Skywest Questions
- Thread starter flyingbum
- Start date
Cloud Surfer
All Roads lead to Trantor
But...but...but...don't you want to fly a jet with engines under the wings for peanuts? What is wrong with you!! 
Seriously...our management is smoking some strong stuff with its current proposal. It's like a slap below the belt. They need us more than we need them.
Seriously...our management is smoking some strong stuff with its current proposal. It's like a slap below the belt. They need us more than we need them.
Last edited:
Ayork62493
GBR
I figured they'd like to stay ahead of the game, I really don't understand. Their heads must be buried so far underground... If they want growth they need to be able to staff it.
Cloud Surfer
All Roads lead to Trantor
My hunch is that they are scoping us out. They are gauging our reaction to this TA and what it proposes so that they can plan ahead for what they will have to pay pilots in the future. They want to understand where their current workforce stands. Half or one-third of our seniority is composed of new pilots who were not as vetted as they once were in the past. We are an unknown to them.
We really are in a good position right now as a regional, though--I don't know of any other regionals aside from Compass and SkyWest which had problems recruiting and did not commence offering huge bonuses, and I would be willing to bet that Compass will very soon also be offering bonuses. We are filling in classes with no difficulty right now simply on reputation and bases alone. It really is interesting how we are doing this without any bonuses (aside from the part 135 one; I came here from part 135 even without the bonus being offered just for the rep of the company, I think I made the right choice still I hope). Bottom line is that they want to gauge what we think, and I would be willing to bet that they are monitoring everything that is being asked of SAPA reps and what is being said online. Our leadership has had great success in the past with pilots towing the company line (Kool-Aid, cough). The part that worries me is that they thought this shoddy 1% raise may have had a chance to pass. And it may.... We still have a lot of "kool-aiders" here.
We really are in a good position right now as a regional, though--I don't know of any other regionals aside from Compass and SkyWest which had problems recruiting and did not commence offering huge bonuses, and I would be willing to bet that Compass will very soon also be offering bonuses. We are filling in classes with no difficulty right now simply on reputation and bases alone. It really is interesting how we are doing this without any bonuses (aside from the part 135 one; I came here from part 135 even without the bonus being offered just for the rep of the company, I think I made the right choice still I hope). Bottom line is that they want to gauge what we think, and I would be willing to bet that they are monitoring everything that is being asked of SAPA reps and what is being said online. Our leadership has had great success in the past with pilots towing the company line (Kool-Aid, cough). The part that worries me is that they thought this shoddy 1% raise may have had a chance to pass. And it may.... We still have a lot of "kool-aiders" here.
NC-Sean
Well-Known Member
Not sure how long you've been here but I came and didn't know about the bonus, but a buddy I flew with at previous 135 spot did...he gave me the email of the guy at SKW who takes care of it. Literally sent a message asking about the bonus since my co-worker already got his. About 10 minutes later got a reply that said it will be in my next paycheck!
Cloud Surfer
All Roads lead to Trantor
Could I bug you for this individual's contact info?
NC-Sean
Well-Known Member
Hey I looked through my emails I didn't realize they get deleted on swol after 6 months if you don't save them. I'm pretty sure you can call payroll and ask them and they will send you to the right guy though.
ComplexHiAv8r
Well-Known Member
I set my SWOL email to forward to my personal email (then filter them) so i can retain all emails.
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JDean3204
Well-Known Member
Alright... It has been about a month now so enough time has gone by for me to say this with a clear head and no anger towards SkyWest. This is a story to learn from, not a rant about the company. I did really enjoy my time at SkyWest and met a ton of great people while flying an awesome airplane into some of the busiest places in the country. Not an experience I regret in anyway, although the ending could have been better. This will address the issues that current pilots are having with the Delta jumpseat and also some pointers to those that commute or are planning on commuting.
