Skybus

[Captzaahlie]

You'll have to explain to me how UAL wiped out their debt with the help of the tax payers?

You are kidding us with that question right?

If you can spell economics you might be able to piece it together.....

 

[PCL_128]

I HATED the concept of Skybus from the info I gathered from the idiots that troll these forums.. then I actually ran into an old friend who now flys for them and learned the TRUTH (missing here) about their pay, benefits, and business model, and now I'm leaning towards giving them a shot. Not yet sold, but I'm leaning that way..

Your friend is just trying to polish a turd to make himself look like less of a scumbag. I know a few SCABs that can give a fancy speech about how they were making a great and noble decision too, but it doesn't make it right.

 

[HA25]

Your friend is just trying to polish a turd to make himself look like less of a scumbag. I know a few SCABs that can give a fancy speech about how they were making a great and noble decision too, but it doesn't make it right.

How on God's earth do you compare a guy crossing a picket line to put the very airline his fellow pilots on strike from to work with a guy going to a start up carrier that is tapping into a NEW market, and is paying what it can afford to pay at this point in time? Is Skybus taking in millions per month like DAL or UAL??? No.. will they some day? Maybe.. THEN, and ONLY THEN can you open your mouth about their pay.

There is one thing I learned from studying for an MBA in Finance that sticks to mind..

RISK=RETURN....

 

[HA25]

btw.. PCL.. I remember when as a captain at ASA I used to look down on Value Jet, or Crispy Critter as we used to later call it as a lateral move, and a bottom feeder outfit.. filled with scabs and under thread of being purchased by TWA..

Who's laughing now?

Get it?

 

[RedDogC130]

Virgin America is paying thier pilots a lot better than Skybus and flying the same aircraft right?

 

[HA25]

Virgin America is paying thier pilots a lot better than Skybus and flying the same aircraft right?

no... it's not. You as a WN guy should understand that hourly rate and pay aren't the same.. this isn't some 70 hour guarantee job.. they pay a base rate of $68 and change per hour but the typical line (15 working days) credits 100 or more.. as you get senior, the lines get better, and vice verse... so for a new hire, it's not far off that you're number 75 out of 1200 and you're flying 13-15 days a month with higher pay credit.

pilots being the greedy bastards we are (nothing wrong with that btw), as the company makes a profit, they will share in it.. one way or the other. Just look back at Value Jet pay in the early days, or Jet Blue.. for that matter Southwest.. WHO ever paid industry standard wages as a start up?

Common guys... quit the hate, and do the "Christian" thing and wish people well.. it's a breath of fresh air.

 

[PCL_128]

btw.. PCL.. I remember when as a captain at ASA I used to look down on Value Jet, or Crispy Critter as we used to later call it as a lateral move, and a bottom feeder outfit.. filled with scabs and under thread of being purchased by TWA..

Who's laughing now?

Get it?

Yes, and I have little respect for the guys who came to work here when the pay was horrendous. They sold out their fellow pilots at the other airlines who were trying to hold up the bar, and part of the result of that is the 40-50% concessions that have happened over the past few years. If it weren't for the LCCs that had substandard pay prior to 9/11, then the paycuts never would have been anywhere near what they turned out to be. But because of JetBlue, SWA, Frontier, and AirTran rates back then, managements at the legacies made those payrates a target and the courts were happy to oblige in bankruptcy. Now, Skybus is the next generation of airline that's going to sell us all out and bring us down again when management sets its sights on those rates next. And you want to be a willing participant. Unbelievable.

 

[PCL_128]

wish people well.. it's a breath of fresh air.

No it's not. It's a mouthful of dirt because you've stuck your head in the sand to try to justify this in your own mind. You know as well as we do that Skybus is bringing down the profession.

 

[GuppyWN]

I'm gonna catch crap for this but if I was out of work and looking I'd give it a go to keep my family fed.

Most of the people throwing crap at these guys are working for airlines that have been in business pushing 80 years. SOMEBODY blazed the trail for them.

Gup

 

[Captzaahlie]

Virgin America is paying thier pilots a lot better than Skybus and flying the same aircraft right?

