Originally Posted by nigelcobalt (Post 846890)

It will pass next time. The last vote had the worst possible timing ever. There were almost 600 pilots still on probation (1st year) that were intimidated by the company to even vote. We all remember being a newhire. You just want to stay under the radar, and pass all your training, and not cause any trouble. I personally called many of my friends who were new at the time, and even though they thought a union was a good idea, they were afraid of voting. People were saying that management had access to the votes, and crap like that, and so new hires were scared of being fired if they voted yes. Now fast forward a couple years to the present day: those same people have been on reserve for over 2 years, and they are fed up with all the bs. Huge cuts in benefits left and right. When will the bleeding stop? Not in the near future anyway. Legally, there is nothing to stop it, yet.

I personally hope xjt does well. They are a quality regional, and if they fail, some trashy regional will take over and lower the bar.

Originally Posted by Zapata (Post 849959)

The ironic thing there is that without a legally binding contract, they can change their probation policy at the drop of a hat. They could fire you, probation or not. Which, of course, is more of an argument for a union.

Originally Posted by Trip7 (Post 849940)

You hit the nail precisely on the head. Gentlemen, this consolidation is exactly what is needed not only to create not only more profitable regionals, but also to finally raise regional pay to a respectable level due to significantly reduced competition and reduced whipsaw.

With the combination of XJT/SKW/ASA(Surely to be ALPA), TSA/Compass, and PNCL/Colgan/XJ, ALPA will have the power of representing the 3 of the largest regionals in the US. And now with the 1500 rule creating a barrier to entry, the leverage the regional pilots have will be unprecedented.

I look forward to joining with the XJT and SKW pilot groups under one seniority list represented by ALPA

Originally Posted by wskytangofxtrot (Post 849987)

You're never off probation at SkyWest. That one year probation is just smoke and mirrors.

Originally Posted by JetPipeOverht (Post 849947)

I still think if this merger goes through that ASA/XJT will be the ALPA carriers and SKYW Will continue to operate under the non union contract that they've been able to maintain this entire time while SKYW has owned ASA....Overall I think this would be a good thing for all parties involved, but that it just my .02

Originally Posted by Utah (Post 850043)

I don't have the statistics in front of me, but SAPA has said we fire more pilots per year, than just about all of the other U.S. airlines combined.

Originally Posted by JetPipeOverht (Post 849947)

I still think if this merger goes through that ASA/XJT will be the ALPA carriers and SKYW Will continue to operate under the non union contract that they've been able to maintain this entire time while SKYW has owned ASA....Overall I think this would be a good thing for all parties involved, but that it just my .02