Even though a company SHOULDNT question why a pilot is calling in sick, they will. It is our legal obligation to assess our health and abilities prior to each trip in order to ensure we are fit to fly 70 passengers from A to B. Mistake one that I made was self diagnosing what I believed to be a sprained ankle. Although painful, easy to heal with some heat, ice, elevation and rest. Knowing that a deductible is costly to go visit an educated person to tell me to ice my ankle, I failed to think ahead of any repercussions that a doctors note would have later cleared up. That week I was on long call reserve, got called in for two local trips within three days and called in sick for both stating my ankle was sprained. Two days later, my ankle was feeling a little better so I felt fit to fly if need be.
It was 9am when I got a phone call from Crew Support to show up at 9pm for a stand up that evening. I was based in Seattle and live in Portland, so an easy commute.......most of the time. I usually opted to drive as the AS flights can be full with commuters and business travelers between the two airports. This is where mistake number two came into play. Again, I was worried about money, knowing that payday was 4 duty days away and another stand up was on my schedule. I had made that drive a few times and knew it was about 100 dollars round trip in my ultra economic 1998 Ford F150. So after calculating my finances I decided to take the train to work early(4pm) and give myself 4 flights to get to Seattle. Between Delta (operated by company) and Alaska (One flight by company and two by Horizon) I felt that the options were abundant. Knowing what I know now, I should have just gotten up to Seattle right away and rested in my crash pad. That one is on me, 100%. I knew that Thunderstorms were brewing, but Pac NW thunderstorms are quite modest usually. Little did I know that a thunderstorm would later park over SeaTac for an hour causing a Ground Stop creating a circus within the Alaska operations. My first option was Delta, 15 seats available and it was on company so I thought it was a sure thing. Well, as some of you are aware there is currently an issue with OO ERJ pilots listing on Delta flights if they are not Delta dedicated or have not paid the "fee" for their benefits. I fell into the latter, I did not pay 211 dollars for the benefits before hand. I attempted to list at the gate as the plane was pulling in from its inbound leg, the agent said they were not delayed so I thought I was golden. However, he ran into an issue trying to list me for the jump. Since there was a mainline jumpseater already listed, their system defaults to putting me in the back of the plane as a Non-rev, which was not working because again I didn't pay the fee. He tried a few times to bypass it but it wasn't working, it was either pay the fee or scratch that flight. What I should have done was call the travel center, and tell them about my situation. All of this info I found out later by a SAPA rep. If you tell the gate agent to move the mainline jumpseater to the back, they can list you in the jump and problem solved. Again, wish I would have had the common sense to think of that at the time. So that company bird left for Seattle without me as the agent was busy and only had limited time to get me listed.
Once I made my way to the Alaska terminal, I quickly realized that it was pure chaos. Horizon had flights delayed and cancelled causing an ocean of ticked off passengers. I made my way to the gate agent and listed for the OO flight which was full but I was in the jump. That plane was later downed by the crew for mx and delayed as well. I listed for all of the Horizon flights but could not get on. At this time I knew it was going to be tight, this was around 7pm for a 9pm report time. I then decided to communicate with Crew Support, which they were very understanding and just told me to keep them in the loop. I also called the ABCP and left a voicemail, still aggravated by the Delta situation I called the BCP who answered and told me to figure it out and that I had no excuses for missing a commute that evening. It was explained to me that I should have driven up there or flown up there that morning after receiving my assignment, which after the fact I totally agree with. But again, I thought my options were enough to make it up there on time and I had already made the decision to fly after napping late morning early afternoon to ensure I was well rested for the stand up.. Driving was not an option at this time as my truck was an hour train ride away back at my apartment. I called Crew Support and said that I was not going to be able to make it, they said not to worry and told me to just get up to Seattle when I could that evening for Short Call the next day. They didn't even give me a SAD for the situation. I made it to Seattle around 10pm and after about 45 mins on the tarmac we pulled into the gate.
