, but when you will start.

-Though I am a little frustrated with the lack of communication related to the current situation, Skywest is a very successful airline, seems to be shrewdly operated, and it seems the majority of the pilot group is not unhappy. No history of furloughs is cool.

-Moving sucks + east coast flying sucks. Not that you'll totally avoid the east flying at SKYW.

-you have always wanted to work for SKYW--That's important.

-maybe I'm in denial, but I dont think the wait will be that long.

Sleestak