I agree that SKYW is not what it used to be. But I disagree that it is a risky career decision. CC and the crew are very smart and good business leader. SKYW will be around for a long time.

But you better know what you are getting in to. If you live in DTW, ORD, LGA or MSP - come on board. It will be a decent to good ride.

If your goal is west coast - you may want to evaluate other options.

It’s funny. The first time we voted not to restrict new hire voting and all the reps voted not to we were told to relax, that we didn’t undersrand the policy making process, and that there would be another vote. They had already cast that unofficial vote from the pilot group but didn’t show the reps but we were told that didn’t matter. The pilots would have another vote and the SAPA reps would vote on the policy again. What happens the second time? The same exact garbage where they don’t listen to the pilot group. SAPA is blowing smoke up your ass and nothing will change as long as RJ is in change and most likely as long as SAPA is around.

I've been here a long time and I'm not so sure of our long future!

We are in bad shape, in many areas:

Pilot numbers, right now attrition is exceeding hiring, and our model is built on growth. Attrition is only going to increase and the number of suitable pilots is only going to go down. Who's leaving? A-to-Z, pilots with 6 months or less to 25+ years, yes the grass is greener. Sadly I know of pilots getting out of aviation their first year.

Mechanics, Dispatchers also leaving in record numbers. It's not just flight crews talking about QOL and money.

QOL: The bad taste starts with reserve and the rules and procedures recently implemented. Just when reserve work rules couldn't be just disgusting horrific, they recently took a massive turn for the worse. I do not see how anybody could be LGA based and comply with the rules in place and and thus get a black mark on their employment records. People are refusing to upgrade to avoid going back on reserve despite the company begging them to. I believe forced upgrades will be a reality soon.

Management and representation. No one in upper management has flown in years and they have no concept of how the job has steadily gotten worse. Individual managers on a constant stream of bulletins cause a data flood no one can keep up with. Our technology is set up by a cost cutting group of novices and the associated hardware is total garbage. Our EFB's could not be any worse than they are, we have to carry seperate batteries, they wont get a cell signal and so we have mobile hot spots on the plane and they don't work either. Try dealing with this junk on a 30 minute turn. SAPA is totally out of touch with the pilot group, intentionally. The SAPA president has stated he will not respond to the forums, will not respond on social media, will not take phone calls, but will accept emails but he doesn't respond to those either. SAPA is overwhelmed and the company couldn't be happier about it, they are getting back what they pay for. The SAPA EB hasn't flown in years either.

At one time SkyWest was probably one of the best out there.

Well......

SAPA is to Management as Fox News is to trump.
Mouthpiece.
Nothing more.
Nothing less.

Couldnt agree more! also a senior FO that will not upgrade here. If im still here in 10 years and can hold a line as CA in my domicile then we will talk. But will NEVER go back to reserve at this company. Or back to commuting to a crap schedule.

It was clarified that they voted on a 1 year restriction and some reps voted for it, but it lost. So the next vote was for IOE restriction and they voted yes unanimously. Not defending the reps but a new rep who actually communicates with us through FB did explain that.

EFB battery and a wifi Hotspot is going to drive Skywest into the ground? You had a good post, but got a bit too dramatic there. I'm not a fan of the surface at all, but they've gotten a lot better over time especially with the cellular function. Which is why you see less people posting and complaining about it.. Where as a year ago it was weekly, if not daily, people would complain about issues with that device.

I should have gone into greater detail about that, yes. Granted they have improved. But still wildly unreliable. I have never got the hot spot in the plane to work, and I never have seen anybody else to either. I had days when my Surface would work and connect and my FO's wouldn't. Then the next day it would be the other way around at the same gates? The fact we have to carry batteries around, repeaters in the plane, tells me we have the absolute wrong product. And recent rumblings are we are forced to stay with it because flightview and apple are not compatible.

My concerns are when the EFB becomes the defacto MX can. Remember both need to be online, and to my knowledge both have to function or you don't fly. Somebody doesn't close out, no fly. When an airline places a lot of their reliability on the Surface we have now, ya, I'm concerned!

I agree that the surface isn’t my favorite, but the mobile hot spot has worked perfectly every time for me. In fact, I have been impressed with how well it works. I haven’t heard of anyone else having problems with the hot spot.

The lack of connectivity does not prevent flight.
I welcome the e-aml.