And for clarification we did meet performance goals for January and February. Skywest Inc. did not earn the 1% profit that is required for the payout. So they are paying the performance part of it and not the profit part of it. So the "savings" from the furloughees did not get the profit over 1%. So the bonuses are not "off their backs." Regardless of what you say it's a good move by management.

 

WOW! This is coming from an RJ FO. Amazing. Reminds me of a story. ASA guy riding jumpseat on mainline looks over at the Pinnacle jets next door and has the audacity to complain about "those guys are stealing our flight time." You can imagine the reply from the mainline guys. Comical!

 

Got one better for you. RJ guy on a mainline JS watches one of the last 737-200s taxi by before they were all gone. Actually utters the phrase, "There goes my captain's seat." It was a very quiet flight. Afterwards, the boss turns to me and says, "Did he really say what I thought he said?" Turns out the captain hadn't really heard him and said he would have returned to the gate and kicked him off if he had.

Now, I've also heard from friends still at regionals who have told me of mainline guys opening their mouths and inserting foot, so it's not limited to any one group. There are fools everywhere who don't think before engaging lips. You just gotta take 'em with a grain of salt.

 

Jeez - you can't even be grateful for a bonus check without someone throwing it back at you. Airsupport, I'm not obligated to explain anything to you, but will anyway. My last 3 months have been blocked at 65 hours/credited to 75, so no I have not picked up open time, wouldn't have anyway, even though the pros and cons of that have been argued ad nauseum on this and other forums. Secondly company came out with email basically stating Delta has ramped up summer flying more than anticipated and our lines will be blocked mid-80's with credits likely running higher. Oh no-what to do? Not bid a line and get reserve? Bid a line and drop trips back down to 75 hours? That'll show them! No wait...

And as to furloughs, by the time they're trained and brought back on line, fall will be just around the corner and then we furlough them again? Sounds like a lot of expense for a little more than a month or 2 of work.

It was a smart move by management to get their folks behind them before the summer crunch happens.

 

Air Support, did you say you work at Peanuckle? If that's the case, then kindly butt out of our issue. Your "opinion" of why the sent out the check is irrelevant! How's that contract coming over there at PCL anyhow? Maybe you should get your own house in order before you tell us how to fix ours.

But to address your concern, I think you're finding a conspiracy where there is none. I wouldn't expect you to understand from the viewpoint of a PCL pilot under your oppressive management, but SKW does things differently. They "get it" that happy, empowered employees work harder and make more money. Ever since our performance hit in March, and the grounding of the planes in April, morale here has been in the dumps. We line pilots have felt like we busted our butts for nothing. Management recognized this and for the purpose of restoring morale,awarded a smaller bonus as a token for our hard work. I think they'd have done it even if we didn't have a huge summer coming. That's how SkyWest Inc does business.

 

Just a side note, has anyone here on reserve REALLY blocked over 75 hours? And if so are there a lot of you doing so? When ever I have looked at the reserve list I see a good portion of them haven't flown a bunch but are getting extra credit due to vacation time and such. There were a few that had flown a bunch, mainly because the weather has been crappier than crap and IROPS are no longer IROPS since an irregular operation is when things actually go as planned. But for the most part they haven't really exhausted all of the reserves. There are just days that they are shorter than they would like to be obviously due to there own decisions. So I still don't see this shortage in crew members. I'm sure the company would recall if they trully needed too. I mean over a year ago they were hiring pilots like they were going out of style just because Delta said keep em coming, we got tons of work for you. Yeah, that didn't work out so well.

 

hahaha, i will get right on that since the pilot group has the power to do that right? i mean you guys made it happen. yeah....

anyway my point was this. about 3 years ago the company came to our pilot group and offered to raise fo pay. the reason behind it was that people were coming here, getting some time, and then going to better regionals. this was killing the company. so you would think all of us that were fo's would have loved the 10 dollar an hour raise and would have jumped all over the money. sure it helped the company out some but we would have been glad to go from 24 bucks an hour to 34 overnight. that would have just been good business for management, right? Instead we told managament that unless that raise comes with an entirely new contract then no thanks. it didn't. we didn't get the raise. and things have not changed for us. we are at the 5 year mark now.

ASA went throught he same thing. Now there is a new contract at asa and about 80 pilots on the street. They read these boards too. they are anxious to get back to work and to have a job once again so they can support their families. I just think its a little harsh that some of you on here are talking about the bonuses you are getting and that you all promise to work extra hard this summer because of it, while there are guys on the street who dont have jobs, let alone a bonus. sorry if you all feel that i am "butting" in to your business.. (because none of you all have ever commented on pinnacle before right?) but it just upsets me a little to see you all celebrating while there are guys who moved to atlanta for the job and now have nothing. So take your bonus and work extra hard this summer, just dont wave it in the face of your uneployed brothers.

 

I just think its funny on the thoughts of others not working for SKW or ASA about these bonuses. The bonus (performance based) is set up so that those currently working for the company for a year can see a reward for the job they are doing... For me it makes me feel better that my personal attempts to make flights get in on time, leave on time, etc has some effect on the total operations. Plus I get rewarded for it in a $200 pay check (at least this qtr).

 

Yes, some of us are, but only 5-6 each month on the 200 FO side.

 

oh dont get me wrong. I love the bonus idea. I would like to think that maybe in the next contract (if and when we get one) we would have something like that. I think it is a great incintive for people to work hard and make the airline run great. An extra 200 bucks always can come in handy.