Whats the seniority of your friend at Skywest? Unless its fairy high I kinda doubt that. There are ways to make more than captains here for instance, bidding a check airmans line. Since we are short on pilots right now you may also pick up time on days off (non reserves only) for 150% pay credits.
Otherwise, we are in a staffing shortage. Until you reach the top 35% in your base you will have only 12 days off a month as a line holder. Those who know how to trip trade well can use the system to drop their lines to a minimum of 60 hours. On reserve you will have 11 days off in a 30 day month and 12 days off in a 31 day month. (or bid period). On reserve we have 3 new bases, SAT, LAX, and ONT. We have long call lines where you have 12 hours to report. There are a limitted number of those in each base however. I'd say you wouldn't wanna be sitting 2 time zones away for a 12 hour call out on your first year. ONT has by far the best commutability followed by SAT and the LAX which is pretty bad for commuters. Lots of Day trips. As for the work rules, they are pretty great and have ways to make a lot of money. Senior guys get upwards of 200 days off a year. Our vacation provision is 2nd to none. For instance I have 1 week this month and it dropped all by 5 days of work and protected me to a 75 hour garauntee. Time that I add will be paid at 150%. Pretty good stuff overall.
The union and the company, for the most part, have a very good relationship. We are having some growing pains that we are working through. Computer IT issues etc. The union is highly involved in the day to day operation of the company. The union safety committee works very close with the company. The scheduling committee makes all the schedules. The protection the union provides and issues that can help be resolved are well worth the 1.95%. It's really something you should consider if also looking at Skywest.
