SkyWest, or...

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Eric Bohn

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I'm going to need @flymike to make up a new meme for this one.

Is there a storm brewing at SkyWest? It sounds like there's a lot of discontent there. SkyWest has been appealing to me because of the junior MSP base, and they seem like a good long term prospect when the industry goes downhill again.

MSP is the base of choice. Endeavor, Compass, and SkyWest are my possible options. I'll have all the ATP requirements minus the multi time, of which I have 19 hours left. I have a CJO from SkyWest and a class date of May 25, and am considering spending the money to get 19 hous of twin time on my own for the others.

Quality of life is my number one priority. I have zero 121 experience. I want to join a stable company with positive employees, and one that has an outlook of good things instead of question marks.
 
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Eric Bohn said:
I'm going to need @flymike to make up a new meme for this one.

Is there a storm brewing at SkyWest? It sounds like there's a lot of discontent there. SkyWest has been appealing to me because of the junior MSP base, and they seem like a good long term prospect when the industry goes downhill again.

MSP is the base of choice. Endeavor, Compass, and SkyWest are my possible options. I'll have all the ATP requirements minus the multi time, of which I have 19 hours left. I have a CJO from SkyWest and a class date of May 25, and am considering spending the money to get 19 hous of twin time on my own for the others.

Quality of life is my number one priority. I have zero 121 experience. I want to join a stable company with positive employees, and one that has an outlook of good things instead of question marks.
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Not sure how this fits with a meme, but good luck with your final decision. Sounds like your situation might look like this in real life:
ezgif-2369689552.gif
 
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Eric Bohn said:
Is there a storm brewing at SkyWest?
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It's a regional.

I wouldn't say there's any discontent. We are treated pretty well. A few gripes here and there, but overall it's not terrible. The "discontent" you're seeing is over the proposed pay package. Nothing new to see pilots whine about a pay package. For instance, I don't care about the pay rate. Keep it where it's at. The company can keep the $.50 raise and I'll take QOL improvements in return.

There will always be questions in the regional industry. I can guarantee you that none of the regionals out there can guarantee you what the future holds for their contracts and what not.

With that said, the company is posting vacancies every month with anywhere from 60-90 captain vacancies. And they just announced a DEN E175 base. Will Skywest shrink long term? I think they will, just like every regional out there. It's not the worst place to start a 121 career though.

P.S. I think Compass has a couple month upgrade right now.
 
I had the opposite impression during my time at OO, but then again, there's been attrition since I left.
 
B767 said:
It's a regional.

I wouldn't say there's any discontent. We are treated pretty well. A few gripes here and there, but overall it's not terrible. The "discontent" you're seeing is over the proposed pay package. Nothing new to see pilots whine about a pay package. For instance, I don't care about the pay rate. Keep it where it's at. The company can keep the $.50 raise and I'll take QOL improvements in return.

There will always be questions in the regional industry. I can guarantee you that none of the regionals out there can guarantee you what the future holds for their contracts and what not.

With that said, the company is posting vacancies every month with anywhere from 60-90 captain vacancies. And they just announced a DEN E175 base. Will Skywest shrink long term? I think they will, just like every regional out there. It's not the worst place to start a 121 career though.

P.S. I think Compass has a couple month upgrade right now.
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Pretty much that.

This is a good place to hang your not-required hat. I voted "no" on the pay package because I found it inadequate. In the meantime I'll continue to collect near-sector-leading pay to fly a shiny new jet with good coworkers.
 
Eric Bohn said:
I'm going to need @flymike to make up a new meme for this one.

Is there a storm brewing at SkyWest? It sounds like there's a lot of discontent there. SkyWest has been appealing to me because of the junior MSP base, and they seem like a good long term prospect when the industry goes downhill again.

MSP is the base of choice. Endeavor, Compass, and SkyWest are my possible options. I'll have all the ATP requirements minus the multi time, of which I have 19 hours left. I have a CJO from SkyWest and a class date of May 25, and am considering spending the money to get 19 hous of twin time on my own for the others.