Long story slightly less long and sparing some details of the way the situation was handled that I feel shouldn't be on a public forum, I "resigned" as a result of the missed commute that caused a flight crew cancellation. I'm sure you can put two and two together and figure out I was pretty much terminated with the option to resign.. The stinger with this whole situation was that my reliability, judgment and work ethic came into question because of this one scenario. Those that know me know that I take the responsibility of being a professional pilot very seriously. I am a proud person that no matter the job, I give it my all. That was the way my father raised me to be. Knowing that my company after spending thousands of dollars to train me felt that I was such a operational liability that keeping me was not an option bruised the pride quite a bit. Especially in this climate at the regionals where everybody is yelling " There's a pilot shortage!!" Not to mention I was three weeks from being PDX based, I could taste the imminent increase in qol!
So as much as that may come across as a rant, it was not intended to be. I wanted to share the story in detail to show you how fast plans can go south. I hope those that are reading this looking at SkyWest as an option learn from my mistakes. I don't regret one bit my decision to go to SkyWest. The training was excellent, the company seems very solid and if you do as expected they really do treat you well. Just remember to ALWAYS get a doctors note, especially while on probation. Have multiple plans in order to make your commute, have a plan A, B and C. SkyWest has many great work rules but the lack of a commuter clause is not one of them. Last thing, try not to make your decisions based purely on short term finances, we all know that regional FO wages are still lean even though they are trending upward. But having to take a financial blow for commuting costs is a known in the industry, so just keep that in mind. I'm sure you would rather that minor blow versus having to explain a few years down the road to an interview board at a major airline why your stay was so short at regional A.
Lastly, I would like to thank those JC members that I reached out to looking for guidance while this situation was unfolding. it was just another example of why this website is such a valuable tool to us in our careers! I am now in ground for another regional and learning the ways of the Q400, which I am very thankful for and am having a blast doing.
Even though a company SHOULDNT question why a pilot is calling in sick, they will. It is our legal obligation to assess our health and abilities prior to each trip in order to ensure we are fit to fly 70 passengers from A to B. Mistake one that I made was self diagnosing what I believed to be a sprained ankle. Although painful, easy to heal with some heat, ice, elevation and rest. Knowing that a deductible is costly to go visit an educated person to tell me to ice my ankle, I failed to think ahead of any repercussions that a doctors note would have later cleared up. That week I was on long call reserve, got called in for two local trips within three days and called in sick for both stating my ankle was sprained. Two days later, my ankle was feeling a little better so I felt fit to fly if need be.
It was 9am when I got a phone call from Crew Support to show up at 9pm for a stand up that evening. I was based in Seattle and live in Portland, so an easy commute.......most of the time. I usually opted to drive as the AS flights can be full with commuters and business travelers between the two airports. This is where mistake number two came into play. Again, I was worried about money, knowing that payday was 4 duty days away and another stand up was on my schedule. I had made that drive a few times and knew it was about 100 dollars round trip in my ultra economic 1998 Ford F150. So after calculating my finances I decided to take the train to work early(4pm) and give myself 4 flights to get to Seattle. Between Delta (operated by company) and Alaska (One flight by company and two by Horizon) I felt that the options were abundant. Knowing what I know now, I should have just gotten up to Seattle right away and rested in my crash pad. That one is on me, 100%. I knew that Thunderstorms were brewing, but Pac NW thunderstorms are quite modest usually. Little did I know that a thunderstorm would later park over SeaTac for an hour causing a Ground Stop creating a circus within the Alaska operations. My first option was Delta, 15 seats available and it was on company so I thought it was a sure thing. Well, as some of you are aware there is currently an issue with OO ERJ pilots listing on Delta flights if they are not Delta dedicated or have not paid the "fee" for their benefits. I fell into the latter, I did not pay 211 dollars for the benefits before hand. I attempted to list at the gate as the plane was pulling in from its inbound leg, the agent said they were not delayed so I thought I was golden. However, he ran into an issue trying to list me for the jump. Since there was a mainline jumpseater already listed, their system defaults to putting me in the back of the plane as a Non-rev, which was not working because again I didn't pay the fee. He tried a few times to bypass it but it wasn't working, it was either pay the fee or scratch that flight. What I should have done was call the travel center, and tell them about my situation. All of this info I found out later by a SAPA rep. If you tell the gate agent to move the mainline jumpseater to the back, they can list you in the jump and problem solved. Again, wish I would have had the common sense to think of that at the time. So that company bird left for Seattle without me as the agent was busy and only had limited time to get me listed.
