Dear Mr. Skywest CEO Jerry:

[EMBpilot]

Um, yeah, well maybe you were in a different class then?

Could be the case..
OK, one of the classes in "early Feb. 2003" was indeed early, the other - more towards the middle. The question now is which one had a privilege to hear such unethical comments?

If the class in question was towards the mid Feb (which it seems like), CRJ newhires, I sincerely apologize. :blush:

Sorry to take your time and divert the tread - we all can now go back to our productive discussion.

 

[BluDevAv8r]

How the hell do you know that? Did you include our 5-6% (past performance does not guarantee future results) bonus and subtract your union dues? From airlinepilotpay.com - Express jet 5 yr $66.40 Skywest $65.25 add about $3.25 an hour to that for a 5% bonus. You know I don't give a crap what you make - i just know I don't make enough.

Current Skywest 6th year Captain = $65.25/hour

Holt makes the assertion that our 2006 rates get us to Skywest rates. That is patently false. Our December 1, 2004 rates hurdled us ahead of Skywest to $66.40. However, in 11 days we will get another 2.5% increase to $68.06 for 6th year captains. So in 11 days we will be roughly 4.3% ahead of Skywest pilots for that longevity step in the left seat on hard pay rates alone. And in 12 months and 11 days, a 6th year captain will be at $69.76/hour, which would be roughly 6.9% ahead of a Skywest pilot. Of course, this doesn't factor in the 1.2% bump Skywest wants to give its pilots.

You mentioned Skywest's performance bonus. However, Skywest isn't the only company to have profit sharing. ExpressJet pays out 10% of its pre-tax net income (profit) to its employees, which includes the pilots. Historically that has average around 8% of one's W-2. However, this past summer XJT modified the CPA with CAL to reduce our operating margin and as a result, one can expect out profit sharing to pay out less than in years past...but it is designed to give a minimum of 5% each year to each employee on top of his W-2.

Let's talk about 401k matching...which is really just an extension of one's hourly rates (deferred compensation), right? That 6th year Skywest Captain would receive 4% from the company if he puts in 4% and subsequently will also receive a little more since the company puts in 5% of its profit into the 401k plan. Obviously how much that 6th year captain would receive is dependent upon how many employees are eligible as well as what the company's pre-tax net income is.

The same 6th year XJT Captain would receive 4% for free and another 5% if he puts in 5% for a total of 9% (on top of hourly pay rates that are already 4.3% higher than a Skywest pilot's).

Holt also asserts that Skywest's work rules are the best in our segment of the industry...

Vacation...I'll be honest - all I know about Skywest's vacation is that it is going to hinge on how PBS works...which means no trip conflicts with a vacation period. A pilot at XJT, however, can touch 2 4-day trips up against his 7 day vacation period and receive up to 24 days off in a row (and still be protected to his min pay guarantee of 75 hours). Can a Skywest pilot do that?

Days off? At XJT, 12 days off minimum for lineholders and reserves get 12 days off 5 months of the year and 11 in the other 7 months.

Scope? Nevermind.

1.95% for union dues? I call it cheap insurance for a variety of possible issues. No need to get into that discussion right now however.

I could go on but hopefully this paints a more accurate picture of where XJT stands in relation to Skywest...re: BH's comments as well as yours above. I do agree with your last statement however. It is always that way, isn't it?

-Neal

 

[Bluto]

Ah, but Neal, you forget that we are allowed to fly 70-seaters as well for our rates, while you guys only get to fly the little 50-seaters. Care to change your tone a little now??? Eh? Mr. Superior!! (sarcasm)

p.s. Thanks for the comparison, most of us knew the rhetoric was patently false, but's it's nice to get an itemized list. Hopefully this letter will be a wake-up call to our pilots as to how we continue to be misled.

 

[BluDevAv8r]

Ah, but Neal, you forget that we are allowed to fly 70-seaters as well for our rates, while you guys only get to fly the little 50-seaters. Care to change your tone a little now??? Eh? Mr. Superior!! (sarcasm)

p.s. Thanks for the comparison, most of us knew the rhetoric was patently false, but's it's nice to get an itemized list. Hopefully this letter will be a wake-up call to our pilots as to how continue to be misled.

Thanks Bluto.

The fact is....most pilot groups that fly several versions of one aircraft do it either at the higher rate or at a blend and NOT at the lower rate. We do it at the higher rate at XJT (once you hold 145 CA) and CAL does it with a blend for soft time/reserves and the higher rate when actually flying, say, the 737-800 over the 737-700. The widebodies over there all have generally the same amount of seats, give or take. Flying a 70 seater for 50 seat wages is flying an aircraft with 40% more revenue capacity for the same wage. Flying a 270 seat aircraft for a 240 seat wage (for example) is flying 12% more revenue for a blended wage. Go figure. Holt goes out of his way to cherry pick different examples that make his argument while at the same time, inaccurately referencing various situations and examples in the industry AND failing to spell check his own document.

-Neal

 

[hotwing]

!@#$ duh....

 

[LJDRVR]

To my Skywest Brethren,

Sorry you folks have to endure such trickery. To offer you a pay rise that doesn't even keep pace with inflation, then tacitly suggest that wanting more would somehow be greedy is arrogant beyond belief.

Here's some advice though: Don't take it personally. The folks that run your airline are going to do and say just about anything in order to keep their costs low. They'll resort to hyperbole such as "High fuel prices...with no end in sight." (The horror!) They'll use fractured logic such as "Southwest has a single payscale but just look at the difference in seats!" (Nevermind the fact their pilots are well compensated, and that management understands taking care of it's employees comes before the customer and shareholders.)

Continue to hold management's feet to the fire until you're presented with a more reasonable TA. Don't let these tactics drive up your blood pressure, spoil your working environment and cause you to taxi around with the logo light off. Skywest is still your company. Be proud of that and realize that the imbecilles doing the negotiating are for the most part, not in it for the long haul. You may not be either, but your conduct and actions while still there should be something you're able to look back proudly upon, knowing that you were a professional and took the high road.

I wish you guys and gals the best of luck. Don't believe the lies.

 

[BluDevAv8r]

Hotwing,

Didn't mean for it to come off that way. I just wanted to illustrate Holt's inaccurate claims. Good luck with your fight.

-Neal

 

[hotwing]

Hotwing,

Didn't mean for it to come off that way. I just wanted to illustrate Holt's inaccurate claims. Good luck with your fight.

-Neal

Neal -- I re-read your post and decided that is educational in nature and agree. I no longer work for Skywest... I juumped ship on the airlines stuff over a year ago... Let's all hope that the airline career turns around and improves. Every time that we open the paper or watch the news, we here another airline storm on the horizon... It bows!

 

[dojetdriver]

I wonder if any of my homies from ACA/I-Air that went to SkyWest are getting a serious case of Deja Vu over this whole thing.

 

[CFIT]

Ok ASA folks imagine this, rumor has is that the proposal from management will be one rate, all AC types, and it will be skywest minus $1.

I'm not sure how true it is as I was also told that Comair is going to be offered one rate and it will be Mesa's.