Quality of life is my number one priority. I have zero 121 experience. I want to join a stable company with positive employees, and one that has an outlook of good things instead of question marks.
Click to expand...
Do you realize most regionals will hire you with only 25 ME hours? I had an offer from SW with only 34 ME hours. Something to keep in mind that could save you some $.
 
From the outside looking in, the retention and hiring bonuses proposed in the package are appealing.

People seem to be pretty unhappy with scheduling, PTO, and working long stretches with minimal days off. I haven't read or heard too much about that with Endeavor or Compass, and wonder if that's because they're union.

Again, outside looking in. Just poking around for info/insight.
 
Not sure what discontent you're referring to, but it's a good place to go as far as regionals are concerned. Just over four years here so far, and I'm pretty content. Excellent training, excellent maintenance, good crews, diverse flying, and many different flying partners to spread out the risk (UAL, DAL, AMR, and Alaska).

If I had to do it all over again, I wouldn't have changed my decision to come here.
 
Eric Bohn said:
From the outside looking in, the retention and hiring bonuses proposed in the package are appealing.
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Yeah, well, too bad. I voted no.

"May offer" is different from "shall offer." If they'd made it "shall offer a retention bonus of $large in conjunction with new hire bonuses of $large," I would have had a hard time not voting yes. Because, after all,
ef9caf704b1ac58e6ff141997283eb8e26632ad97f2faab76f22bfa372159305.jpg


I'm also not a huge fan of my Company contributions to the 401(k) not being immediately 100% vested, as they have been here since the beginning of time. I'm also not a huge fan of the profit-sharing arrangement as written.

And fifty cents an hour more for almost everyone else, while raising first year pay through the roof, is not going to work for me.

People seem to be pretty unhappy with scheduling, PTO, and working long stretches with minimal days off. I haven't read or heard too much about that with Endeavor or Compass, and wonder if that's because they're union.
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I'm pretty sure you can get a Bendover Endeavor pilot, or any other regional pilot, to tell you the same thing, with only minor variations on the theme.

Again, I'm rather happy to fly the airplane and cash the check here. I'm treated fairly and paid near-sector-leading money. Nonetheless, I voted no.
 
Eric Bohn said:
From the outside looking in, the retention and hiring bonuses proposed in the package are appealing.

People seem to be pretty unhappy with scheduling, PTO, and working long stretches with minimal days off. I haven't read or heard too much about that with Endeavor or Compass, and wonder if that's because they're union.

Again, outside looking in. Just poking around for info/insight.
Click to expand...

Scheduling: we are short. Hence a lot of people complaining about schedules. My opinion is it has to do with PBS and some "behind the scenes action" by the head of a certain department. For instance, it was either this month, or last, I had 6 trips from my first layer of bidding (my dream pairings) removed/not awarded to cover more coverage dates. I ended up working 15 coverage dates and the trips I bid for, and I was legal for, covered 16 coverage dates. The math doesn't add up but PBS is all about the global solution.

PTO: we are short. Hence there's no time off unless you put it in well in advance or use platinum days. We do get 5 "golden days" a year. They are guaranteed days off we can use anytime a month or two in advance. Just can't use them on holidays or the day before and after a holiday. And they're unpaid. January and February were really the only months as of late that I could actually drop any trips because the reserve staffing was adequate. Last month I tried a swap and the computer software said no way. I made a quick call to crew support and told them that by me swapping trips it benefited their reserve staffing. They agreed and made the swap happen.

It's reasons like that that I voted no as well. Pay can come and go. "Negotiate" QOL increases and in a couple years we can discuss pay. Those QOL increases were discussed pretty well in the other Skywest thread.
 
@GypsyPilot, I met with some pilots in person at the interview who expressed some of the same concerns about scheduling as can be read in the forums.

My time on site was a positive experience, and the people I met while there were generally positive. I left with a great impression of SkyWest so I don't want to sound like I'm knocking them, because I'm not.

I took the shuttle in the morning with some current pilots when I was headed in for the interview. I ended up being about 45 minutes early, and they let me hang out in the break room. Some of them came back just to wish me good luck, and that meant a lot. All the people walking into the building had a smile and were very friendly. For anyone considering SkyWest reading this, the interview experience was great but the people I met made it better.
 
