Skywest

[sm203900]

Not sure if anyone here dispatches for skywest, but would be interested to find out how life is in St. George. Is the cost of living reasonable? Also, if anyone knows anything about ASA, is the job somewhat secure, or should I not even think o trying to get on there? Responses are always appreciated.

 

[Spbeyond]

St. George is one of two of the fastest growing cities in America. A reasonable sized house can go for huge amounts. Its crazy down there. I dont know how the renting situation is.

 

[mrivc211]

The market is overpriced. It went up like everywhere else in the country. it's on its way down soon. It's just lags behind main markets like LA. The city is growing fast. Don't work for ASA. Trust me. Nothing against the people, just don't work there. Can't say why.

 

[bike21]

Don't move to Mecca. It's weird there man.

 

[JayAre]

I grew up and live in St. George. Not a great place to start. Housing is very expensive on the way down but still out of reach for entry level jobs. Unless you are single and can split the pad with roomates or if the wife works and you pick up a second job. But the weather is great in fact perfect right now. Plenty of outdoor stuff to do golf, biking, hiking, rock climbing, etc....

 

[mrivc211]

I had the most difficult landing of my life in SGU about 1.5 months ago. I considered aborting many times over on the approach. I set a limit for myself, and was going to go around if it exceeded that limit. I was able to get it over the runway and get it down safely though. I've never seen so many people thank a middle eastern pilot.

 

[JayAre]

I had the most difficult landing of my life in SGU about 1.5 months ago. I considered aborting many times over on the approach. I set a limit for myself, and was going to go around if it exceeded that limit. I was able to get it over the runway and get it down safely though. I've never seen so many people thank a middle eastern pilot.

LOL yeah SGU will do that every now and than. Were you on 16 or 34?

 

[Ophir]

Don't move to Mecca. It's weird there man.

:yeahthat:

 

[WillNotFly4Food]

Late but worth the wait, or something.

Previous posts have covered it well. The cost of living here, specifically the price of homes, is out of control. It would be very hard to own a home here on starting SKYW dispatch pay.

SGU nightlife consists of an Applebee's, a recently built Iggy's "sport's bar" (family restaurant), and getting stuck in line behind the check-writing-elderly (I love my Grandma) at the grocery store.

Lots to do if you're into the outdoors. Keep in mind it reaches ~fifty billion degrees in the summer here so you're relegated to A/C most of the summer.

SKYW is trying a new program to hire from within only. We'll see how long that lasts.

 

[bike21]

They need to move corporate to Salt Lake or another large city. They really need to increase the pool of talented folks to hire for the company to continue to grow IMHO.

 

[bgaviator]

Why in the world would a company put their headquarters in a place like that? Yes, they really do need to move corporate headquarters....if you think you'll attract people by being in an isolated place like that, think again.
As far as myself, I have to take into consideration my wife's career which is teaching.....she's still trying to get her career going so living in a small town like St. George wouldn't cut it....just not enough opportunity.

 

[JayAre]

ok off the topic
But have any of you SkyW folks heard of the houseboats, and parties that mgmt have over at Powell during the summer?

 

[bike21]

Why in the world would a company put their headquarters in a place like that? Yes, they really do need to move corporate headquarters....if you think you'll attract people by being in an isolated place like that, think again.
As far as myself, I have to take into consideration my wife's career which is teaching.....she's still trying to get her career going so living in a small town like St. George wouldn't cut it....just not enough opportunity.

The company started there way back when they had 2 airplanes. It has grown from there and they haven't moved.

ok off the topic
But have any of you SkyW folks heard of the houseboats, and parties that mgmt have over at Powell during the summer?

Yep. I although I somehow doubt it looks like Girl Gone Wild

 

[berge7f9]

Why in the world would a company put their headquarters in a place like that? .

