IMHO my friend, that would be completely up to the airlines themselves bringing to mind the "survival of the fittest" concept. Whoever can scale back their costs without going under would survive. SWA has done it for years and proven again and again you can be profitable by doing so. Now, their fuel hedging has helped, I'll be the first one to admit to that. But, simple things like gate utilization, and lowering ticket prices so more people can actually afford to travel would be beneficial.

just my .02

 

"They say that a career pilot should expect three to five furloughs before retirement"

"They" didn't say that. Skyhigh did...

The saying is "You're not a real airline pilot until you've been furloughed".

Skyhigh says he's been furloughed three times. He quit the biz (for his own good personal reasons), as a 121 757 F/O, when National Airlines (N7) went down. Before that, he worked for Horizon Air as an F/O.

Sky, please tell us about your other two "furloughs".

My opinion on the future of the biz, based on being in it since 1984, is that it goes up and down. We are down now in a perfect storm of age 65 and the economy. Will it come back? I think so. Will it be a worthy career? Or one to be incessantly bashed as a waste of your life? Only you can decide based on your personal situation, needs, and desires.

 

the definition of "regional" has been bastardized so many times over i don’t know what to think anymore.

• there was a day when regional meant tulsa to salina on a 1900.
• the jet made phoenix to santa barbara possible. time was you flew to LA then drove to santa barbara.
• then every city with more than 4 street lights and two walmarts started getting service and most multiple times a day.
• the jets began to feed the hub.
• when frequency became everybody’s best friend the jets started servicing major cities at off times of the day.
• regionals began flying from one class bravo to another.
• then came airlines using regional jets to maintain market share in enemy territory. hence the use of RJ's on LAX-SFO or ORD to DFW.
• the real transition came when someone gave these regional jets legs. i assure you when the term "regional" was first used to define an airline they didnt mean midwest to northeast.
• then came the replacement of the mainline fleet with passenger friendly RJ's... a'la midwest

it was the advent of range that was the death blow in my opinion. we were all more than thrilled to ditch the tulsa to salina scenario to fly a CRJ-900 from Kennedy to Dallas. So thrilled we'd do it for 20 bucks. pennies on the dollar and every bit as efficient if not more. I personally never thought id see a day when id fly a CRJ route that blocked at almost 4 hours and crossed two time zones. i fly like a real pilot but get paid like a puddle jumper.


to see the bastardization of regional jets go no further than the following... FlyteComm: The Most Accurate Free Flight Tracking/Tracker Tool in the industry!
type "CVG" into the arrival airport block and look at the carriers.

 

Well said S.J.
Go get 'em.
W.A.

 

DAL was one of the FIRST to scale back their flying. It's being done across the board, many actually did it BEFORE Southwest.

 

I've said it before, I respect and understand that. My commute is midwest to midwest, so it's bearable and very doable. Some ask why I would sit reserve out of base. I ask them if it's really fair to uproot my wife from her home and family. I know she would go with me, but I'm going to be on the road regardless. For that reason I would rather have her close to her family, this way she has loved ones to spend time with while I'm on the road. I don't agree with you on a lot SkyHigh, but I definitely agree with you on this.

 

Agreed. Take Care

 

whole week off equals 6640C and keita? let me know.

 

Good luck on breaking $100k on 3rd year..... Heck I didn't even do that on 12 year pay.....

 

On the pre-bankruptcy contract? It's possible on the new PWA. One would have to average 82 hours a month. I know it's possible. It may not be probable though. I'm not sure because I've yet to hold block.