B767 said:
Scheduling: we are short. Hence a lot of people complaining about schedules. My opinion is it has to do with PBS and some "behind the scenes action" by the head of a certain department. For instance, it was either this month, or last, I had 6 trips from my first layer of bidding (my dream pairings) removed/not awarded to cover more coverage dates. I ended up working 15 coverage dates and the trips I bid for, and I was legal for, covered 16 coverage dates. The math doesn't add up but PBS is all about the global solution.

PTO: we are short. Hence there's no time off unless you put it in well in advance or use platinum days. We do get 5 "golden days" a year. They are guaranteed days off we can use anytime a month or two in advance. Just can't use them on holidays or the day before and after a holiday. And they're unpaid. January and February were really the only months as of late that I could actually drop any trips because the reserve staffing was adequate. Last month I tried a swap and the computer software said no way. I made a quick call to crew support and told them that by me swapping trips it benefited their reserve staffing. They agreed and made the swap happen.

It's reasons like that that I voted no as well. Pay can come and go. "Negotiate" QOL increases and in a couple years we can discuss pay. Those QOL increases were discussed pretty well in the other Skywest thread.
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If Anita were gone - it would do WONDERS for pilot morale.
 
Eric Bohn said:
@GypsyPilot, I met with some pilots in person at the interview who expressed some of the same concerns about scheduling as can be read in the forums.

My time on site was a positive experience, and the people I met while there were generally positive. I left with a great impression of SkyWest so I don't want to sound like I'm knocking them, because I'm not.

I took the shuttle in the morning with some current pilots when I was headed in for the interview. I ended up being about 45 minutes early, and they let me hang out in the break room. Some of them came back just to wish me good luck, and that meant a lot. All the people walking into the building had a smile and were very friendly. For anyone considering SkyWest reading this, the interview experience was great but the people I met made it better.
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We are, by and large, human beings here. ;)
 
Autothrust Blue said:
Yeah, well, too bad. I voted no.

"May offer" is different from "shall offer." If they'd made it "shall offer a retention bonus of $large in conjunction with new hire bonuses of $large," I would have had a hard time not voting yes. Because, after all,
ef9caf704b1ac58e6ff141997283eb8e26632ad97f2faab76f22bfa372159305.jpg


I'm also not a huge fan of my Company contributions to the 401(k) not being immediately 100% vested, as they have been here since the beginning of time. I'm also not a huge fan of the profit-sharing arrangement as written.

And fifty cents an hour more for almost everyone else, while raising first year pay through the roof, is not going to work for me.


I'm pretty sure you can get a Bendover Endeavor pilot, or any other regional pilot, to tell you the same thing, with only minor variations on the theme.

Again, I'm rather happy to fly the airplane and cash the check here. I'm treated fairly and paid near-sector-leading money. Nonetheless, I voted no.
Click to expand...
I'm not an airline pilot, but doesn't skywest need to raise first year pay, or offer hiring bonuses to attract new hires? Without more new hires coming in, isn't your QOL just gonna keep on getting worse and worse. I agree 100% that a 50 cent raise is insulting, but skywest needs new hires bad, and I don't see how else they'll get em... Not trying to critique your decision on voting "no", just curious...
 
ryan4sail said:
I'm not an airline pilot, but doesn't skywest need to raise first year pay, or offer hiring bonuses to attract new hires? Without more new hires coming in, isn't your QOL just gonna keep on getting worse and worse. I agree 100% that a 50 cent raise is insulting, but skywest needs new hires bad, and I don't see how else they'll get em... Not trying to critique your decision on voting "no", just curious...
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If SkyWest wants new hires that bad, they'll raise the first year pay/give bonuses despite how we vote.
 
I wouldn't say that discontent is brewing, so much as the company is changing to be leaner, meaner, get #@$^ done machine, which has rocked the boat for a lot of guys. There are a lot of problems, notably with those areas you mentioned, but all in all, it's not a bad place to end up. If you want MSP, it'll be great. You'll get that out of class and your seniority should skyrocket. Oh, and I've noticed that the junior bases have the best crews, so have fun while you're there :-)
 
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