Well that might be one of the reasons that Skywest's management is probably one of the more caring and understanding in the industry. I took a tour of corporate headquarters last February. St. George is really out in the middle of nowhere. But that works to the advantage of Skywest because there is very little turnover at HQ because if you are from that part of the state, where else are you going to find a job as good as one with Skywest? not too many other place in SGU. So this may or may not be extra motivation for SKYW employees to do there jobs well. But at least when I toured company HQ, it was remarkable that not one person there looked like they were having a bad day or unhappy. Most of them smiled and seemed to take pride in their company. It also seems to be a very tight knit community as my 'tour guide' was constantly asked how her kids were doing and etc. My 2 cents, for what its worth

 

[WillNotFly4Food]

Well that might be one of the reasons that Skywest's management is probably one of the more caring and understanding in the industry. I took a tour of corporate headquarters last February. St. George is really out in the middle of nowhere. But that works to the advantage of Skywest because there is very little turnover at HQ because if you are from that part of the state, where else are you going to find a job as good as one with Skywest? not too many other place in SGU. So this may or may not be extra motivation for SKYW employees to do there jobs well. But at least when I toured company HQ, it was remarkable that not one person there looked like they were having a bad day or unhappy. Most of them smiled and seemed to take pride in their company. It also seems to be a very tight knit community as my 'tour guide' was constantly asked how her kids were doing and etc. My 2 cents, for what its worth

Dispatch is the exception this. The majority of the people working in dispatch are not native to SGU, or Utah for that matter. We have lost more than a few dispatchers because they couldn't handle living in SGU, and dollars to doughnuts it's the reason we are short staffed.

 

[bgaviator]

I need to think about multiple things though when considering a location like St. George..
#1. My wife needs to be able to find a teaching job. With it being such an isolated area, she wouldn't really have many options. Not like there's going to be multiple school districts as there are in major cities.
#2. Cost of living.....I make 31k/year right now...have a 2 bedroom apt. that cost $750/month, and I can barely survive as it is. I did a search on apartments in St. George one day and it seems like the average was $1,000 month. So it's hard to justify taking a pay decrease to live in an area where the cost of living is higher.
#3. I am really wanting to get a masters degree sometime in the near future....does St. George have any big universities there?

 

[WillNotFly4Food]

#1

Couldn't say. SGU has, and still is, experiencing treamendous growth. We gotta learn them kids gud somewheres. I'll keep my ears open.

#2

I pay $825 for a 3 bed, 2 bath, 2 car garage duplex in the "average" part of town. Before that I was paying $725 for a 2 bed, 2 bath, 1 car port condo.

#3

No.

There is 1 college in SGU http://new.dixie.edu/, and 1 in Cedar City 45 minutes north of SGU http://www.snow.edu/. Henderson, NV http://www.usn.edu/ has an MBA program but I couldn't tell you if there's an online/distance learning program. Last but not least University of Phoenix just opened a wing here http://www.phoenix.edu/.

 

[bgaviator]

Thank you for that information! The pricing doesn't seem so bad if you can get a 3-bedroom for that. I checked out Dixie College and unfortunately they have no Masters programs.....I'm not sure if I'd like driving 45 minutes to get to school if I was going to night classes....I'll still keep Skywest as one of my options though. Thanks for all the information everyone!

 

[JayAre]

The nearest masters programs would be in cedar at SUU. I finished my bach there a couple of years ago. It is a good school but its a small university and small town. SUU does have night classes I think for a MBA or MAC taught at Dixie campus. That rent seemed a little high you can get around 6-8 a month. Also don't let your wife teach in Utah they are the worst paid. Teach in mesquite, NV about 45 min south make more money any more ? just shoot

 

[WillNotFly4Food]

The nearest masters programs would be in cedar at SUU. I finished my bach there a couple of years ago. It is a good school but its a small university and small town. SUU does have night classes I think for a MBA or MAC taught at Dixie campus. That rent seemed a little high you can get around 6-8 a month. Also don't let your wife teach in Utah they are the worst paid. Teach in mesquite, NV about 45 min south make more money any more ? just shoot

SUU - I was way off!