Originally Posted by blastboy

Higney85- I wonder if UAL should be categorized like the lousy RJ's that are constantly mentioned on here. My dad hates it at UAL and wants out, pronto! He says it's no better than Mesa. Unreal! I wonder, are UAL pilots undercutters as well?

By the way, I enjoyed reading your perspective on the regionals.

Originally Posted by higney85

How in the hell is going to PNCL or TSA undercutting? Are there other more qualified individuals standing by to take the jobs, did I get someone furloughed because I took the job? Does the 250 hour pilot with a smile ear-to-ear suffering from SJS make your life difficult? I think not. All 3 of the carriers you have listed are ALPA carriers, which means the contracts all abide by and have been signed off by the head of the entire union- the president. Why do we have ALPA? To benefit the group, not a particular company. It is obvious that you do not work for any of these 3 companies, but what makes yours so good? I had the time (published mins) for pretty much all the regionals, why did I choose PNCL- I live and am from MEM, all jet fleet, good pilot group. If I was from a skywest base I would have applied there, and AWAC based- you guessed it, would want to be there. If you compare these companies and you want to talk about undercutting the industry what about gojets and gulfstream? If 3 ALPA carriers are undercutting, what are these companies in your mindful logic? Now we can sit here and harp and each company for their respective mgmt issues, but who doesn't have mgmt issues? AWAC has an amazing contract compared to a place like PNCL, but there is no growth and upgrades take at least a year longer than PNCL. PNCL does have issues between mgmt and the pilots, so does ASA and their mgmt- something like 4 years worth of problems! And if you would like to talk about pay and QOL, I have a good friend who is now at ASA- first year FO pay is less than PNCL, with a longer time on rsv. Upgrades are a little longer as well. And ASA and comair are hiring your "LTP's" as well, but they didn't make your list. I do not care if you yield criticism in your posts, but you simply blatantly disrespect many who work for companies that you obviously know nothing about. Do I think PNCL has problems and will have some rough air ahead- YES, but the entire regional industry has turbulence on the radar. I have high hopes and low expectations for PNCL, and I hope that fellow regional groups, and the ALPA union members (both majors and regionals) can begin to take this profession back to what it was. Look at the DAL group- recently (Monday) out of the black and on its own, the pilots want their cut. Look at the APA of AMR- they want their cut. I think scope and compensation will come around slowly and we WILL have jobs in the future at the majors- retirements alone guarantee that. There will be many "super RJ CA's" as they have been described and they will fly you when you want to go see the family in smaller towns, they will also be content with making less than $100K/yr, will enjoy 18 days off and weekends with their families. I don't plan to stay at the regional level longer than need-be, yet the guys/gals getting into this profession with a wife/kids and 10 years on me have a different situation. Many of the CA's that I fly with have no desire to leave the seniority list. They get all that I mentioned above and do not see taking a 50% pay cut, years of reserve, and being an FO as appealing to them. Not everyone can start off flying as a 757 CA, and many people don't need a ton of money to be happy. The median FAMILY income is in the mid-40K range, and you don't see the USA crumbling over it. My father is over at FDX and has many friends that make the "Good money" but are not happy because they work all night M-F and end up divorced. Money and a good contract does not guarantee anything.Look at the past to see that- Delta and United were "the place to be" in the 90's- great money/work rules/etc.. then what happened.. In 10 years I plan to be far away from PNCL, a step above the regional level, and enjoying my life. The regionals are a stepping stone, and "Super RJ CA's" will be needed indefinately, so before you knock someone for who they work for- especially if you are an ALPA member yourself, or what makes someone happy, you may want to know all the facts and think about the simply "why" question. I will not challenge you to a fight cause that accomplishes nothing, but at least you may have you blinders removed after reading this. At least I feel better with my rant..

Originally Posted by Window_Seat

Does Pinnacle prefer low time pilots or are they, like the pilots, forced to accept them because they do not have the choices to select from. They would rather be faced with the possibility of street captains than hire people with enough experience than resorting to that? Correct me if I am wrong but I would not imagine that you have too many people leaving decent regionals to come over to Pinnacle. Now we have going to have Pinnacle and Mesa flying around 76 passengers. Pinnacle lowers the minimums for the captains too with rumors of letting those fall to to meet the needs of the company. Lowering of minimums is not good for the industry. Sure ignorant people like blastboy can bring up UAL advertising for pilots in the paper and that stuff 20 years ago but doesn't make for a good point. The point is, Pinnacle, Mesa, ad TSA are not going to have any minimums soon to attract applicants while decent regionals are still holding to 1000/100. They are some of the highest paid regionals too. Maybe ALPA shouldn't sign off on contracts that put an FO into poverty.

Originally Posted by Window_Seat

Does Pinnacle prefer low time pilots or are they, like the pilots, forced to accept them because they do not have the choices to select from. They would rather be faced with the possibility of street captains than hire people with enough experience than resorting to that? Correct me if I am wrong but I would not imagine that you have too many people leaving decent regionals to come over to Pinnacle. Now we have going to have Pinnacle and Mesa flying around 76 passengers. Pinnacle lowers the minimums for the captains too with rumors of letting those fall to to meet the needs of the company. Lowering of minimums is not good for the industry. Sure ignorant people like blastboy can bring up UAL advertising for pilots in the paper and that stuff 20 years ago but doesn't make for a good point. The point is, Pinnacle, Mesa, ad TSA are not going to have any minimums soon to attract applicants while decent regionals are still holding to 1000/100. They are some of the highest paid regionals too. Maybe ALPA shouldn't sign off on contracts that put an FO into poverty.

Originally Posted by STILL GROUNDED

The guys and gals that worry me are the ones lining up at places like Skybus. Here you have group of "professionals" that have the experience the Low time pilot doesn't, yet they make a decision to go work for an outfit that will hurt us more than any Mesa or any Regional airline. These guys will be competing against Southwest United, NWA, Delta, US Air even Jet blue and Air tran and the rest of the "Majors" The only thing the companies are going to be able to do to reduce costs are attack the pilots wages. A far greater concern then some kid at Mesa only make $20 his first year. These people actually should no better.

Originally Posted by blastboy

Excellent point!! I know it's a regional but don't forget about "Go!" in Hawaii. Not only are pilots pi$$ed off about that, the native Hawaiian are up in arms! I don't think Go! will last long at all but we'll see. But again, you make an excellent point, grounded!

Originally Posted by STILL GROUNDED

Everyone is up in arms about Go, I think JO has 6 airplanes or something over there. Its all for not, the Hawian pilots hated it, but the locals that couldn't afford to get around love it because now they can.