Skywest Info
 

Looking for information on Skywest:

Most junior CRJ domicile- ORD?
What is the upgrade time on the CRJ? vs Mesa?


Any info would be appreciated.

Check out www.airlinepilotcentral.com. It will show you when the most junior captain was hired and at what base. That should give you some good answers to your questions and is slightly more reliable than someone on this forum shooting there mouth off who may or may not know what they are talking about.

I do know what I'm talking about...

ORD is junior for CRJ CA at SKW.

CRJ CA has varied at SKW, but is about 3-4 years lately.

Mesa ERJ goes pretty quick, at about 2 years (occasionally less), but the CRJ is more like 3-4 (An ERJ upgrade locks you into the ERJ bases for 3 years: MCO or IAD)

Things are not going well at mesa from my experience, I would not plan on long term growth. Also the captains at mesa do not seem to move, so if growth stops, upgrade will stop.

I hear the props are reserved for high time hires at Mesa, what's that all about?

They need high-timers for the relatively rapid upgrades in the prop. The jet FO's are locked in the jet for life, so they cannot become prop captains.

just what does "relatively rapid" mean?

Skywest CRJ capatin can be held at around 2 years or less even if you're willing to go to FAT city

One year, give or take a little (but skywest is about the same). But it's mostly irrelevant, as you have no choice of aircraft and can never change aircraft (except to upgrade to jet captain). About the only way you could control your destiny with mesa would be to accept the job, and see what aircraft they offer...if it's not the one you want, bail.

Not in FAT city. Very senior on the CRJ captain side. Most junior captain in FAT on the CRJ with a hire date of June 2000. Different story on the EMB.....

My question is why are all these people that can hold Brasilia captain after a year with the company bypassing it? Not very smart in my opinion unless you are planning to stay with SkyWest the rest of your life.

There are several EMB CA's that came from the CRJ having never flown the EMB. I have worked with a few of them. To upgrade to CA on the EMB you need 2500 hours and 1000 121 crew time. If you come to the airline at the hiring mins that puts upgrade at about 1 1/2 years.

I also have a friend that has just past 2 years in August and was awarded upgrade on the CRJ for November. That puts upgrade at about 2 1/2 years.

I do fly for SKW.

This is easy to answer. Most are worried about upgrading to CA on an aircraft they have never flown. I taught the CRJ-200 for 1 1/2 years before I started flying the EMB for SKW. The CRJ is a much easier airplane to fly and learn. I have flown with several CAs who moved over from the Jet having never flown the Bro (Emb) and most all said they wouldn't have done it if they had known what it was going to be like.

Uh oh....maybe that's why my fiancee is a basketcase right now. Never flew out west, never flew the airplane, first captain upgrade. Maybe I should stop thinking he is blowing it out of proportion and freaking out too much huh?

The 120 is an airplane that was over designed. When I typed on it I had two years in the right seat before the type ride. It is an aircraft that runs on DC power not ac like most transport aircraft. That is quite confusing for most. They set up the instruments alot like the 57/67. It is an a/c that will tech you how to fly. Always stay on top of it. Other than that it was a blast to fly, but I was glad to get off of it...

I agree the Bro is a blast to fly. But it's a very busy ride. When the airplane was designed in the late 70's it was way ahead of it's time; being fast, efficient, and well designed for harsh flying. BUT, it's past it's time and should be retired to the freight dog community. I enjoy my time flying it. It's a blast to be cleared for a visual at 11K over SFO - drop the gear, flaps 15, props MAX, power idle and you'll quickly find yourself doing 180 kts while descending at 4500-5000 ftm in a 30º turn. It’s basically a power off 180 in a Bro. It's a great airplane that's past it's regional time. Let's bring in the Q400s.

One of my favorite approaches. Imagine if SKYW let us bring in the first notch of flaps at 200 KIAS like Embraer designed it, then imagine the descent rate you'd get (not that I've ever tried it :D )

How long do you think with EMBs will be around? I should be ready for the regionals in 4-5 years... just curious. Being from California my top choice for my regional has always been SKW on the EMB-120.

Also, can someone post a line of time for the EMB... just curious what the flying looks like.

Thanks guys!

Jerry says a long time !!!! Lines are mostly 3-4 day trips with duty days averagin 8-10 hours a day, sometimes longer, sometimes shorter. 8 legs is VERY common (and dangerous in my eyes), but we will be keeping Bro's for a while....Good luck !

half the regionals may not be around in 4-5 years!

True that! Hopefully Skywest is though.

