Question for Skywest pilots
 

Be honest now. Don't exagerate.

What are RJ upgrade times running?
Do you expect an MKE domicile?

How many awac FO's are leaving for skywest? My guess is quite a few in the coming months. It's just a better company with more vision. Sometimes I kick myself for turning down the walk-in that my friend was gonna do....

I am too close to the upgrade at AWAC to just up and leave. But it is definitely on my mind.

Just looking for honest answers.

But if somebody has some commentary (objective please) about the good and less good points of being at Skywest I would love to hear it.

You're both senior to me...good luck!:D

When I was at SYX, the talk around campus was Midwest wanted to greatly increase flying from MCI. I'm confident MKE and MCI will become domiciles due to how Midwest operates. Everything, and I do mean everything, that Midwest flies goes through MKE.

Under the new contract, Skywest can fly up to 25 planes in Midwest livery. I would expect Skyway 1900's to be retired once the EAS contracts are fufilled and the DoJets to replace them. The Skywest CRJ's would be used for new city-pairs and to replace the DoJets on their current routes.

I guess time will tell what truly happens.

You should be more concerned that "senior" FO's are leaving to be "junior" FO's at the bottom of another 121 carriers list...

If senior FO's really want to chase an upgrade elsewhere, more power to them. I, for one, will not be going anywhere. The grass is not always greener on the other side. I think its sad that we decide on who the "good" regionals are based solely on who at this moment has the 6month upgrade. That can, and WILL change. The doom and gloom about us not winning any RFP's , while dissapointing, is NOT THE END OF THE WORLD. There will be more, we are NOT losing ANY flying, and there will be more RFP's. Also remember that everything major that has happened here has NOT been rumored, not even one bit. So for you guys that think Skywest is the holy grail....SEEYA, have fun chasing that elusive upgrade!

Wake up and smell the roses. I'm not talking about chasing an upgrade. I'm talking about working for a company with a larger overall "picture" of where they want to be in 5, 10, 20 years. AWAC is a private company (for now, who knows how long it will stay that way) with a different agenda then Skywest, Republic, etc. If AWAC can't win an RFP in their own state, do you honestly think that they can win others? I don't. They need to adapt, and look for other ways to increase their flying, either freight, charter, etc and they don't seem to be doing that. They are doing well with ground handling, I just wish they would have the same success with the flying side of their operations.

Most people at SKW came for geography or QOL...the current upgrade time is more of a bonus. Remember the folks who are upgrading right now arrived at SKW when DAL was roaring headlong into bankruptcy, and there were legitimate fears that they were loosing money so fast that they would blow right through ch.11 and into ch.7 liquidation...lots of uncertainty then. And nobody had heard of midwest, NWA was not BK, USAir was talking merger with cactus so there weren't obvious growth opportunities yet.

To answer the original question CRJ upgrade is about 1y8m, and could go under a year in 2007. You need 2500 TT, 1000 turbine crew, and ICAO ATP mins so only folks with previous experience will qualify for the quick upgrade. Note: There will be many folks senior to you who do not have the hours or chose not to upgrade right away for QOL reasons...you will get the pay and the PIC, but you will stay low relative seniority for a good while as people trickle in on top of you down the line. MKE would be a very junior base though.

I am very comfortable with my present QOL and will not make a lateral move in hopes of chasing a fast upgrade. Six months ago if I could have been hired by RAH and based in IND or SDF (near home), I'd have jumped on it...now is a much different situation for me.

I cannot understand why any FO at AWAC with more than a year seniority would be willing to go to the bottom of a 2600 pilot seniority list unless it was strictly for QOL purposes. If that's the way you are leaning, more power to you and I wish you well...my crystal ball is broken and I'm not much of a gambler, but always remember past results are not indicative of future performance.

At SKW when do you learn your aircraft assignment?

At SKW when do you learn your aircraft assignment?

When they call and tell you the job is yours.

From a very good source, yes it will.

Couldn't of said it better myself.

MKE may not be as junior as you think due to the heavy recruiting in the midwest. when i interviewed they said i would for SURE be at ORD. now it looks like i cant get ORD until summer :(

I'm not sure anyone answered the actual question from the start about upgrades, junior capt on the RJ is running somewhere around 18 months-21 months, and improving. Lots of f/o's are being skipped over because they don't have the time or they want the better schedule, or a certain domicile. If we get more growth, as I suspect we will, the jet upgrade times may bet crazy fast.

this is off topic but i didnt want to start another thread. whats the latest on this rumor that skywest is getting part or all of the NWA flying?

I have the all the time qualifications required.

Guys and gals, it is unlikely that I will jump ship. But the fact is that QOL at ZW is not great, at least not for me. I came to AWAC because it is Air WISCONSIN. I am from Wisconsin and was quite unpleasantly surprised to find the carpet pulled out from under us so quickly. I am not naive enough to imagine that things would never change. I have been in this business a long time, both on the ground and in the air. Certainly I have made aviation a career. I have seen the Titanic sink. (Swissair in my old life.....)

The grass IS in many ways greener on the other side. At least for me. But of course that can change as well. And quickly. Odds are strong I will not leave AWAC for another regional. Too big a pay hit.

But I am no longer so optimistic about the future of ZW. We have a management which, for whatever reason, seems to not care about these failures, could not care less about employee morale and occasionally seems deliberatly malevolant towards the employees.

This is why at least look elsewhere.

PS - One thing I really do like at ZW is the professionalism of the pilot group. For the most part, we have terrific pilots who never compromise their title and position as pilot in spite of the failures of the company.

