pilot2804

So can someone give me a brief synopsis on what yall just voted on (and looked like passed?)

NewGuy01

Pay locked in for five years. Which in this environment is insanity defined.

2% increase this year. 55$ extra a month for me before taxes woo!

1% for the next 4 years. Depending on how you look at it.

Marginal gains for 401K match. I still get nothing 1st year. 10 year guys now get 10%. A 4% increase or so. I think. 2nd year went from 3% to 4%.

Something about performance bonus which won't change do to staffing increase. Net zero here.

Promises of massive growth and all that comes with it. With no strings attached of course.

Overall fairly underwhelming.

Hopefully we can all stop making personal attacks and debating the regional model or not. FWIW I hope mainline takes a lot of their flying back. Anyway, back to your regularly scheduled programming....


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Bombardier Stev

Everyone is too embarrassed to. They get next year's 1% raise a few months early plus another 1%. They get an extra 1% contribution to the 401k. They get a little more of the profit shearing that will then be spread out over more pilots.

No raise in 2018 but their representatives called it a 77% increase for 3rd year guys because they say everyone will upgrade to captain and they added in the step raise everyone got anyway. Of course they could have upgraded anyway already if they have the time.

In exchange the company said that if they take the deal they may add 100 new planes over the next 2.5 years.

In summary, the pilots took a large pay cut after inflation for the chance to fly new planes (everyone assumes they are new). So in the best environment in the history of aviation to bargain, where airlines are canceling flights for lack of pilots (Horizon cancelled 311 flights in June and are canceling probably more in July). It's the darnedest thing.

What I wonder about is this; Skywest just locked in their profits for the next 5 years, in order to get a lot of new planes they will need to hire more pilots. But other airlines are having to pay huge bonuses to get those pilots and to have to pay bonuses to get the pilots may require Skywest to pay everyone a bonus, not just new hires. Isn't there a high probability that Skywest will sit back with its new profit locked in and not worry about expanding which could require them to renegotiate the good deal they just locked in?

amcnd

Eventually these airlines that are paying big bonuses are not sustainable... the average regional has a 3-5% profit margin. Not enough to pay the bonus and still make money... simple math.. The majors know it, ask Eagle(envoy) AA told them they want less regionals. Air Willy was the first to go.. who's next??

Duesenflieger

I don't think it's sustainable for SkyWest to be paying crap wages in this environment either. How will they attract more pilots in the future? How will they keep those of us who are fed up with the QOL and pay? I'm already looking at part 135 charter operators that pay $60k - $70k and those are just FO positions flying corporate jets. Some of them offer home basing too, so no worries about commuting and being fired for not showing up due to whatever reason. Just food for thought....

NewGuy01

Hold fast and move to another, better 121. Don't go 135. Trust me and if you need to be talked out of it I'll do so happily. Send me a pm if you have asked yourself this question: "how many turds have I shoved down into the lav with a rolled up newspaper, that weren't my own" and you still want to fly charter. I'll gladly talk you out of it.


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WesternSkies

Adding part 135 will make you more rounded and add another box to check for the majors. With the pilot shortage they can more fluidly change their pay. Go for it!

rmcbear08

+1 on this

Just wait until your pax are 3+ hrs late and get on board only to say, "wait, this bread ISN'T gluten free? You need to call and get this fixed before we can leave."

Trust us, the grass isn't always greener, even though the money might seem to be...

Bombardier Stev

It's not simple math. Pilots are a commodity like anything else. If the price of pilots goes up it might make some routes unprofitable and they can stop that unprofitable flying. If the economics for a route don't work then the route should not be flown.

It's not the pilot's job to work for less than market price because all routes don't make money. If the cost to mow a lawn is $15 and there is a shortage of people to do it the price might go to 18. Yes, some people will no longer want to hire someone to mow their law and will do it themselves. The mower should not work for less just because everyone won't want to pay 18.

The value of a regional captain is currently over 150k per year and rising. The regionals are fighting it tooth and nail and the unions are joining right in. It will keep rising until it gets to the market level or until people come into the field and lower the market rate.

Purpleanga

I know this only passed by a thin margin but Skywest should be embarrassed. Arguably the most successful and wealthy regional too.

There's new FOs at mainline making 6 figures, yet a RJ CA flying a E175 is making 75 an hour. RJ CAs should be easily making 90 to 120 an hour. Your worth and expertise is at least if not more than a junior 737/320 mainline FO. If they can pay a new guy 110 an hour, imagine how much money they're saving by paying you 75 as a CA, not to mention the cheaper overall cost of regional ops.