Coryk,

SkyWest will be around and who knows how big? It appears as if we are growing quite a bit in the next year, so I wouldn't worry about SkyWest being around. I just finished ground school in the EMB and they plan on it being around for I think around 5 more years, if not more. There are places the EMB goes that the jet can't. St. George, UT, for example. You should look into doing an internship with SkyWest if you are serious about flying for them, it will be extremely beneficial in the long run. Good luck!

Haha, I really wish I could, although I have 4 years in the Navy to look forward too, so I really won't have much time to do anything else. Kind of a catch-22, go into the military to take advantage of the GI Bill for flight school, or not and stay at home do the college thing and get myself in a ton of debt... for a pretty boy from Orange County, CA, I can't beleive I chose the Navy, but such is life!

But like I said Skywest has always been my top choice to start out my airline career at.

How does military experience look on an application at Skywest? With an AA degree and about half of a BA degree complete and competetive times? I've heard that some airlines are better than others in regards to people who were in the military.

Thanks,

They like rated military aviators the best, but a non-pilot military background still shows you have a sense of responsibility and self-discipline. It will make you slightly more competitive at pretty much any airline.

Anybody know how long from application to call for interview w/121 experience? Thanks.

You're going to need bigger maintenance hangars!:rolleyes:

24-48 hours.

It has been almost 2 weeks for me, wondering what could be delaying the call?

That's good to know, as an enlisted weather forecasting puke. . . I was afraid my 4 years of military service was a true waste.

SKW lease on the Bros (Emb) ends in 2011, so you'll see them around at least until then. SKW will have to replace them seeing that it's becoming harder to find parts. SKW had a Bro sit for 2 weeks because the part it needed had to be specially fabricated.

Q400's would be nice, but SKW will need a plane the size of the Bro for most of its prop routes. We could be looking at a set up like Horizon which operates Q200's (dash 8's) and Q400's. Q200 can be configured for about 35-40 Pax which is 5-10 more than the Bro and the Q400 to about 76 Pax. The only problem with operating an airplane over 30 seats is that SKW loses the ability to work its 121 Bro pilots under 135 hours. As a Bro pilot we work 135 hours: 1200 yr, 120 mth, and 32 in 7 days. 121 hours are 1000, 100, 30 respectively. If you operate the Q200 SKW will be unable to work us as hard as they do.

Why not go inthe Navy as an Officer so you can fly?

I'm actually in right now. Only option is STA-21. But it's never been a want of mine to fly in the military... my dream has always been to fly for an airline.

Uh, so you don't die in Iraq maybe?

Are they parking any of the EMB's flying now? Over the last year I've seen 2 ex-SKYW EMB's in ANC flying freight?

Very smart . . . glad some of you are thinking with your heads on and calibrated. If only I had thought more about my decision. :(

That's an extremely uninformed statement. The risks associated with much of naval aviation are equally applicable during peacetime and/or training. I have several aviator-type friends who have died or nearly died in southern California or over the pacific during routine training. Don't know anyone personally who has died flying in Iraq/Afghanistan. USMC/USA attack helo guys are at some of the highest risk over there.

A decision to to pursue a military flying job would be longer-term than the present conflict...after 4+ years of college, 1 year of pool/OCS, 2 years of flight school, 1-2 years in the RAG/FRS the middle esat thing might have cooled off, or we could be involved in something totally different somewhere else.

I second that statement.

Ok, maybe I should rephrase that statement.....

Uh, so you don't die flying a military aircraft maybe?

Just an FYI, the latest round of upgrade awards went to people with < 2 years

Most people try not to...

I have seen several fatalities amongst my friends and associates in both military and civilian aviation. My military background is navy/usmc so we have the added risks associated with carrier aviation involved.

All of the civilians were in 91 operations. 121 ops are probably 100 or 1000 times safer...if you can get through the 91/135 phase into 121 turbojets, you have no significant risk compared to your next door neighbor the accountant.

The advantages of military fixed-wing are:

1) Training is provided at no cost.
2) Salaries are $50-150K, vice $10-40K for entry-level civilians.

For the same risk level, the military pays a lot better.

OK, to be brutally honest (because I've been drinking), my military buddies who died were all f&cking off in the airplane...sad but true. :(

Don't you hate when you have been drinking and post stuff???

Especially about our good friends at GoJet!!!

B-stards could make as much as they are waiting tables... but they wouldn't be flying the big, heavy, 70 seat, CRJ-700 with EX PLUS!!!

It's all about the EX PLUS RICKAIR7777, you can sell out, but only if it has first class!!!

For da parents!