Once I made my way to the Alaska terminal, I quickly realized that it was pure chaos. Horizon had flights delayed and cancelled causing an ocean of ticked off passengers. I made my way to the gate agent and listed for the OO flight which was full but I was in the jump. That plane was later downed by the crew for mx and delayed as well. I listed for all of the Horizon flights but could not get on. At this time I knew it was going to be tight, this was around 7pm for a 9pm report time. I then decided to communicate with Crew Support, which they were very understanding and just told me to keep them in the loop. I also called the ABCP and left a voicemail, still aggravated by the Delta situation I called the BCP who answered and told me to figure it out and that I had no excuses for missing a commute that evening. It was explained to me that I should have driven up there or flown up there that morning after receiving my assignment, which after the fact I totally agree with. But again, I thought my options were enough to make it up there on time and I had already made the decision to fly after napping late morning early afternoon to ensure I was well rested for the stand up.. Driving was not an option at this time as my truck was an hour train ride away back at my apartment. I called Crew Support and said that I was not going to be able to make it, they said not to worry and told me to just get up to Seattle when I could that evening for Short Call the next day. They didn't even give me a SAD for the situation. I made it to Seattle around 10pm and after about 45 mins on the tarmac we pulled into the gate.
Long story slightly less long and sparing some details of the way the situation was handled that I feel shouldn't be on a public forum, I "resigned" as a result of the missed commute that caused a flight crew cancellation. I'm sure you can put two and two together and figure out I was pretty much terminated with the option to resign.. The stinger with this whole situation was that my reliability, judgment and work ethic came into question because of this one scenario. Those that know me know that I take the responsibility of being a professional pilot very seriously. I am a proud person that no matter the job, I give it my all. That was the way my father raised me to be. Knowing that my company after spending thousands of dollars to train me felt that I was such a operational liability that keeping me was not an option bruised the pride quite a bit. Especially in this climate at the regionals where everybody is yelling " There's a pilot shortage!!" Not to mention I was three weeks from being PDX based, I could taste the imminent increase in qol!
So as much as that may come across as a rant, it was not intended to be. I wanted to share the story in detail to show you how fast plans can go south. I hope those that are reading this looking at SkyWest as an option learn from my mistakes. I don't regret one bit my decision to go to SkyWest. The training was excellent, the company seems very solid and if you do as expected they really do treat you well. Just remember to ALWAYS get a doctors note, especially while on probation. Have multiple plans in order to make your commute, have a plan A, B and C. SkyWest has many great work rules but the lack of a commuter clause is not one of them. Last thing, try not to make your decisions based purely on short term finances, we all know that regional FO wages are still lean even though they are trending upward. But having to take a financial blow for commuting costs is a known in the industry, so just keep that in mind. I'm sure you would rather that minor blow versus having to explain a few years down the road to an interview board at a major airline why your stay was so short at regional A.
Lastly, I would like to thank those JC members that I reached out to looking for guidance while this situation was unfolding. it was just another example of why this website is such a valuable tool to us in our careers! I am now in ground for another regional and learning the ways of the Q400, which I am very thankful for and am having a blast doing.
Last edited:
Cory Trevor
Well-Known Member
Sounds like a crappy situation, however it seems like not having a commuter policy only negatively affects those still on probation. I've flown with a captain that said they take about one 4 day trip a month off
Yeah it seems like a pretty crappy series of events. I called off plenty as a newbie and was never questioned. The cancellation is likely what painted a target on your back. Sorry man. I hate to hear that happen to anyone. I will take our "commuter policy" any day over what other's have.
🦈💜
Well-Known Member
Man, that's rough. The real irony is that if it wasn't for all the people out there flagrantly abusing the system, this probably would have been a non-event.
Sucks... hope things go well from here. You're QX now, right?
