jmac77,
I've asked before and didn't feel I got a direct answer. Here goes again. Are there any statements below that you are willing to sign your name to and stand by them. If they are taken out of context, feel free to fill in the context.
[10 May 2002] regional airlines...I wonder how "RJ" ever became a term for these planes. They can fly like 2,000 NM. Also, all the regionals are flying their people overtime while the rest sit on furlough, especially at CoEx. Cheap, cheap bastards...Just a bunch of slave drivers..."
[Sep 12, 2002] From a labor standpoint, after 9/11 I no longer really care to work for the airlines, especially the regionals. Sounds like a cutthroat battle day to day. Just not worth making the enemies. Life is too short and I like flying far too much just get pissed every day at work about contracts and scope and whipsawing, etc...Yeah, maybe EJA and FlexJet, etc, are not the answers we're looking for, but from what I've heard it beats the crap out of herding around Mom and her nine screaming children, not to mention their 42 bags. Oh yeah, no lines at security and unknown people shaving beards in the bathrooms."
The things that get my attention include your assertion that ALL the regionals are flying their people overtime while the rest sit on furlough....cheap bastards...Just a bunch of slave drivers. How many SkyWest pilots are on furlough?
What did you mean that you no longer really care to work for the airlines, especially the regionals? You characterized part of the environment as whipsawing. We have certainly heard that term used among the DCI carriers. Why is SkyWest now so attractive to you? Is whipsawing no longer a concern?
How do you intend to deal with Mom and her nine sceaming children at SkyWest?
The sense of what I have hear from you this past year is that when things are going well (job offer at SkyWest, recent marriage, etc.) you are a peach of a guy. However, when things go awry, then you make some pretty serious statements about regionals and the industry in general.
Things don't always go well at SkyWest. I would prefer to work with folks who drive through the hard times. That is a BIG factor on why SkyWest is as successful as it is.
You have done some serious backpedalling indicating your comments were made in the heat of the moment or were taken out of context. What you have not done is taken responsibility for them and admitted your errors.
With your dad having flown for NWA, I am sure he has been a serious influence in your feelings about the role that regionals play in the industry. SkyWest feels very secure in its part of the process and would like employees who feel the same.
I believe you will do well in your interviews with other carriers. No doubt, they will be more geographically convenient and union oriented. I believe you will go on to enjoy a fine career in aviation. I think much of that will come as you mature and learn the use of tact over bluster.