Both of which are services provided by AOPA for a cheaper rate.


Did you mean loss of medical? If you did there's short-term/long-term disability which will cover you if you cannot work.

The ASAP program which fights hard on SKW pilots' behalf. It protects you from both company termination and FAA license revocation.

According the SAPA VP they are getting close to negotiating a rate. Their brasilia pay is industry tops and 50 seat pay is one of the best. If the union is voted in then pay at SKW gets frozen for the next 5 years while they negotiate a contract. After seeing the other regional ALPA contracts I think I'll stick with the SAPA negotiated crew manual.

 

Is alpa the answer? Im still undecided, but leaning more towards it. All I know is im tired of hearing that we are the best regional in the industry, bla bla bla. For what we do, we are under payed. Period. I can drive truck and make more. Yes we have it better than most if not all regionals, but compare us to any other job. The high school kid selling cell phones makes more than me. So will alpa solve our probblems? past history says no. But we are powerless without a union. Skywest is making a lot more than reported, so how do we get our cut? SAPA where are you?

 

So why don't you go drive a truck? Or sell phones?

I know I would if that paid more than what I currently make.

 

YGBSM.

AOPA provides a great service but are you really going to trust your career to an organization that specializes in general and not professional aviation? If so, you are much bolder than I am.

 

YGBSM???

Boiler, you come up with some of the craziest acronyms i've ever seen, and that's saying a lot in this industry!

 

You Gotta Be Sh!tting Me!
YGBSM

 

Apparently, the pilots and management get along at SkyWest? How many ALPA airlines can say that? Where was ALPA when bankruptcy hit after 9/11? (27% pay cuts) What has ALPA done that is so great in the past five years for any airline?

I read an earlier post and got the impression that this person believed that by electing ALPA we would get better pay, work rules, etc. IF my assumption is in any way valid, that is so not the case. Can someone let me know when ALPA has done something so wonderful that we at SkyWest should allow them to come ruin the pilot/management relationship??? All ALPA did at Trans States was get people their job back who were supposedly terminated for unlawful reasons. Any lawyer can do that, especially in this day in age. And I DON'T want to take anything away from any ALPA pilot who is serving their pilot group, they are all doing a great service. However, ALPA thinks that when they come to SkyWest that management is going to bow down and give them what they want because they are ALPA.

ALPA CAN NOT DO ANYTHING THAT MANAGEMENT WON'T ALLOW!!! THAT IS WHY YOU HAVE FOUR YEAR CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS LIKE AT ASA! THEN PILOTS THREATEN TO STRIKE AND YOU GO THROUGH IT AGAIN WHENEVER YOUR CONTRACT IS UP.

I am firmly convinced that all ALPA will do is ruin whatever relationship management has with the pilots.

What would any of you SkyWest pilots change about the current "contract" we have now? I have not been able to read it or get any opinions from the line.

Again, I don't want to take anything away from ALPA carriers or ALPA representatives, but I can't see how ALPA would benefit SkyWest.

Ask your former TWA pilots what big fans of ALPA they are!

Very concerned about this at SkyWest and I welcome any thoughts from SkyWest pilots who are pro-ALPA, because I just can't see any reason why bring in ALPA and ruin what relationship we have with management.

Thanks!

 

I was waiting for that. We put a lot of time and money to get our job, we want to see it get better.
Sometimes it just ****'s you off to get pushed arround, and you want to push back a little, to make a change.

So what happens when the industry has turned arround and alpa is able to negotiate a good contract, where will we be without a union? I know skywest will never give us anything better than the industry standard.

How can we do our part to raise the bar?

Im not sold yet on alpa, just need more info.

 

SkyW needs a pilot union for the following reasons (in no particular order).

1. The chief pilots are managment picked. If your a FO, it may not mean a lot to you. If you are a CA and there is a "discrepancy", -bald spot on a tire, bird strike, ****ed off flight attendant/ramper/gateagent- and you are called into the chiefs office...suddenly you realize what a crock it is to have "pilot" put behind their title. They are managemnt and do not have your interest in mind at all. And the punishment handed down is not even...(see #2)

2. It stops the favoritism. If you are part of the friends-and-family network, you can get away with just about anything. If you keep your head down and no one knows you, and your FO misses a bald spot on a tire, you MAY get 2 weeks off unpaid! This could really screw a cash strapped family.

3. It keeps managment from making decisions without first consulting one of the groups that has the highest stakes in the company. Example: January 2003. Without warning, and after having promising to pay new hires, mangment just stopped paying. Double housed the pilots and said.."tough". Brad Holt said.."anyone who doesn't like it? Raise your hand and I'll give you $500 and a ticket home". Example: CRJ900's. No talk of pay. Nada! Just fly it. Don't like it...tough!!! Example: Aspen pilots... only a 9 month commitment right? unless the company needs you then its until we let you out. Don't want to fly into Aspen in the winter? Wanna bid Savana/SAT/LAX for a month? Tough!

4. We have spent too much time, our families have sacraficed too much, to not have a seat at the table and have a voice in the decisions. No, we are not going to tell them what color to paint the planes, or what cities to fly to. But are we going to fly 737's for CRJ200 pay? Who's going to stop mangment. If ASA strikes, are we going to be forced to fly into ATL? Who's going to stop them?

You new pilots at SkyW...if you learn nothing else, remember this. I know all you want is that upgrade. Your thinking "as long as I get the upgrade, I'll get a pay raise and PIC time then I'm out!" This has been a corner stone to mangemnts business model. 4 years was the break-even point for them. They didn't want you there-your too expensive. So they dangled the carrot, just keep slaving away and you can get the upgrade. But if the music stops your screwed! You have no voice, and no one to blame but ourselves. We need a pilot union at SkyWest.

 

I gave up a 20 month upgrade to go to Skywest because they are one of the top regionals in an area of the country I wanted to be in. They've positioned themselves to be one of the remaining regionals in the coming shake-out and I believe that to be, in part, because they are not unionized. This allows greater flexibility in changing portions of the crew manual for the better (or worse) and in taking advantage of opportunities.

Does this mean I'm not open to the idea of unionizing if conditions detioriate to TSA/ASA levels? Of course not, but I don't think for a second that ALPA is coming to SKW at this specific point in time because they have our pilot group's interest at heart.

Having a contract is nice because it guarantees you certain things will or will not happen. However, having a contract also means that certain undesirable portions in it will not be fixed until that contract becomes amendable. It works both ways guys...

The grievance system at SKW works a helluva lot better than at a unionized carrier. The majority of grievances get resolved in a month. Almost all by 3 months. 90% of those cases SAPA takes to management gets resolved in the pilot's favor. You can see every grievance on the SAPA website and the resolution. At a unionized carrier the grievance system takes many months and even years...