dontsurf

if you haven't noticed, we are the ones that are relaxed. i'd be hoping your management gets your company straightened out if i were you. look at your balance sheet. it's scary stuff. good luck to you and all expressjet pilots, because i hope for the best for you, and congratulations on getting to stay independent.

Bond

Thanks, good luck to you guys as well.

NightIP

...even though BOTH your biggest contracts are with companies that posted huge losses? I would not be so relaxed. Industry changes affect everyone, including SKW. Remember that.

Why do you think SKW has been pursuing flying with CAL so hard? SGU: Where the kool-aid flows like, uh, kool-aid!

TimSmith

Good Luck Bond! I mean that! I have friends over there and ya'll have been the consummate professionals. Congratulations on the decision!

Bond

Thanks Tim,

This has always been about saving our junior guys and keeping our frames, I have no ill will towards anyone here. That being said, we're certainly not out of the woods...the next few weeks should be interesting. Good luck to all of us with this oil prices.

newarkblows

how many xjt guys were happy about it? not many if any at all. did we expect you to be happy about it? Hell no! if your management got their way it would have forced our two labor groups to fight for and be thankful for every little bit of flying we did. Any leverage either of our work forces had achieved for future pay and benefits would have been ripped out from underneath us.

some on here thinks its cool to knock us when we are down. let us worry about our own situation instead of listen to your third hand "my buddy said your 10-k was weak. you guys are screwed." Keep knocking us, you do whatever makes you feel better about your career but the truth is a *****. No one at any regional or major should expect to retire at that airline. Any company doing well today could be gone in the blink of an eye.

Have some respect for your profession and your fellow pilots because this career is all a big gamble. People make choices to work somewhere for many reasons and sometimes it doesnt work out. If it works out for you then great but if your like the thousands of pilots before you who have worked at carriers that went TU you will learn that hindsight is not always 20/20. It might make you a little more respectful when talking about another persons career choice. you can make light of our situation and hope to put us out of business now but i have a feeling this industry will make you see things a little differently 5,10, or 20 yrs from now. your fellow pilots aren't the enemy

Truman_Sparks

Why do all you Skywest guys say 'I hope we buy ____' or 'we bought ASA'.
"You" aren't going to, or have not bought anybody! A holding company that owns the company you work for has bought another company (ASA), which puts them on equal footing to you, as would any other airline they (Skywest Inc.) may purchase. Skywest Airlines (whom you work for) neither owns nor will purchase any other airline! Get that through you thick heads..........

HermannGraf

oj, oj, oj
talk about needing to relax.
Who do you think made the money for Skywest Inc. yes Skywest Airlines,....and the money that they paid for ASA?, Yes Skywest Airlines. And who do you think made all the cash that Skywest Inc is trying to invest in buying another company? Yes Skywest Airlines and in the future hopefully ASA too.

So when any of our pilots say that "we bought" another company like when we bought ASA it is because it was done with money that we among others working at Skywest Airlines made for Skywest Inc.

Without Skywest Airlines and the money from its operation Skywest Inc would not exist in the first place.

Skywest Airlines and Skywest Inc being two different companies is just a financial strategic (for tax, investment and financial protection) issue and we (at least me) does not see it like two different companies but more like two departments of the same company.

HermannGraf

by the way,

I could not understand why our management was interested in buying XJT. I tried to find any positive issues that would come out of such a deal and could not find any so I was not positive to it at all. That is why I questioned the deal and asked for opinions from others. I know that we as pilots do not have the "big picture" behind our management being interested in XJT but what I know is that with the limited info that is available for anyone out there the deal did not look good for Skywest at all..................

iahflyr

It is not over.


Lets no forget that CAL announced their plans to pull 51 aircraft from XJT, and to let their CPA expire in the next 4 years.


Because I have lots of friends still at Expressjet, I was hoping that the Skywest buyout would go through. XJT is losing money and their cash balance is starting to reach a critical phase.

I think the Skywest buyout could have been successful if done any one of several ways.

An all out merger of Skywest, ASA, and XJT

A merger of ASA/XJT and keeping non-union Skywest separate

What if XJT pilots traded the merge the seniority list scope for a scope clause that said "any and all future flying done by Skywest Inc on behalf of CAL will be done by XJT pilots."

There are plenty of ways this buyout could have been successful. I just wish a few of the XJT pilot APC members would have gone into this situation with an open mind.

Looking at the current scenarios, the best future for XJT pilots is to be bought by Skywest. Rather than trying to fight the buyout, XJT pilots should be negotiating with Skywest to ensure their future. If Skywest says no to an all-out merger, then come up with another offer. Offer XJT to be a separate company, but have them sign a LOA stating the XJT certificate cannot have less than 274 aircraft, or 25% of all Skywest Inc flying. There are plenty of solutions out there. Don't give up yet. I would hate to see XJT liquidate.


Honestly, the best thing for Skywest pilots is to see XJT fail and have SKW fly their 145's for CAL. But it sounds like most the Skywest pilots on this board (except Slaphappy) do want to see the XJT pilots treated better than that.