Don't ask me how or why but I got this sneaking suspicion that Virgin America and SkyBus are somehow in bed together. ......... SkyBus is leasing a few of VA's aircraft but there maybe more to it. Just a hunch.

 

[Captzaahlie]

I'm gonna catch crap for this but if I was out of work and looking I'd give it a go to keep my family fed.

Most of the people throwing crap at these guys are working for airlines that have been in business pushing 80 years. SOMEBODY blazed the trail for them.

Gup

Nicely put Gup!

 

[HA25]

Yes, and I have little respect for the guys who came to work here when the pay was horrendous. They sold out their fellow pilots at the other airlines who were trying to hold up the bar, and part of the result of that is the 40-50% concessions that have happened over the past few years. If it weren't for the LCCs that had substandard pay prior to 9/11, then the paycuts never would have been anywhere near what they turned out to be. But because of JetBlue, SWA, Frontier, and AirTran rates back then, managements at the legacies made those payrates a target and the courts were happy to oblige in bankruptcy. Now, Skybus is the next generation of airline that's going to sell us all out and bring us down again when management sets its sights on those rates next. And you want to be a willing participant. Unbelievable.

here we agree... but what the ******************** would you have me do??? Impale my self on a sword for the "profession"??? What the ******************** has this profession done for me? I spent 10 years doing the right thing, and finally got my dream job at the largest airline in the world, only to have it slammed shut for years... so what the hell am I suppose to do now, eat up my cash reserves that I've earned due to hard work and wise investments while I wait for UAL and others to grab their balls and tell their greedy managers that are paying themselves multi-million dollar bonuses that "YOU EITHEP PAY UP, OR WE'LL SHUT THIS ********************IN AIRLINE DOWN!"

Time to look after myself now bud.. sorry, done with the brotherhood bull********************.. Are you prepared for a single seniority list? I am, but what do I matter, right?

 

[PCL_128]

here we agree... but what the ******************** would you have me do??? Impale my self on a sword for the "profession"???

I hardly consider working at Gemini and waiting for your AMR recall to be "impaling yourself on a sword." You seem to want something for nothing. You want instant seniority at a growing company and instant riches from stock options. I'm sorry that your career hasn't gone as smoothly as you would have liked. That's just life, however, and you shoudn't sell out because of it. You may not be in the left seat making the "big bucks" at a major right now, but at least you still have some dignity and self-respect. Do you really want to be like the GoJet pilots that turn their IDs around when they go out in the terminal? Do you want to be the guy that has to wonder if the Captain on the flight you're trying to jumpseat on feels the same way about Skybus as I and many others do? If so, then take that dive and forget your dignity, but stop trying to convince the rest of us that it's an ok thing to do. We ain't buying it, and 20 more pages of talk about stock options isn't going to change that.

 

[HA25]

at the rate AMR is recalling, I'll be over 40 at an airline with a 12 year upgrade when I get the call.. this is an absolute fall back, and not my plan.. I need to make up for lost time. I don't expect you to understand my needs.. just accept that they're not yours. I don't really care what others think... I know from friends in pilot recruitment at American that Skybus isn't seen the way you see it among the rank and file.. this forum is going to have the statistical outliers like your self come on and call everyone a scab.. that's a given, but the reality is that the other 95% of pilots that have never heard of FI.com couldn't care less, and completely understand career choices that some HAVE to make.. Scabs are one thing.. GoJets is one thing.. Skybus is no different now than JetBlue was in 2001.. TRUST me, I am old enough to know that to be a fact..

 

[PCL_128]

at the rate AMR is recalling, I'll be over 40 at an airline with a 12 year upgrade when I get the call..

With retirements coming, upgrade won't be 12 years at AMR for long. And 40 isn't really that old. You've still got 20-25 years left in this business.

I know from friends in pilot recruitment at American that Skybus isn't seen the way you see it among the rank and file.

All I know is that I've flown with 3 Captains in the last couple of months that have made some pretty negative comments, one about denying jumpseaters, about Skybus pilots when we saw their planes in Richmond. These weren't the typical hot-head FI posters, either. These were your average everyday line Captains that have to ask me what my anti-GoJet sticker on my flight bag is all about. Word is spreading fast about Skybus, and lots of guys aren't happy.