Skywest
 

Does anybody know....after you get hired by Skywest, how long does it take before you get medical benefits? Thanks!

The first of the month after 90 days of service. So it could be 3-4 months.

If you started Aug 15th (for example) then your benefits would start Dec
1st. 90 days would be about Nov 15th, so the first of the month after that.

What a joke. Just another crap deal that the regionals offer. Real nice, 90 days of NO insurance. Should be the standard 30 at minimum.

It is not just the regionals. Continental is 6 months!

I'm not sure I'd term what Skywest has as 'medical benefits'. You basically get to choose between an overpriced PPO or an awful CDHP plan.

We used to have an okay health plan but Chip away decided he really needed another addition to his house so he got rid of it for a nice bonus.

You're probably the same kinda guy who tells the world Obama is killing our country....yet when it behooves you, you support unions and health care regulation :p I kid, obviously I don't know you, but a lot of pilots seem to speak out of both sides of their mouth.

Anyway, for what its worth, I've had the CDHP for 4 years and had no issues, granted I'm under 30 with no pre-existing conditions and I've only had to use it for a couple ugly sinus infections and one case of pnemonia....with the HSA allowances I haven't paid a dime out of pocket. That being said, the "perceived" loss of healthcare bennies at SkyWest was a real bummer for a lot of families....cousin Chip and his antics :rolleyes:

Yep, only the regionals... your standard isn't so standard.

The CDHP only seems to work well for young, healthy, single people with no kids... Most of the people here that switched to it that have kids and or health problems, wish they had stayed with our only other not so great choice.

Not so sure 30 days is standard. Most places I've worked have been 60 days. I've only worked at one that was 30 days, and I can confirm that Continental is/was six months so it's not just the regionals.
With the reduced COBRA premiums and all the high deducible insurance plans out there it's not so bad to pay for health insurance for 3-4 months. Granted it could be a lot better.

Like others have said...not just the regionals. Most companies in the "non-airline" sector are 90 days as well. Besides 90 days is over before you know it and if you are worried then you can purchase your own for cheap for the 90 days or get cobra from your previous employer.

Although i do agree that "all" companies should offer medical from day one or 30 days but usually the reason it is 90 days is so the background checks come back for airlines and probation period is complete for non aviation jobs. If you were an employer would you want to pay for some moron who lied on his/her application and pay for his/her medical only to find out later he/she lied and you have to fire him/her. Waste of money.

Actually 30 days is quite standard at many larger employers.

Agreed. Full coverage within 30 days or less as it was at both regionals I have worked for as well as all other prior, non aviation jobs.

full coverage at my company after 60 days. (Kaiser).

skywest wont let you order your own shirts? This blows.

How much of a good quality shirts do they provide?

Here's a recent new hire.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...ot-costume.jpg

Different industry, but all the IT places I've worked it was active on day 1. I did not realize you might actually have to wait at some places. :mad:

You left the IT world for this?!

[QUOTE=duvie;1019858]You're probably the same kinda guy who tells the world Obama is killing our country....yet when it behooves you, you support unions and health care regulation :p I kid, obviously I don't know you, but a lot of pilots seem to speak out of both sides of their mouth.

You speak as if bam bam is actually in favor of unions, get a clue! You must be part of the 30 and under crowd(ie gulable)

My other half is at Skywest and she orders her own shirts. :confused:

http://www.airlinepilotforums.com/[I...7308/Dance.gifhttp://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lo7422iNLv1qfph6q.gif

In the package it stated not to wear or buy shirts from vendors other than Skywest uses.

SkyWest provides two pants, two shirts (M&H), and a tie plus all the decorations. You are able to buy more, but that is what they provide. You then need to get a blazer ($150 M&H) or leather jacket ($300 Perrone) and the hat is optional ($60 Premier).

SkyWest does have a policy that all uniforms must be purchased from M&H or Crew outfitters but it is not enforced. In fact they gave me permission to use a blazer from a previous previous airline so I didn't pay anything for uniforms. The last airline I worked for had the exact same uniform but forced me to purchase over $500 in uniform pieces.

