WaterRooster

Peers in the regional airlines?

This is like baseball here sport. The regionals are the minor leagues and the Majors are, well, the Major leagues. You don't get the big contracts in the minors. It just doesn't happen. Once you realize that, life gets easier for you

skiK2

I don't go get ice cream for any of my girls, gotta keep them thin.

tomgoodman

F/A weight checks have been abolished. I got them ice cream.

Cefiro

Good analogy! While I still believe we are severely underpaid, at the end of the day we're a subcontractor. We're never going to get paid like mainline pilots, the entire economics of the regional model would need to change. If you want mainline pay.....go to mainline.

Cazadores

It's not a great analogy. When I buy a $5. ticket and sit behind home plate to watch the Modesto Nuts I know I'm getting a minor league show for a minor league price.

When a passenger buys a ticket from LAX to MSP, DFW to SFO, or any number of other major league city pairs flown by "minor league" pilots, they are buying a ticket on United Airlines, flying on a plane painted like a United Airlines jet, and paying United Airlines prices.

Yes, the industry has shaped itself in a way mostly out of our control, but when a player for the Albuquerque Isotopes gets called up to the big leagues he gets a new uniform, new stadiums and a new contract. At no time does a player for the Reno Aces don a Diamondbacks jersey, play in a Diamondbacks game, and still collect a cents on the dollar check from the Reno Aces.

Being happy where you are is fine. Making excuses for accepting minor league pay for major league work wouldn't be acceptable in baseball, and it shouldn't be in aviation.


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hockeypilot44

I guess it's all relative. I wouldn't call $114k decent money.

303flyboy

Listen, I think SkyWest pilots should get paid twice as much. But for anyone to say 114K is not a lot of money a little perspective would be in order.

Cazadores

Would data indicating a car salesman with a GED averages 110k a year in the Bay Area, home of one of SkyWest's major bases be perspective for you?

114k is not a lot in many of the places we operate. It certainly isn't a lot when considering the requirements, responsibility and experience of a six year passenger jet captain.


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hockeypilot44

When a new car averages $35k and the average salary in the US is almost $60k, $114k for an airline captain is pathetic. A regional pilot is not an entry level position anymore.

minimwage4

Nobody expects to make same as mainline but there's a huge gap between Junior mainline FO and RJ CA. You might be cracking 100k after years of service but a new FO is making that just on guarantee. As far as subcontractors, a highly paid Skywest crew will still be cheaper than the least paid mainline crew. Just a few years ago it was expected to make 25 an hour as a regional FO, now most make 50 to 60k first year. They can pay.