AMR dresses Eagle up every couple years, see what's out there and does nothing. Same as always. It is nothing to do with long term prospects, more to do with the strings attached by AMR.

 

Not sure why people think the Q400 is a replacement for the E120. Talk to Horizon and ask if the Q400 was a replacement for their Q200's, if it was they wouldn't have withdrawn from so many markets.

The Q400 is a great replacement for the CR2 but to date there is no replacement for the E120, that's why they are still here.

 

I had that same hope, been 3 years now and I just got off reserve.
I hope it works out better for you than it has for me.
The Bro is fun and I like the people I work with, the pay licks sweaty balls

 

Hey Newty,

How many days off do you get on reserve?
How do you bid for reserve shifts and what are the chances of getting the days off you want?
Is there a swap board or trade board so that you can trade your shifts with other pilots?
How felxible are crew tracking or I think you call them screw tracking?

They can't be as bad as Mesa. I'd be on the last day of a reserve shift. I'd have the last flight of the day leaving for home in 30 minutes but my reserve shift wouldn't finish for an hour. They would never release me the 30 minutes early so I could get home.

Or the other scenario on reserve you have flown 7.5 hours that day. There are no flights you can be scheduled for that would keep you legal but they still wont release you early just in case there is a repo flight or maintenance flight needed!

 

Wasnt Skywest planning on parking all the E120s??

 

hope that helps

 

SKW has always planned to park the E120 in favor of its replacement, that’s why they never upgraded them with TCAS II. Now that 2011 is right around the corner they are scrambling to update the E120’s before they get grounded Jan 1st.

Why hasn’t the E120 been parked? To date there are no a/c available that can replace the E120. The Q200 and S340 are just/almost as old so why change into an aircraft that already needs to be replaced? Maybe over the next 3 years someone will produce another 30-45 seat TP and when they do look for SKW to by 50 of them. Until then, SKW will continue to operate the E120, after all they just resigned the majority of them for another 5 years with early out options.

 

AMR isn't trying to sell anything, and you know it. They announce Eagle, or Executive is for sale every time a pilot group is in contract talks.

My point about them being owned wasn't that it makes them any better than the rest, the point was the profit stays with the parent company... and given the choice of taking a job that helps the mainline carrier, or simply leaches off of it, I'd prefer the support role. Did my time there, glad to have moved on...

The reason there were no buyers last time was all the restrictions placed on the sale by AMR. Brian Bedford had looked but walked away due to the numerous restrictions... it basically said, this airline is for sale, but if you buy it, you can't use it.

 

All I have to say is that perhaps you signed up with a different airline than exists now and I understand how frustrating that could be. The old SkyWest isn't coming back though, so swallow that pill and learn to make the best of working for a large corporation or stay frustrated with the new spin at SkyWest. My juniority has nothing to do with my stand on things, nobody has had a good time of it in the last few years as an airline pilot, relatively speaking, and I said no to Chip's 1%, for whatever it matters. My mentor in this business taught me early on to learn to reconcile with the inevitable setbacks in this business that are out of your hands (domicile closures, furloughs, pay concessions, etc) and make the best decisions for yourself and your family based on realistic expectations (IE, if you plan to go to a major someday, you'll probably do an involuntary stint in NYC at some point).

SkyWest still isn't quite "just like every other regional" as much as some disgruntled people would have you believe. But the last three years have seen obvious degradation of our QOL with nothing more than measly gains. In a very dynamic and cut throat business, I think the old school management in St. George doesn't really know how to maintain the status quo, and I'm not sure most of us would either.

SkyWest or Eagle? Without a crystal ball, no one can say for sure. We've got a pretty decent lifer contigent here though, without too many guys coming up on 65, and I understand Eagle is going to be losing quite a few pilots in the next few years due to retirements, flowthroughs and general attrition. As many have said, both are pretty decent places to work, as I said before, its all about staying flexible. Most things being equal, my 2 cents would be to go with the airline that makes the most sense geographically. Good luck!

 

Memo from the brass just came through yesterday stating up to 400 upgrades in 2011. Talking about how those are current projections and they are always pursuing more growth. However, mgnt continues to "negotiate" with sapa for a work agreement through 2013. They reminded us how we already are near the top of the industry in pay and benefits. Are they dangling a carrot in front of us (upgrades) to sign on to a subpar pay proposal? Or am I just being cynical?