On the flip side, where are these regionals going to get pilots if these “inexperienced, 1500 hour, straight out of flight school” pilots say no thank you to the low pay and poor QOL?
NOWHERE.
These guys that you’re knocking are who is available. Don’t give in to what they want and you might have airplanes sitting around with no one to fly them.
If you haven’t noticed, there is a bit of a bidding war going on between the regionals while fighting over pilots.

I am relieved to know that in today’s industry, even against the odds with people like you fighting for low pay and horendous QOL, improvements will still come because that is what the market is demanding.

 

Says a Horizon pilot!
hahaha.

If 9e pays more than what an airline pilot is worth, I’d be all ears as to know how you justify legacy pay.

 

How dare people say they are moving elsewhere for better pay and QOL! You act like they are committing mutiny! To each their own. Skywest works for me and my family due to the bases. If I lived in the east it would be hard not to think about Endeavor if I hadn’t put much time into Skywest. Why is everyone so butthurt about people talking about their situation. I didn’t see it as complaining one bit. The industry standard is not what it was 10 years ago... stop acting like it.

 

I want the guy to leave personally.
Wages move due to economic forces.

They aren’t paying more to us because they want to. They are paying more for reasons we all know.

 

As you know im usually very Pro SkyWest.. here’s the deal. Regionals are regionals and it is a different day and age then 1990’s when i got here. For the flight instructor. Got to a regional that will minimize your time there. And keep you close to Family.. flows never pannout as advertised (historicly).. Go to a regional thT isngrowing aircraft wise, and has a younger pilot group. Enjoy your time there but minimize it. Apply at the LCC’ / Majors as soon as you can... so we can bicker back and forth about pay, but reality is they will all match ech other to compete.. and you could waste thousands and QOL commuting across the country wasting days off sruck in NYC over the holidays. Or paying for hotels.ect..

 

Unfortunately... it's not a "new mentality". It's a new *opportunity*, driven by two factors...

The lesser factor is fewer young people who are interested in aviation, interested in travel, and able/willing to pass drug tests. Why jump through all those hoops when you can kick back, blaze up, and live your life through your phone.

The larger factor is literally unprecedented demand.

Some of the noobs like to shoot off at the mouth about how they're not putting up with things like past generations... but if regional pay suddenly dropped by 50% how many would actually walk away?

It's important to get all the bonuses and carrots baked into pay scales and contracts to ensure they don't "snap back" at the next (inevitable) industry hiccup.

But I'm certainly glad to see things improving, don't know all the deets of the endeavor TA but it sounds like a major turning point. May have finally put SKW at a competitive disadvantage. Or maybe not... you'd have to pay me about $300K MORE to get me to live east of the rockies, $20K-30K, while a significant percentage of regional FO pay, will not get everyone to move east.

 

Hit the nail on the head!

 

Haha, ignoring the reality of the situation. There is 1 way that Delta could cut 9E out of the picture, by flying the CR9 at Delta. No other regional could staff 108 CR9's, let alone Skywest like so many of you would love. Heck, you can't even staff an ATL CR2 base without nearly hiring street captains.

To think any major owned regional can get Comair'd today, is well, ignoring the facts of the world.

 

What are you talking about? All of the other regionals offer similar career progression now with pilots being hired with the minimums and upgrading as soon as they hit minimums also. The industry has changed since you started in it. The days of 8 year upgrades and needing way more then the minimum hours to get a regional job are long gone. This is the new norm. (I've been a commercial pilot since 92' as well and have seen a few changes). Flight instructor to Legacy will run 3-4 years in the future and that will be the norm. The paying your dues with crappy jobs for a decade+ is over.

Where SkyWest lacks, and we definitely have kept up, is pay, flow, or a guaranteed interview program. That's a fact. Doesn't make SkyWest a bad place, but we sure aren't at the top of the regional industry or competitive anymore. When you compare us to others, we're about the lowest paid out there right now. Our 5 year deal just isn't keeping up with a rapidly changing industry. (And no wonder management came to us early with such a long deal.)

I've no problem with someone doing what's best for themselves. If management can't pay enough to keep new pilots here it shows a problem with the pay scale that needs to be addressed.

 

Any new hire pilot with 0 121 time that started today at any regional (except expressjet) would be able to upgrade once they get the required time. And you are right, there is nowhere where they could do that at 45-50k a year starting off, all other regionals pay more than that low amount, even mesa.....