Slaphappys problem is that he isn't in the REAL WORLD. he is still living in a fantasy world that will all come down on him one day. My friend at skywest gets called everyday to be junior manned even when he has a 30/7 issue!!! Make a mistake on that, and the slc fsdo will be knocking on your door and all the company will do will shrug its shoulders and say "you shouldn't have accepted it if it was illegal".and when they do he will wish there was a union there to protect him. not just sapa to show him the door.I bet slappy loved his .24cent raise. slap my man, you are keeping the bar low.....

 

That is not true, there isn't rampant junior manning. Also the company does fight for you if you get in trouble with the feds. Even those clowns who ran off the runway are back online. I'm happy with the way things are and i'm sure 51% of the pilot group is too and thats what counts.

 

As someone who is starting to put in resume's I have on question that no one seems to want to answer: If SkyWest is so bad why are so many 121 pilot's quitting their current job's to go there? It just seems to me that if having the union is so great and wonderful and makes their job's sooooo much better why quit your job at a unionized 121 carrier to go to that awful non-unionized SkyWest? Seems ironic to me but I seriously want to know.

 

FYI The current SkyWest class that started on Monday (Jan22) is 3/4 121 people from Mesa, Eagle, and Horizon to name a few. Our interview group today was the first group in a long time with no one 121 people in it.

 

You need to read your posts more carefully. Skywest is not a bad place to work. I have never said it was, and don't think anyone on these forums who works here has said so either. And yes, many 121 pilots are coming over here. However, there are major issues going on that need addressing. As mentioned before, with the advent of PBS, many of us are forced to work insane schedules, those that would never have been seen before with hard line, traditional bidding. I personally saw one such schedule which had 14 duty days scheduled in a 16 day period. That's only 2 days off in a 16 day period, all for only straight pay. This is how the company can afford to understaff and get away with it, PBS is allowed to force any flying on you it wants while it creates your schedule. It became very clear that this system is only a benefit to management, and maybe for some very senior crewmembers.

Some other things: Management's recent "reinterpretation" of their cancellation pay policy, which amounts to less compensation if any of your day gets cancelled. Management's "pen-stroke" policy change to the alcohol and duty time policy (yes, this was finally rescinded, but it was a blatant violation of the agreement between management and SAPA), and I could go on.

Once again, Skywest is not an awful place to work. I like it here, otherwise I would not have been here for the past 3 years. However, I think having some sort of legally binding representation (not necessarily ALPA) would benefit the pilot group as a whole. It would give us an enforceable contract, and prevent management from imposing whatever they wish upon us, whenever they want.

 

I have a pretty good hunch that the main reason for most of the Eagle, Horizon, etc. pilots jumping ship to here is due to the exponential growth we are experiencing, and the opportunity for a quick upgrade. Jet upgrades are currently at less than two years (1.5 years I think to be exact, if you have the time).

 

True, by this summer they are predicting upgrades to be lower than 1.5 if you have crew time and the 2500 hrs. The Horizon guy was for QOL reasons. The Mesa guys ..... well we can figure why their there. They all hated Mesa!

 

Time for the BS flag...

You obviously know nothing about SKW whatsoever, so why are you making a fool of yourself? I know all about both SKW and alpa (from painful personnel experience).

My difficult decision to not support the alpa drive was reached after hearing several alpa pushers (such as yourself) telling outright lies to new-hires during their recruitment drives. The idea is noble, but the implementation is crappola (esp at the regional level). Fix mesa first, then come talk to ME

SKW does a very good job of taking care of their own, lots of people do lots of stupid sh*T here (including bending airplanes) and get to keep their jobs. Unless you lie or show up drunk, they will work with you. I know, I know...at an alpa carrier drunks, coke users, and liers get to keep their jobs too. Well, you know what? If you're a liar, I'd rather see you fired than not. If you have a substance abuse problem, get help NOW before you get caught (or kill someone).

 

Because some people make bad life decisions such as going with the first airline to offer them a job. Then once the honey moon is over and they see flying a shiny jet full of people for what it is (a JOB), they realize there are better places to be in order to reach your goals. Example: If you want to upgrade quick, get your PIC and get hired at SWA or FedEx then going with Horizon or Eagle is a bad career move. If you want to have a home with walls made of something sturdier than cardboard and eat more than rat turds, going with Mesa is a bad career move. See where I'm going?

Some people will tell you "Get on with ANY airline as soon as you can no matter what! Get on that seniority list, it means everything!" Thats a load of BS. It doesn't matter how quick you get on a seniority list if you just jump ship in a year because you hate life. Now you're six months and 100 numbers below your buddy who waited for the right opportunity to come around. I've seen it over and over here at XJT. Ask Saab, he is uber junior to me but he was flying 121 way before I was. Get my point?

 

Thanks for your reply's, from everyone I talk to who actually works there they still feel it is a great place to work. It is those who do not work there that have the most negative to say about SkyWest. I was just wondering if there was more to the story than what I see on the surface.