It's just a rumor! Don't believe anything until you see a press release and even then be skeptical until our pilots are up front. Either way, SKW is growing like MAD.

I've heard the rumor from some pretty important people but it went more like this:

"NWA would like to award the flying to an operator who is currently operating 900’s; this comes down to Mesa and SKW. And no-one what's Mesa to operate as their Express carrier. We have a bid in and we’ll just have to wait and see."

Why it matters that we currently operate 900's when it's the same type ride as the 200, I don’t know. :confused: Especially when the 900's are NWA's. I understand that there are some differences in certification of training (FA and Differences), but that’s it.

SKW is already way to thin on pilots, once we start operating Midwest flying we will be in a critical state. So, I have no idea how SKW could operate for NWA.

Pinnacle and Mesaba need that flying more than we do. Basically is life or death for Mesaba.

Best of luck to you! As you know this industry is cyclic, stick with it and hopefully things will change. Then you'll find yourself sitting on top, in the left seat, when they rebound.

That's sort of what I am thinking. I am too close to the upgrade and the staggering changes in prestige and authority and pay and whatnot :rolleyes: this will bring. That fourth stripe in the shoulders will look good though! :D

For all you ORF ZW pilots be prepared to move up one soon. I am going to DCA in Feb. For all you DCA pilots, don't worry, one spot won't mean much and besides, I don't commute, so there won't be competition for jumpseats from me.

I just wanna get back to doing River Visuals. Love that approach. It is for me about the only compensation for not getting to fly "250 to the Marker" at ORD or "Maintain maximum forward speed" at ORD or the Greek place with the omelettes. I miss ORD and DCA is the only thing that is a proper substitution, simply because there is more to DCA than just another straight out departure and another boring ass ILS.

DCA can be tons o' fun and I am looking forward to being back there!

NOOOOOOOOOOOO

One spot means plenty for me...stay in ORF a little bit longer, say until upgrade? Pretty please???:D

On the other hand, you'd be one more FO that lives in DC that can badger BP about day trips in DCA;)

Too late. I think we will all start to see a bit of movement in the next weeks and months. Attrition is unlikely to spike, but I think people will start to move on, especially now that Midwest isn't happening. :(

I will be right about Nr. 10 when I get there. BTW, I haven't seen movement in ORF of more than one spot in about 3 months. I actually moved down one here from 9 to 10 a couple months ago.

Where do you ZW DCA dudes commute from?

Do you think they might ease up on the seat locks for captains?

I have to agree with you on that.....lateral moves would only be in the best interest of a better QOL. Chasing upgrades and sitting reserve somewhere just for that PIC time is not at all worth it.

There is some history of them doing that, but I don't think they are short enough yet, there are still 350 people on the standing bid list for CRJ upgrade. I would suspect that they would have to if they win the 90's for NWA, Delta, or Airways. There's still more growth coming because they are now stacking jet classes, and recruiting east coast hardcore. So, to summarize, they don't have to yet, but they've done it before.

Thanks!!!!!

No problem, can I ask why the cargo driver is asking?

Fiancee is on the Bro and seatlocked. Just curious about it. Thanks again.

roger roger, if he's seatlocked because of his initial year with the company, that's more likely to be unlocked than if he seat locked himself by bidding over from something else.

He was FO on the RJ and went to upgrade on the Brasilia.

I didn't know you could upgrade from FO in the RJ to a CA in the brasilia.

Yes, you can. But you had better be prepared...

The Bro (EMB-120 Brasilia) is a tricky airplane. Much more difficult to learn than the CRJ. I know because I taught system & FTD training on the CRJ for over 1 1/2 years.

The Bro is more archaic, very temperamental, more switches, more going wrong and the EEC (Electronic Engine Controls, it’s like auto lean) fail almost monthly (Causes you to think you lost an engine at first). But, the transition upgrade is common at SKW. Although, several times new EMB CA with no prior experience (Former CRJ FO's) have scared me. Flap 45 landings can be very tricky; you have your hands full and can take a turn for the south real quick (high power, high drag, slow airspeed around 110 knots which RJ pilots aren’t use to, the a/c flies extremely heavy because of no elevator and aileron hydraulics and weighs about 26K). At SKW only CA’s can make ILS Flap 45 landings in actual conditions and that's where they have scared the $hit out of me.

They have a fraction of the experience as I do, they try to land it like an RJ, and they lack confidence. None of this is their fault but it makes of an H*E*L*L of a ride down :eek: . But as with any pilot, they learn quickly and improve. If they are just off of IOE I pray for no actual 45 landings.

Someday, when I leave it, I will miss the Bro. As do most Bro pilots, it's a special airplane we get to fly during a special time in our career.

Yeah, from what I hear, it's not easy

you think the bro is bad, try the systems on the SAAB, although the SF-340 is very easy to fly

When I had my interview we had 2 Saab pilots (ex Mesaba). They showed me the electrical system, I couldn't believe my eyes. 30 buses and all though transfers, what a maze! I think that most all Turboprops are bad when it comes to systems, they’re old and from another era.

The Bro was far beyond it’s time when it was designed. It’s amazing that 25+ years after it’s introduction and there is only one commuter turboprop that climbs and flies faster (Q400). We BLOW by Saabs, Dash's, DoProps and ATR’s.

No way any Bro-zilla is passing a Dork...

And no way any of those props is passing a SAAB2000. TAS 360 was an every day thing at FL310.

My bad, I forgot about the Saab2000. You don't see those much in the US.