skiK2

PSA either way.

JustAMushroom

In my opinion, you should go with Compass. The respect for the SW pilots has been trending down for about 5 years and management has recently stopped even pretending they care.

You won't find a better group of front line workers than SW and it's because of that pilots are still happy. But the writing is on the wall, a union is coming because even in the good times management expects pilots to be happy with table scraps. May not happen this year or next but it's close.

Someone else said the upgrade times will go down. This is true. Upgrades are going to start flooding open. It's unusual to hear 15+ year guys talk about getting out but its finally happened. In my opinion, after this latest failure to increase pay even a modest amount, I think most people have accepted the reality SW isn't able to adapt like they once were known for. This place is going to be a business school model for how to squander goodwill.

Great people, mx and flying... just know that the pay and QOL you see now is what you'll have (or less) for a very long time.

tunes

FYI guys are getting msp before finishing training at cpz now

ClickClickBoom

The basic reality is, get out of the regionals the fastest way possible. If you get comfortable, with an ok schedule, and manage to knock up a f/a, your career progression will stall. SKYW and every other regional out there are life limited, they will slowly be absorbed by the Borg. This is a chitty industry, essentially a chit sandwich, being at a major will allow a little "bread" to dilute the sandwich filler.

cal555

Thank you all for your input. Its very helpful to have people in the industry's advice. Lets keep a positive attitude and enjoy the career we chose.

rickair7777

If you're a west-coaster, I'd say CZ since upgrades will come faster but for MSP SKW will be hard to beat.

Even if CZ is noticeably better than SKW, the massive delta in seniority progression in MSP will more than make up for that.

Your CZ peers in MSP will still be buckling their seatbelts on the launchpad, while your SKW MSP seniority is accelerating through Max-Q.

I would guess SKW MSP upgrade would come within 2-3 years, assuming the majors keep hiring and SKW doesn't downsize (the Bro doesn't count, those pilots are already accounted for).

Some of this depends on life priorities...married w/ kids, better go for QOL. Single, you might as well go for the fastest upgrade at any regional which is not so fly-by-night that your certs will be endangered every time you come to work.

Crazy Canuck

Hedging your bets purely on a chance at an upgrade is risky. Just ask the comair guys. I also don't think your upgrade will be 5+ years here. But it's hard to tell

There is no Union coming here, that I am aware of. The only talk about it is from people on this anonymous board who let the little imperfections ruin their day.

rickair7777

Upgrade is legitimate consideration for career progression but you have to consider things like family and QOL as well.

I think upgrade will be 2-3 years...IF you're willing to sit reserve in a crappy base with bad weather. We have a lot of senior FO's who won't upgrade until they can do it at home...and hold a line.

There is more talk now than any time since 2006. An in-house union has pretty much been ruled out by the likely ring-leaders. But know of no interest on the part of ALPA itself, and am not sure what it would take to get them interested.

You're just feeling the effects of your honeymoon koolaid...give it a year or two. SKW is better than many other regionals, but there are two problems with that statement...

1. That's not saying much.

2. It's been on a steady decline for years. Where will it end? Do we have any chance of influencing the end-state?

Is offline

10+ year guys are getting hosed by scheduling and they are now working way more with the same pay. That is not a little imperfection. The quickest way to destroy morale is to run the company short staffed and even senior guys are now being forced into additional flying.

disillusioned

CC
Check the internal forums. I'm glad to see the issue being discussed. I agree that it is time to stop the backwards slide because we shouldn't be discussing concessions when we are holding Inc up. PBS transparency alone is worth 2% to me. Wait until we see how many Bro guys get bent over with the reduction. I bet it would be worth some money for them to have an idea of how to plan their life over the next year.

Kinda funny to see the same crap I have been dealing with for years that has finally made it's way up the seniority ladder. Had to laugh at MT update that basically was trying to scold people for calling in sick over the Thanksgiving break. Well guess what. You don't invest in the human capital and these are the results you will get. You want to CN and PN people that should have the seniority to hold a holiday off but were required to get 90 hours on their bid? Guess who will be taking a platinum day?

The fact that the offer was so bad from the company that SAPA won't tell us what it was should speak volumes of how much the company values their pilots. If we had a union would we still be in the dark about what the company offer was? I am almost positive if we had the former SAPA president still in, we would have some idea of what the pay negotiations were.

Again, I haven't worked at other places but have friends that have. I have heard the horror stories of being rolled into your day off by CS. About no cancel pay and such. But the fact that we have several pilots from SkyWest that are telling potential hires to go to Compass should speak volumes of the decline here over the past 5 years.