WesternSkies

We could offer 30K to new hires too, but I don't care to do that.
The rest of our pay package is still near the top, where it always has been.

Nevjets

I'm just saying that Skywest pilots don't understand that pilot unions are a lot more than about contracts. Yeah, dead horse in that skywest pilots continually refuse to join, literally, the whole rest of the airline piloting profession.


I not really sure. There are things like vacation and sick accrual and pay, sick call policy, fatigue call policy, commuter policy, on the job injury pay bank, 401k matching, company retirement contribution, insurance premium cost sharing, reserve rules, line building rules, trip building rules, etc. Things that are not captured by a W2. Many of these are superior at places like air Wisconsin, expressjet, asa, piedmont, and endeavor. By the way, if you want to use W2 as a comparison, you need to divide TOTAL compensation by the actual block hours flown, not just the W2 number.

Pilot unions are just as vital at majors as they are at ACMI, cargo, LCC, ULCC, and regionals. Particularly at regionals, they have prevented deep concessions at many places. In that regard, they have been most important at regionals. Unless you believe that places like mesa, RAH, endeavor, AA whole owned regionals, and the TSH own regionals would be better of as non-union.

The conflict of interest you refer to doesn't exist. No mainline MEC can tell ANY any regional MEC what to do and no regional MEC can tell any MEC what to negotiate for or not negotiate for. In reality, each MEC is its one independent union that decides what they will negotiate for. If you believe there is a conflict of interest is to say you don't understand unions and ALPA. If there is a conflict of interest, it's management paying for the operation of a pseudo union and making it seem as that is normal or not disclosing that fact, openly and frequently. As for dysfunction, there is some of that in almost every organization because they are made up of humans. But if your organization has been fortunate to not suffer from dysfunction, they would do just as good within a union. Because, after all, unions are made up of the people within the union. If you have good competent people, they will be that in a union.

By the way, dues are at 1.9%. And they are tax deductible. So your effective dues will be lower if you itemize.

I didn't bring it up. But I see nothing wrong with having discussions again over the subject of unions.

Like I said, for some reason, there are some Skywest people seem to be bothered with a simple discussion of unions.

Unions have protected many regional pilots from hostile managements. They have also negotiate good contracts. They have also helped many people with their medical conditions. They have also represented many pilots before management, the FAA, ntsb, federal courts, etc. They have also pushed many safety initiatives in congress. They have also been involved in many ARCs, advisory committees, industry groups, etc.

Most pilots are ignorant of the things pilot unions have done for the profession throughout the decades.

Just like Donald Douglas was treated fairly? How many DDs have there been that you haven't even heard about? At my union carrier, I can call the union and find out exactly how many outstanding grievances there are, how many have been settled, how many are awaiting arbitration, what are all the things being grieved, how many people have been fired in the last year, how many were asked to resign, how many were wrongfully terminated and got their job back. I don't have to wait and see if someone has the financial means to defend themselves in a company proceeding and subsequent government appeal and hope someone else knew about it to file a FOIA request to get that information. The union also puts out emails advising pilots on how certain parts of the contract should be administered by management. Usually this is because the union has seen these issue come up and they are trying to keep management honest before a practice that goes against the contract becomes precedent.

walleye

I'm buying a new luggage works carry-on bag. What do you guys recommend?

A) Luggage Works-Stealth Aviator
B) Luggage Works-Computer Front Stealth 22
C) Luggage Works-Stealth Suiter 22
D) Something else

Is the 22 big enough or should I go for the 26 inch?

Thanks.

RemoveB4Flight

Any of those three are fine. There are a lot of other options out there but I recommend exactly what you are doing..Luggage Works Stealth bags will last you forever and will fit in the RJ overheads. In my observation, they are probably the most popular bags among pilots.
Stick with the 22". It is plenty big enough for you to fit everything for a 4+ day trip.

RemoveB4Flight

We have many of those same protections at Skywest.
I'm not saying ALPA hasn't done anything useful in the airline industry, but as I'm sure you are aware, this thread is about "Skywests new contract" so my comment was relating to ALPAs effectiveness in that area.
What it boils down to is ALPA is no better able to demand more when negotiating pay packages. The supply and demand of pilots is what enables better pay for pilots, not the association representing them.
There is no denying that ALPA has historically been unable to negotiate meaningful improvements to compensation for regional pilots. Regionals don't see the same pay negotiation results from ALPA as the majors do.

To be fair, the existence of ALPA is what allows SAPA to exist. The fear of possibility that the pilot group will vote in ALPA is what forces the company to play nice.

The details coming this week will be very interesting. If there are little to no increases in compensation for existing pilots, I wouldn't be surprised if we see another push for ALPA just out of frustration (not necessarily that we will see any improvements).

amcnd

I have no doubt that if alpa got voted in, it would be like 10 years in a sand trap. Company dragging out a contract.. in those 10 years we would fall super behind... how long have some airlines been in Contract negotiations....??.. long time.. so that being said most guys/gals dont want alpa voted in...

RemoveB4Flight

Most guys who have been here for a while don't want ALPA voted in. There's a lot of guys hired in the last few years that might feel differently.
Also, there are probably a lot of "middle ground" guys that could be swayed if the company offers an insulting contract that SAPA tries to push through.
It won't do the company any favors for themselves to fall way behind in pay (further behind than we already are). It will start to show in the new hire classes

Squallrider

Can we get on topic, alpa or anyone for that matter won't be voted in especially now, reason being junior people don't care because they will be leaving soon and generally have gotten bumps in pay with each package and the lifers haven't ever voted it in before so that's not going to change, the people that care turn over too fast to mainline.

So about the pay package......any rumors?

450knotOffice

Just curious, because I have no dog in this fight, but why do you think your management team - a team that many Skywest pilots says treats them fairly - would drag out a contract negotiation over a long period?

amcnd

Why wouldn't they.. take advantage of no pilot cost increases for years and years....as they drag out negotiations..