I really didn't want to get into this but couldn't resist. Mesa blows we all know. Unfortunately it appears SKW is adopting mesa like strategies. Rickster don't be to mad eventually the "shiny new company" bubble had to burst!

 

I think SkyWest has a LONG LONG way to go before you can say they are adopting mesa strategies. There are more but just a few reasons SkyWest's policy manual is awesome (our equivalent to the union contract). Voluntary junior man, 100% dead head pay, holiday pay, home reserve pay, and so on. (All items that failed to appear in the TSA contract I dealt with not too long ago.) Also not in the contract but pretty cool none the less, they pay for your uniform (except the jacket), they pay for lodging in training, and give you a 60 hour guarantee. Most companies will only give you one or the other. Bottom line here is that despite being non union, we have it pretty good at SkyWest. I'm not sure many pilots at Mesa can say the same thing.

 

Keep drinking the koolaid reelbig. How about the whipsaw against ASA SKW has implemented? Regardless this is not about my airline is better than yours (that is so lame). The point is it's all about perspective. It cracks me up when people talk about how awesome their company is vs. another. Three examples in an effort to be brief. #1 ask a 3 year FO at Comair how happy he is to be at one of the higher paid regionals with no upgrade in sight. #2 ask an ASA pilot how much they like SKW. #3 ask a United captain how much he likes his company. Just something to think about.

 

Mesa Blows

 

First off, I said nothing about Comair, ASA, or United, so I'm not sure where that came from. Second I'm not really drinking any koolaid (although the SkyWest variety is pretty good) merely just speaking facts about our policy manual that are unusual and pretty good. But I think the real point of my post was, SkyWest has a LONG LONG way to go before you can start comparing them to Mesa, or a whole lot of other carriers for that matter.

 

No pay for training for me, when I was hired, and I had to pay for 100% of my uniform. Little bitter, yes. Those were tough times, hanging out at the welfare office, sleeping on couches, etc. I figured it cost me about 6500 dollars to get my job at skyw. Figuring 2000 a month pay loss and 1500 for uniform jepps etc. Im still trying to recover from that first year. Yeah skyw is better than most regionals, but how long will that last? Things are already trending down here. It's great that they are paying for training now, but the only reason is they could not fill class's.
The problem is they could cut pay in half tomorrow, no binding contract. Skywest has a lot of good work rules, I would like to see those under contract. I have heard rumors of pay negotiations since I was hired here, I will believe it when I see it. Overall pay has been decreasing for the last five years.

 

or the sun could stop rising. You could die in an automobile accident. You could win the lottery. You could get raped by a large black man named Tiny. We can play "what if scenarios" all night long, although I'll tire out after about 5 minutes. My stamina sucks.

 

Or they could add 90 seat aircraft config. to 76 for 50 seat wages. Or they could continue with the "temporary" pay freeze. Or they could shift all ASA's 70's to skyw. Yeah I could go on all night long to, but my stamina also sucks.