PorkyMcFuzz

Very quickly falling behind the pack. OO really seems to have little to offer as it stands to make pilots want to stay and new hires to sign on the dotted line. Sounds like word about the abysmal GPI has spread far and wide so doesn't seem like it is the recruitment and retention tool they may have hoped.

Indeed will be an interesting year! I think we will be seeing a pay proposal A LOT sooner than end of year so long as we don't end up in a major economic downturn/war/oil price explosion (or all 3) question is, will SAPA be up to the task of handling it? Sadly I think we all know the answer to this question.

Hedley

Even without a flow agreement, isn’t SkyWest still in better shape than many of those that do have something in place? On the United side for example, the Aviate companies consist of Air Wisconsin flying clapped out 200’s with a contract that expires in less than a year, GoJet with a long history of issues, CommutAir flying old 145’s, and Mesa flying the 175 with a big training backlog. With oil spiking and record attrition, the drawdown of the 50 seat jets could be accelerated affecting the future of half of the Aviate companies that only fly those jets. Wouldn’t larger, more diversified regionals like SkyWest or Republic be in better shape to survive in this environment? SkyWest will get smaller as the 200’s are phased out, but it will still has a large 70/76 seat fleet that they actually own. They could still be in demand long after places like Air Wisconsin face the same fate as XJT and others. It is definitely going to be an interesting couple of years as the industry adapts. With record hiring hitting all of the regionals hard, what is the bigger recruiting tool? Is a flow type arrangement the better deal, or is being a company that is more likely to survive long enough for someone to gain the experience to become marketable? Air Wisconsin might be an Aviate company for example, but their pilots will most likely be on the street by the end of the year. In this environment, wouldn’t going to a more stable company be worth more than rolling the dice for the potential to flow if a risky regional survives long enough for you to qualify?

Champeen07

This is how most people out there are viewing things. There's like 10 people on here that are loudly all about doom and gloom. On the actual line, its nothing like what is said on this forum. Yes there are issues that will come up, but for the most part Skywest is pretty stable and a great place to come and fly a lot, upgrade and move on. The company is definitely having issues with attrition, and we are all flying a lot because of it. But that's not the worst thing in the world if you view this place as a stepping stone to make you qualified for better jobs down the road.

For everyone reading these threads doing "research" for which regional to go to, take everything you read here with a grain of salt. And I highly suggest you don't make decisions on your career based on what you read from a few "the world is ending" guys on an internet forum. No I am not management. Just line swine.

Crjdeuce

Not saying skywest isn’t a good place to be, it is. But with attrition the way it is right now they need to do something to compete with other regionals to keep staffed. Otherwise they will lose almost all of us to LCCs and legacies. Hiring isn’t the big issue here, it’s keeping captains and FOs long enough to keep the operation running smoothly. As a current FO here I don’t have much incentive to upgrade and put my time in if a LCC will take me right now. And for those who do upgrade they will bail as soon as any legacy or even LCC calls. The GPI is bs, they need to give us a real retention plan to make it worthwhile to stay.

R0GER BALL

Perhaps in SLC.

Where I’m flying the morale on the line is very low. I was a champion for this company along the way. I mean, come on, look at crew support and what we go through. Ever seen a Republic or Endevour crew wait for a hotel shuttle? I haven’t. You can always spot the OO crews at the airport. Tired and waiting 30 minutes for a van.

Now? It’s not just the LCC, it even makes sense to move laterally to another regional. Seniority be damned. Besides pay and bonuses ($110,000 at 9E) I’d get a commuting policy, flow, and a company that seems to get the pilot group. This OO interview thing launched at the same time they started to meter CJOs to Delta….. Watch the right hand please, pay no attention to what the left is doing….

I do care. I’ll keep showing up on time and doing my job very, very, safely. Even with $1,500 pay stubs and 16hr four days.

In two years everything will be different. I get that. But for pilots today is now because tomorrow you could lose your medical.

KirillTheThrill

The attrition is too high even for them, from what I’ve heard. And that’s directly from good friends who work in the training department. Skywest has run on the business model of high attrition, just has any other regional, and they’re the best at it. It’s why they’re the largest regional in the world with 5000+ pilots. The problem is this business model is not going to work for the current and future environment. They’ll be operating at a loss for years if they think they can just outlast it. Something obviously has to change, but what’s never a good idea is to make phone calls to your partners and tell them to gate pilots they’ve hired from SkyWest. That’s going to destroy morale, and attrition will skyrocket, if it hasn’t already.