I ran into this. Looks like good stuff..

Pilot shirt and pilot uniform manufacturer, buy direct.

As long as your shirts are white, pants are black, and your leather jacket looks like a pilot jacket you are good to go. Many of us use gear from a previous airline.

If you want the optional blazer or hat, you will probably have to use the official vendor. I never bought either.

^^^Yeah, that^^^
:o

it also says somewhere that you can't read in the cockpit during flight.

You'll quickly learn that the policy manual (no hair on your collar, approved clothing only, well shined shoes, just to name a few itens), is much more like guidelines than hard and fast rules (especially when you're a crew scheduler calling up a reserve, or you're a Bro pilot flying in Southern California)

You speak as if you know my political inclinations :) Just because I have enough maturity (barely) to use a politician's real name, must mean I'm a loyal follower eh?

The next time I want political insight from a card-carrying union member who votes republican, and whose overnight highlights include complaining about "how hard it is to stay in shape in our job" and how "hard this job is on your family" while they eat at Chili's, buying plenty of drinks for themselves and the flight attendant and complain bitterly when the flight attendant won't go back to their room with them, I'll let you know :D

I.E. There is no shortage of pilots who are just as guilty of hypocrisy as the politicians they so vehemently denounce.

Not exactly. I would say I retired from the IT world but I'm not that old. :)

I have well more than the minimums from CFI-ing in my free time and every now and then I'm tempted to apply. I'm sure there are parts about the job that I'll enjoy but BS like the health insurance details that we are discussing here will probably **** me off.

I bought two of the tapered shirts not too long ago and I'm rather pleased with them.

Any word on how long classes at SkyWest will be running for? Any end in sight?

They don't tell us anything and everything you hear here will be rumors and speculation. Bottom line is the communication between the pilots and Mgt at SKW is boarder line non-existent.

My guess is new hire classes will run through mid to late fall but the size of them will steadily decrease.

Sorry but a little off topic, what are the chances of a new hire getting Houston base?

sorry but just saw the answer in another recent post… now back to your regularly scheduled topic of insurance and benefits..

Unless you're a slc bro fo who happens to have out of control hair and then on the one time in 6 months you go to sgu you happen to have the director of flight ops on yer flight, then you will get a haircut.

Does anyone know when you get travel benefits and put in CASS from the 1st day of class?

It takes about a week if your background check goes smoothly.

You didn't :rolleyes: I bring an extra white shirt when I have SGU on my trip. I get a surprising number of good trips (well above my seniority) that have an SGU overnight. I guess a lot of folks don't want to deal with it. I just have to try to remember to make all those announcements that I'm often too busy to do.

What are the junior CRJ Bases? Are the bases different if you fly for Delta vs. United? Does SkyWest split there pilots up into flying for Delta vs United or do you fly both airlines?

The only split at SKW exists between E120 and RJ pilots. All pilots can flow in and out of Alaska, UAL, DAL and AirTran systems as long as their aircraft is utilized within that system (no E120’s for Alaska). To add, as long as you’re check out, all RJ pilots can fly the CRJ-200, 700 and 900. The only true difference between the domiciles is the locations, if you’re in a UAL domicile the majority of your flying will be UAL and vice versa. We do have outstation domiciles that split their time between UAL and DAL (FAT, PSP, and TUS) as they service both UAL and DAL hubs directly. Our Most JR bases are ORD, IAH and MSP but not in that order since they alternate with each other almost every month dependent on what Virginia decides. lol (inside joke)

What would be a quicker way to hold a line in msp or ord? Also how do the schedules differ from each?

Probably ORD sense most everyone what's to move west. Our lines change regularly but in ORD there's almost 2.5 times the flying than in IAH and almost 4 times MSP which means more chances to fly in ORD. Plan on lots of 4 days with pay values between 18-25 (average of around 20ish) and a variety of report and release times spread throughout the day. Bottom line, nothing you can plan on until you get senior.