Ellen

ALPA Attack on SkyWest Airlines Fails

June 28, 2007: 04:52 PM EST


ST. GEORGE, Utah, June 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- In a ruling Wednesday, the United States District Court for the Northern District of California refused ALPA's request to ban SkyWest Airlines from funding SkyWest Airlines Pilot Association (SAPA). Further, the court denied ALPA all access to company e-mail, mail boxes and training classes. SkyWest Airlines, a subsidiary of SkyWest, Inc. , unremittingly supports an open communication policy between leadership and employees, and has done so for 35 years.

In its legal filings, ALPA stated that its campaign to win pilot support at SkyWest was failing due in part to the existence of SAPA, and attempted to gain access to extensive SkyWest resources to further its cause. ALPA sought to eliminate its rival by urging the court to eliminate SAPA, SkyWest pilots' current representative body, which has been representing SkyWest pilots since 1995. ALPA's request for a preliminary injunction was rejected by the court on Wednesday, with the exception of allowing supporters to post on general bulletin boards -- which was not previously denied by SkyWest -- and the ability to wear lanyards that bear the ALPA logo as part of the flight uniform.

SkyWest's culture is founded upon open and honest communication between employees and management, and the airline strongly believes that the long-term interests of all SkyWest employees are best served by maintaining the company's current open-door relationship.

http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/...28062007-1.htm

KingAirPIC

It's pretty amazing that SkyWest can keep this up in the present industry. Amazing in a good way. Still, I wonder how long it will last.

chitownpilot

Hopefully ALPA will get the hint that if we wanted them to represent us, they would have been voted in long ago.

ExperimentalAB

Exactly. ALPA, what are you thinking? Using dirty tactics against management when the MAJORITY of Pilots at SKW are not pro-union? That's no way to gain support, fella's. How can you do that and tell the Pilot Group that you have their best interests in mind??

I am certainly Pro-ALPA where it is needed...but not at SKW, not now.

Sanchez

Hey guys,

Not to burst your bubble, but flying 700's and 900's for 50 seater rates is hardly an accomplishment. There are a number of reasons why the skywest pilot group needs representation, the one above is probably the most obvious...But hey if you're happy flying "DC 9" size aircraft for substandard pay, well by all means.

ExperimentalAB

Seriously, Dude...

Don't go out there picking on SKW. Name one Regional that pays their Pilots what they ought to, to fly those 70+ seat Jets. And then name every Regional that under pays their Pilots for those same Jets. And THEN, tell me which of those Carriers are Unionized. EVERY Regional flies those Jets for substandard pay, union or not. It's a sad fact, but it is fact nonetheless. Until we ALL walk off the Job as ONE, nothing is going to change.

Sanchez

You're right, Mesa does it...it must be right, is that what you tell yourself to make yourself feel better?

JetJock16

Another ignorant comment from an ignorant pilot. I'm not calling you stupid, just saying you don't know what you're talking about. We no longer get paid 50 seat rate and our rates (which includes our pay rigging) is among the tops in the industry. Remember that we're operating thin margins industry wide and can only be paid so much. A $1 or 2 here or there’s a drop in a bucket, with our policies and bonuses we make much more than you realize. I guarantee that we do!

BTW my card is in and we need legal representation before SKW takes a turn for the south. I don’t want to break the bank and I understand that we can’t get paid much more than we currently are, but I want more improvements to QOL (even though we second only to AWAC) and legal representation so that when things go south and Mgmnt tries to cut our wages by 30% then we can actually do something about it.

otter

I'm not pro-alpa but I'm for change. Don't forget about the 0% pay raise for us EMB guys. Thanks to all the RJ pilots that voted for that one! Skywest is a great place and I enjoy working here, however, it has it's places for improvement. I'm still not sure if ALPA could or would change anything for the better.

JetJock16

Take a look at Mesaba, MAG, GoJets, TSA, SkyBus, Virgin, Allegiant, USA 3000, Sun Country, US Airways, Colgan (Q400's), PSA and many others.

So EVERYONE, save me the BS speech.