They have plenty of flight time, more than enough to upgrade. They also are already typed in the airplane due to previous endevours. If the chalks thing works out, then they will probably upgrade, if they are willing to commute to Florida. However, they were also promised a denver base a few months ago, which never solidified due to other factors. Id just be cautious of the CP telling you that upgrades have been down to 5 months lately, because that is certainly not the case as far as Im aware. They are building a pool of those numbers, but like anything else in aviation, dont believe until your sitting in the airplane getting paid for it. Thats it.

 

I have two friends intervieing at Big Sky as well in August. They also mentioned the 5 month upgrade. I may apply too when I reach 600 TT. Montana is an awesome place to fly around. I wouldn't mind living in Billings or Boise.

Chris

 

I have a class date with Big Sky on the 21 (next Friday). There are 9 people in the class. I believe that there are 10 or so left in the pool. This class is for attrition and the next classes will be for growth. When talking to people at BigSky they seem happy except for the 19 seat max. The Fort lauderdale thing is going to be very senior as said by the man incharge. There is something big brewing for Bigsky. They only had 70 pilots or so and then by the end of next year there trying to have 50-100 more pilots. That more then doubles the pilots. i guess they are having a bunch of interviews. I am not fully sure about the upgrade but if you seniority allows and you have the time and references then you should be upgrades. Other officials said about 9 months, which works for me. Take care and let me know if anyone has any questions.

 

I'll be out in Montana for an interview with Big Sky on the 25th. I hear there's a lot of good flying to be done in that part of the country, and I believe it - especially with so many nonprecision approaches.

 

Congratulations. Be careful though, they fly older MESA planes. I have a friend who works there and he says that maintenance is a little haphazard. Last month they got in trouble because a crew forgot to turn on the bleeds and the plane was flying in the 20's and people got sick. Apparently the warning indicator wasn't hooked up by maintenance. Yikes!

Non-precision and precision approaches are all fine and dandy, WHEN the equipment is working. Also, I guess they are going to be flying down in Ft. Lauderdale. Taking over some of Chalk Airlines routes for the next 2-3 years. Starting out with 1 plane then adding a few more.

I would still be concerned. Big Sky owned by MAIR who owns Mesaba. Mesaba is losing $3 million+ a month. If Mesaba goes under, MAIR may too, which forces sell off or closure of Big Sky. Ft. Lauderdale seems a little out of the way and out of business strategy for Big Sky. Not sure why they would consider that Ft. Lauderdale move.

Just some thoughts.

m

 

The FLL operation is probably a cost plus type arrangement for Big Sky, so it probably guarantees them at least a bit of profit as long as Chalks carries passengers and doesn't go under (which if they are still going to operate this long after the accident says there's at least some money)

The Mesaba/MAIR/Big Sky relationship is interesting to say the least. If Mesaba throws out the pilot contract and the pilots walk (resulting in liquidation of Mesaba), there might be legal grounds for MAIR to throw out the scope clause that the Mesaba pilots have that limits fleet type at Big Sky.

I can see 3 ways that Big Sky could get bigger planes-

1) the company is sold by MAIR to a third party (thus their ops no longer fall under the scope agreement).

2) Big Sky and Mesaba pilots are integrated into one seniority list, eliminating the scope agreement. That said, Mesaba and ALPA have stated that they do not intend for this to happen (it was offered during Mesaba pilot negotiations). If it does occur, you can guarantee that ALPA will push for a Big Sky pilot bottom "staple."

3) Mesaba goes under financially and the pilots are terminated when assets are sold. If this occurs, MAIR could make an argument in court that the scope agreement no longer exists (since it was between MAIR and the Pilots of Mesaba). If Mesaba is dissolved, then potentially so is the scope agreement.

 

Whole thing is interesting. Just saw today that Big Sky is pulling out of Great Falls, Kalispell and Spokane. For a Montana based airline, I don't view that as a good thing. Their back yard looks like it is beginning to stink. (They must be under considerable financial strain).

In addition, they only go after EAS (Essential Air Service) contracts. i.e "Handout" contracts from the government, instead of developing business/demand. Recently, they have bid on several contracts. (5) cities in Kansas, (5) in Nebraska (1) in Colorado, (1) in N. Dakota (3) in California and Nevada (1) in Wyoming, and they LOST them all. They lost them to Skywest, Great Lakes, and Mesa. To me, this says they are not aggressive or serious about building their business.

I wouldn't expect bigger planes since they cannot even fill their current 19 seater. EAS or not.

Looking back at the past, they always seem to weather the storm, but . . . they might not be ablle to these days. Just a thought.

 

What's wrong with only going after EAS contracts? Seems to work for Mesa and Great Lakes which both serve those contracts with 1900s.