-Fox
JDean3204
Well-Known Member
Yeah I am. Hoping to get PDX out of training so I don't even have to deal with commuting lol
JDean3204
Well-Known Member
Yeah, the fact that the company really overlooked an OO plane leaving me at the gate because of a known Delta jumpseating issue was the real kick to the jewels. I can't believe that wasn't a point of emphasis and something they wanted to change, apparently it's an IT issue that falls very low on the priority list of things to do. I expressed that if that wasn't the case and this was fixed, this situation never would have happened. Did they care? Naw lol
No clause is great as long as they have coverage for your inability to get to work and there is no flight cancellation I guess... I'm now a firm believer in a written agreement that will cover my bacon as long as I do my part in accordance with said agreement
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You think it would have played out differently if you called them after you missed the first two flights to give them a heads up? They probably could have avoided canceling the flight if they recrewed it earlier. You may still have gotten a slap on the wrist for not showing up, but if the flight still went out I imagine that wouldn't have to result in a resignationAlright... It has been about a month now so enough time has gone by for me to say this with a clear head and no anger towards SkyWest. This is a story to learn from, not a rant about the company. I did really enjoy my time at SkyWest and met a ton of great people while flying an awesome airplane into some of the busiest places in the country. Not an experience I regret in anyway, although the ending could have been better. This will address the issues that current pilots are having with the Delta jumpseat and also some pointers to those that commute or are planning on commuting.
Even though a company SHOULDNT question why a pilot is calling in sick, they will. It is our legal obligation to assess our health and abilities prior to each trip in order to ensure we are fit to fly 70 passengers from A to B. Mistake one that I made was self diagnosing what I believed to be a sprained ankle. Although painful, easy to heal with some heat, ice, elevation and rest. Knowing that a deductible is costly to go visit an educated person to tell me to ice my ankle, I failed to think ahead of any repercussions that a doctors note would have later cleared up. That week I was on long call reserve, got called in for two local trips within three days and called in sick for both stating my ankle was sprained. Two days later, my ankle was feeling a little better so I felt fit to fly if need be.
It was 9am when I got a phone call from Crew Support to show up at 9pm for a stand up that evening. I was based in Seattle and live in Portland, so an easy commute.......most of the time. I usually opted to drive as the AS flights can be full with commuters and business travelers between the two airports. This is where mistake number two came into play. Again, I was worried about money, knowing that payday was 4 duty days away and another stand up was on my schedule. I had made that drive a few times and knew it was about 100 dollars round trip in my ultra economic 1998 Ford F150. So after calculating my finances I decided to take the train to work early(4pm) and give myself 4 flights to get to Seattle. Between Delta (operated by company) and Alaska (One flight by company and two by Horizon) I felt that the options were abundant. Knowing what I know now, I should have just gotten up to Seattle right away and rested in my crash pad. That one is on me, 100%. I knew that Thunderstorms were brewing, but Pac NW thunderstorms are quite modest usually. Little did I know that a thunderstorm would later park over SeaTac for an hour causing a Ground Stop creating a circus within the Alaska operations. My first option was Delta, 15 seats available and it was on company so I thought it was a sure thing. Well, as some of you are aware there is currently an issue with OO ERJ pilots listing on Delta flights if they are not Delta dedicated or have not paid the "fee" for their benefits. I fell into the latter, I did not pay 211 dollars for the benefits before hand. I attempted to list at the gate as the plane was pulling in from its inbound leg, the agent said they were not delayed so I thought I was golden. However, he ran into an issue trying to list me for the jump. Since there was a mainline jumpseater already listed, their system defaults to putting me in the back of the plane as a Non-rev, which was not working because again I didn't pay the fee. He tried a few times to bypass it but it wasn't working, it was either pay the fee or scratch that flight. What I should have done was call the travel center, and tell them about my situation. All of this info I found out later by a SAPA rep. If you tell the gate agent to move the mainline jumpseater to the back, they can list you in the jump and problem solved. Again, wish I would have had the common sense to think of that at the time. So that company bird left for Seattle without me as the agent was busy and only had limited time to get me listed.
