JungleBus

Hehe, Ayn Rand helps me a great deal. She helps me recognize those whose political thought, regardless of any similarities to my own, never quite matured beyond adolescence. Knowing which people (of every political stripe) are simply regurgitating talking points heard elsewhere, verses those who arrived at their convictions through independent thought, is a great help in knowing just how seriously to take them.

Regarding the artistic merits of Ms Rand's best-known work, Whittaker Chambers' verdict has withstood the intervening 50 years quite well.

TheDashRocks

The sign of mature political thought is regurgitating ideas from Rand's awful novels?

TonyWilliams

This thread is quickly getting out of hand. It is now closed.

TonyWilliams

If we can talk about SkyWest and Alaska Airline routes that they'll be flying without dropping the F bomb, insults, etc, post away!!!

FL410

Do you guys truely feel that Skywest is better than Horizon for the pilot profession? My answer is "NO."
I don't think that QX will go away and once/if the Q400 does come reliable we will get a lot of CPA stuff, other than Alaska. Yes, SkyWest possibly will get a few more planes but if you think about the longer flights that QX does then there is not room to grow. But if AAG wants to replace the 737 with the CHEAPER labor SkyWest CRJ then there is room.
Slywest pilots - just view this from the QX pilots side - we have been beaten down for the last few years. Now this. Now if there are some QX Q400's joining Delta, United, Airtran or anyother airlines you fly for and lose some flying then you will understand the punch in the gut that we are suffering with....
Now does anyone know how long the CPA arrangement is for?

Brodriver

Your opinion means nothing, you want your diminishing situation to become better by bashing us, that will not happen. Hopefully there will be a situation were we can both achieve positive growth. Although Horizon just sent me an email saying that they see no future hiring and do not expect to hire any time soon. Take your pick I chose the stable one.

antbar01

The guys who think the free market is the answer to all woes are forgetting that the FAA feels that every pilot with an ATP and a certain type rating is exactly interchangeable with every other schmuck with the same credentials. The airlines have absolutely no incentive to hire "top talent," merely "sufficient talent."

duvie

Dash, First, thanks for the great reply.

My personal take on Ayn Rand is that although she's very black and white, I like that she does not tolerate excuses, whining or complaining about factors that are outside anybody's control. Perhaps this is anomalous to SkyWest, but you wouldn't believe how many 20 something jet FOs I hear complianing about the upgrade they never got. The entitlement is unbelievable. A skilled family member of mine was in jeopardy of losing her job at the red cross making 35K a year during the recession (or whatever we're calling it) whilst these single dudes grossing 50+K were feeling sorry for themselves. Hard for me to respect.

Ayn Rand asserts that doing your job well should be a matter of pride extrinsic to recognition by your peers or superiors. A prime example, is a sloppy uniform. Now I'll admit that I've worn pants past their useful life, or put on a shirt that wasn't crisp, but at those times I honestly felt a little self-conscious walking through the airport. My own personal neurosis perhaps, but somehow I feel that its harder to address people when you don't start the day respecting yourself. That being said, I'm fairly apathetic to what other pilots' uniforms look like. It isn't my place to create or police policy, all I can do is take care of myself.

I don't believe Mesa pilots are bottom-feeders, sometimes I wonder why many of them went there at times when many others were hiring; It is my understanding now that although many didn't do their due diligence, from these boards I've ascertained that many others had a purpose behind their choice. Generally more curiosity than condescension and on this point I can of course only speak for myself.



More on SkyWest smugness later

You are spot on here. I'm continually disappointed in our ground handling and gate agents. "Pay 'em peanuts and you'll get monkeys" seems to be the sage advice regarding the crummy service and unfriendly attitudes. This point however relates to the idea of doing your best despite your working conditions. I've heard that the ramp is Denver is woefully understaffed, and I think many of the employees drag their feet as an act of rebellion, however the only people that this sends a direct message to are the pilots and passengers.

This is where our thoughts may diverge most appreciably. If all the other unionized regionals were continually, if just incrementally, increasing pay and getting better work rules and SkyWest just simply bumped up our pay to match every few years, then I would agree with you entirely, but this isn't the case. Would I object to a union at SkyWest? Absolutely not, but I personally don't believe that the presence (or lack thereof) of a union is what is hindering the regional pilot industry. I think the nature of being a contract carrier prevents anybody from rising much higher than anybody else. Right or wrong is irrelevant, if you strike, create 10% higher labor cost than your competitors, or both, you are putting the nail in your own coffin. It is frustrating to say the least, but if you were Delta looking at your options as a regional contract was coming to its completion, how could you justify your choice to go with the airline that provides an almost indistinguishably different product yet costs more and has proven that they're willing to severely interrupt your passenger carrying operation? I mean no disrespect to those who put their jobs on the line to better the profession, but management will slap a concessionary contract back on the table and have the airline operating below the cost of everyone else just to appease their partner for the duration of the contract. This is sad to me and seems to prove that from a strictly pragmatic viewpoint, striking at the regional level is largely ineffectual.

For what its worth, many SkyWest guys avoid eye contact with each other. Although I'm not sure on the overall ratio, there is a lack of camaraderie in our pilot group that stems from a contingent of elitists and strong senses of entitlement. I think we have quite a diverse pilot group when its comes to viewpoints and overtime that has lead to a lack of unity. Whenever things aren't going splendidly here, we start acting like spoiled children and the bickering begins.

Perhaps. I have no other frame reference in the 121 world.

In conclusion, I like working at SkyWest, but I don't define myself by it. I try to come to work and give passengers good service and increase the general public's esteem of our profession. I voted no on pay packages or issues that I felt weren't fair and I don't take joy in the depletion of flying from other quality regionals. Just like you may think its unfair for SkyWesters to be prejudiced against others, I recognize and don't enjoy being ignored by my fellow pilots. Mesa guys seem nice on the whole, ExpressJet guys are always quite social with me in Denver, GoJets pilots seem a little squirrelly but are nice enough, Republic crews seem nice but just seem more into each other than the outside world. In fact, the only guys that seem aloof are the Mesaba gents in MSP, but again that could be a total misinterpretation on my part. Who is John Galt

Anyway, fly safe and thanks for invoking thought.

duvie

Dash, I believe the poster was agreeing with you. The link to a professorial castigation of Atlas Shrugged was accurate but incredibly verbose.

I think most who read her work understand that no world is so black and white, but I think an important point to recognize as well is that the world may not by as gray as some would have you believe either.

Lone Palm

Most Mesaba MSP guys aren't too excited about the growing presence of Skywest in MSP. I think that's what your seeing and or feeling.