How do negotiations work at SKYW?

[Morning Wood]

There's probably alot of dead people who would have liked to have an extra 1/2 hour of gas. And if I don't like my fuel load, which I rarely do, then I will just put on more. Calling dispatch every time would ruin the all important MST.

Other than the Avianca crash in JFK and the UA DC-8 that ran out of gas in PDX (in spite of the engineer's repeated prompts to the captain), how many airline crashes in the US have been attributed to running out of fuel?

P.S. Since calling anyone to up the fuel isn't required (see SP 3428), I'm not sure who you're trying to impress with your tough talk.

 

[Nevets]

Horizon isn't in the running for the flying.

No, what Im saying that I would rather it go to Horizon than someone on the lower end of the ladder. But I would be even more happy if DAL pilots did that flying than ANY regional!

 

[Morning Wood]

No, what Im saying that I would rather it go to Horizon than someone on the lower end of the ladder. But I would be even more happy if DAL pilots did that flying than ANY regional!

True, but why would Delta give flying to someone new that costs considerably more than anyone else, not just SkyWest, when SkyWest has been a Delta Connection Carrier for over 20 years?

 

[Bako Cap]

There's probably alot of dead people who would have liked to have an extra 1/2 hour of gas. And if I don't like my fuel load, which I rarely do, then I will just put on more. Calling dispatch every time would ruin the all important MST.

I was talking about EVERY flight. If you want 500#s more, be my guest. Good luck getting a half an hour out of 500#s. It's closer to 10-15 minutes, and if you are at that point, you have already F'd up, big time. I rarely slap on a couple of hundred #s because I'm scared of the unknown and have yet to land at min fuel in the past decade. I have diverted due to unforeseen issues, but never would a measly 500#s extra have changed my decision to divert.

 

[Nevets]

True, but why would Delta give flying to someone new that costs considerably more than anyone else, not just SkyWest, when SkyWest has been a Delta Connection Carrier for over 20 years?

Its not all about pilot costs.

 

[Gnarloooo]

Good luck getting a half an hour out of 500#s. It's closer to 10-15 minutes,

Did you forget we fly more than one type of plane here?

 

[Morning Wood]

Its not all about pilot costs.

Well, thanks for finally being a voice of reason to say so. Since you seem to be one of the few rational people on here, maybe you could list what else goes into these decisions. Many people think the only reason SkyWest has gotten any flying is because of pilot pay.

 

[Bako Cap]

Did you forget we fly more than one type of plane here?

SkyWest uses the CRJ series. Unless you are talking about SkyWest Express, they use EMB120s. Just kidding guys. I spent a little over 4 years in the Bro and if I remember correctly, I guess 500#s would give about .5 hours of extra chill time. But 500#s in the Bro means a bunch of payload might have to be left behind.

 

[Nevets]

Well, thanks for finally being a voice of reason to say so. Since you seem to be one of the few rational people on here, maybe you could list what else goes into these decisions. Many people think the only reason SkyWest has gotten any flying is because of pilot pay.

Well, when you are talking about costs, its not just pilot costs, but costs of wages, salaries, and benefits of all employees, aircraft costs, maintenance costs, interests costs, and insurance costs. You may have the most expensive pilots but still have a very completive product by using the economies of scale to reduce other costs. Southwest Airlines is a perfect example of that.

Also, metrics may be considered. And lastly, there are some intangibles that can be thrown in the mix, like the mainline wanting to diversify its feed. XJT knows all to well about that one.