Once I made my way to the Alaska terminal, I quickly realized that it was pure chaos. Horizon had flights delayed and cancelled causing an ocean of ticked off passengers. I made my way to the gate agent and listed for the OO flight which was full but I was in the jump. That plane was later downed by the crew for mx and delayed as well. I listed for all of the Horizon flights but could not get on. At this time I knew it was going to be tight, this was around 7pm for a 9pm report time. I then decided to communicate with Crew Support, which they were very understanding and just told me to keep them in the loop. I also called the ABCP and left a voicemail, still aggravated by the Delta situation I called the BCP who answered and told me to figure it out and that I had no excuses for missing a commute that evening. It was explained to me that I should have driven up there or flown up there that morning after receiving my assignment, which after the fact I totally agree with. But again, I thought my options were enough to make it up there on time and I had already made the decision to fly after napping late morning early afternoon to ensure I was well rested for the stand up.. Driving was not an option at this time as my truck was an hour train ride away back at my apartment. I called Crew Support and said that I was not going to be able to make it, they said not to worry and told me to just get up to Seattle when I could that evening for Short Call the next day. They didn't even give me a SAD for the situation. I made it to Seattle around 10pm and after about 45 mins on the tarmac we pulled into the gate.
Long story slightly less long and sparing some details of the way the situation was handled that I feel shouldn't be on a public forum, I "resigned" as a result of the missed commute that caused a flight crew cancellation. I'm sure you can put two and two together and figure out I was pretty much terminated with the option to resign.. The stinger with this whole situation was that my reliability, judgment and work ethic came into question because of this one scenario. Those that know me know that I take the responsibility of being a professional pilot very seriously. I am a proud person that no matter the job, I give it my all. That was the way my father raised me to be. Knowing that my company after spending thousands of dollars to train me felt that I was such a operational liability that keeping me was not an option bruised the pride quite a bit. Especially in this climate at the regionals where everybody is yelling " There's a pilot shortage!!" Not to mention I was three weeks from being PDX based, I could taste the imminent increase in qol!
So as much as that may come across as a rant, it was not intended to be. I wanted to share the story in detail to show you how fast plans can go south. I hope those that are reading this looking at SkyWest as an option learn from my mistakes. I don't regret one bit my decision to go to SkyWest. The training was excellent, the company seems very solid and if you do as expected they really do treat you well. Just remember to ALWAYS get a doctors note, especially while on probation. Have multiple plans in order to make your commute, have a plan A, B and C. SkyWest has many great work rules but the lack of a commuter clause is not one of them. Last thing, try not to make your decisions based purely on short term finances, we all know that regional FO wages are still lean even though they are trending upward. But having to take a financial blow for commuting costs is a known in the industry, so just keep that in mind. I'm sure you would rather that minor blow versus having to explain a few years down the road to an interview board at a major airline why your stay was so short at regional A.
Lastly, I would like to thank those JC members that I reached out to looking for guidance while this situation was unfolding. it was just another example of why this website is such a valuable tool to us in our careers! I am now in ground for another regional and learning the ways of the Q400, which I am very thankful for and am having a blast doing.
Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
JDean3204
Well-Known Member
Oh I am certain that if they could have found another option and not cancel the flight things would have went down differently. The issue was this was a stand up, since I was the only long call reserve I was that option for them 12 hours prior. So calling them even at 2pm would have ran the risk of no coverage as all reserves at that time would not be legal for the trip. Their only option would have been to find someone local willing to take the trip on their day off. I would have done a few things differently that day had I known this would have resulted in me being unemployed a few days later man, but who wouldn't dwell on all the details at that point
BEEF SUPREME
Well-Known Member
Just imagine if it had been corporate or charter they would have fired you and black balled you from ever getting a job again. It's actually amazing how good it is for pilots on the 121 side. I love it.
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Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Yeah, just something to think about when you interview in the future. Gonna be hard to justify not communicating with the company
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