When I was “senior” FO then became a junior CA my apps were only out at 5 specific carriers. I didn’t even have my apps out at SWA or AA. If during that time I heard they were “gating” OO pilots who went through the full dance with Delta and Alaska only to be held off, I’d be absolutely furious. Tough to complain when you’re a flow pilot being metered with a free job. Anyways those 5 apps would turn into 10 in a hot second including hustling extra hard showing up to career fairs for carriers not in my top 5. They’re only making matters worse on attrition by pulling that ****.

It will be a very interesting 2+ years. It’s adapt or die time. The real question is how bad will attrition have to get before management finally says enough and walks away to sell its own tickets. They have the planes, they have the cash, they have the credit rating, they’d have no scope clause, so they can fill the 100 175-E2 order they have pending. 70-76 seat 175’s turn to 90 seats. They have an experienced training department that can turn 200+ CFI’s into ATP’s every month. It would allow them to increase pay significantly, stalling high attrition, etc.

Unless United, Delta, AA, and Alaska are so fixated on the regional model surviving by helping SkyWest create some type of guaranteed career advancement and higher wages, I don’t see the current business model that’s always worked surviving.

It’s like when you were a kid and learned most animals will run away if you chase them, but the minute you back them into a corner and give them no other option, they fight back. I could see SkyWest waking away from contracts.

trip

Yes SKW has a lot of fuel left in the tanks but with attrition outstripping hiring for the last six months it’s getting down to divert levels in air mission speak. Big operations also have big expenses that quickly eat into capital when planes get parked for lack of crew. The LCCs are the wild card (and to some extent mainline) with the massive hiring of F/Os throwing the balance off in regards to upgrades of new CAs. Dirty tricks like throttling hiring just add fuel to the fire and motivate or solidify a pilots describing to move on sooner rather then later.
Like mentioned above the solution will have to come from mainline, do they want a viable regional model? Will try to force the lowest bidder model to the very end or? Delta MEC already proposed bring the planes to mainline but that was rebuffed by management in favor of bonuses and flow for Endeavor.
How will SKW manage this with multiple partners? Split it up? Sell it? New Code share model, (that doesn’t fix the retention issue), and it’s not just pilots, mechanics are also leaving for greener pastures in numbers not seen before. Long term this is not a good or sustainable trend. For the short term it’s business as usual, lots of flying, hiring and upgrades if you’ve got the hours.

Champeen07

We have some serious problems with crew support. But pretty much only during significant IROPS. Of the last 250 overnights I've had, there was a problem with less than 5 van rides. You're statement about vans is an exaggeration to incite worry. If you want to move to another regional, go ahead. But everyone will tell you that's a bad idea. Yes, we do need additional people in CS to help fix the issues we do have.

If you want to come to a regional, fly 1000 hours and upgrade and move on, Skywest is a great place for that. Plus movement right now is better than all the other places because of the high attrition. Yes management needs to pony up and pay us more. In the meantime, we fly a lot and keep our apps updated and move on. Then we don't care whats going on back at Skywest.

People need to realize that QOL wont be great at the regional level. That will never change. Its a stepping stone to the majors. Come to Skywest and you'll make it to a major before people in your same spot flow from another regional if you're willing to out in the work to do that.

Champeen07

Who's just now deciding to out their apps out just because they heard they were throttling hiring at Delta? Your apps should've been out a long time ago. And if you get throttled, guess what? You still got a CJO and will get out. Hearing what they are doing isn't great, but it shouldn't have changed the situation for anyone in my opinion.

123AB

I appreciate your input. Thanks for taking the time to share. People thinking about coming here need to realize that it is not as bad as the 5-10 sky-is-falling posters are making it out to be. For example, when I mentioned that I don’t find Flow to be a big-ticket item to me, I was quickly attacked as “ignorant” and as a new guy “with an attitude”.

I expect and hope that flying on the line is a lot more positive than this forum and I’m sure it will be. Sure, SkyWest is not perfect and there are always things that can be better, but as far as Regionals go, it is a pretty good place to be. Work hard, be really good at your craft, take care of everyone on your crew and have fun doing it, and get your time and move on.