Maybe part of the problem is that nothing is going on. Our most junior captain is still 7+ years and we haven't gotten a new contract since I've worked here. We seem to sort of just be chugging along. That's probably a good thing though since we're largely not involved in the drama that's been going on with the AA regionals.

 

Look, I have no beef with you. You are entitled to your opinion as I am mine and I stand by it. No one should be excited about more outsourced flying. The fact of the matter is that I am moving to cut a 2000 mile commute in to a 300 mile one and vastly improve the quality of my life and if you have a problem with that, well that's you not me. Believe what you will but the awarded flying came well after I had submitted my resume and I just accepted the position when it was offered. I had no control over the timing. I'm actually flattered that you pay attention my posts on the other site...

Peace..

 

We cool bro. You seem like a good dood, rock on. Just wanted to point that out.

 

Here's a update about what's happening at Skywest:

Attrition is about 25 a month, hiring 50 a month into both the CRJ and ERJ. erj is based out of ORD and SFO starting january. CRJ junior bases are MSP, ORD and IAH (junior to slightly more senior). mSp is mainly Crj 200 trips, ORD is a mix between 200/700 trips and IAh is about 80% 700 and rest 200 sometimes 900. Crj better mix of trips between 1,2,3,4 day trips. Erj is 80% 4 days but will change when SFO opens. Upgrade time is about 7.5 years however strong indication of Brazillia being taken out of the fleet, this should be off set by attrition and potential new flying. Most CRJ training done in SLC (depending on class size otherwise cvg, ATL also get used) erj is mostly STL but training center in DEN is open and taking some with more sims and instructors being hired. We have 100 firm 175s on order however only 40 have found homes with United. Erj pilots don't get delta benefits.

Hope this gets the thread back on track.

 

So since I'm still getting into this corner of our line of work, I'm guessing if (and lots of suppose'n here) the Bro goes away, with the ERJ coming online, there will be lots of movement coming from the Bro to the ERJ stagnating a new guy near the bottom there? Also, with SFO opening in January, any thoughts on whether it will go junior or senior? Finally, ignorance here, are only having Delta benefits really a huge deal and a deal breaker for many?

Someone find me a GeeDee crystal ball...

 

That's a great question and I don't think anyone knows the answer. I just did 4 SKW jumpseat rides today (might as well see how the real world works before I go to Sims) and flew with some very senior guys. Bottom line: nobody knows.

The general thought is that the ERJ/SFO will wind up going very senior as the West Coast Brasilia guys all transition into it – b/c they're not going to want to go to ORD.

The one thing everyone agreed on today (4 different crews) is that with the increase of 175 flying in SFO, nobody's really sure what's going to happen to the SFO-based United 700s.

Of course, take that rumor as being worth what you paid for it ;-)

 

Thanks, much appreciated! Given my sim delay, I most likely won't be done with IOE till mid-January....just in time for a nice balmy winter in Chicago ;-)

 

January? I wouldn't be surprised if you never made it to Chicago.

 

And that's the other excuse. But to answer your question, let's say that dues would be 2%. APC says you have 3,360 pilots. If we assume an average of $50,000 of income per pilot, then the annual dues revenue would be $3,360,000. Or you could charge $100/mo for captains and $50/mo for FOs and still come up with over $3M. You could do it a variety of ways and it would be a good chunk of change to start with in order to negotiate a real contract. Hell, if you were to go independent, it might be the start of a regional pilots association. I know I would be the first to get behind you guys and vote out ALPA for your union! Also, whatever you pay in dues is tax deductible. Anyway, food for thought.

 

...which would be just fine with me. I mean, I like deep-dish pizza and all, but hey...I'm a Californian. It gets colder than +10C, or the thunderstorm tops go above FL200, and we just want to stay in bed instead of go fly

Rumor has it that we can request IOE somewhere other than our assigned base. I figure I'll have enough on my plate keeping up with the airplane, so...gonna request IOE in SFO, since I can pretty much recite every West Coast IFR route from memory. One less thing to worry about...