Latest on skywest/Coex

[NEDude]

To all the Skywest pilots:

If you keep reading these boards, you will get the impression that you will not be welcomed by the XJT pilots. Here at Commutair a lot of us read the same rhetoric about us showing up in CLE - "Those used to be our routes...You're expanding at our expense...you will not be welcomed here...that is our flying...etc". Realize that what you read on the boards represents a VERY small minority. Our experience in CLE over the last few months indicates that XJT pilots really are a pretty good bunch. We have been treated well by them and have had no problems. Mainline guys have been great as well. The problems XJT pilots have is with their management, not with us. Most of them know that. Most of them also realize that the reason they have guys on the street is not because of management, Commutair or Skywest, it is because of their flow-through agreement that they wanted in their contract.

Anyway, do not get too worked up about what a few disgruntled people say. I don't think you will have any problems with starting service in IAH. Also - welcome to the Continental Connection family.

 

[trans2fly]

Wow, there definitely are some heated elements here. I hope that the SKYW folk who go to IAH aren't gonna be greeted like mpickle says, that wouldn't speak well for XJet. But whatever...

Couldn't y'all XJet types direct your anger where it belongs, at your management? The flying SKYW will be doing is AT RISK and is flying that y'all don't do anymore. Therefore, to say that you don't have to interview doesn't make sense. To say that it's "your" flying also doesn't make sense, your management gave it up. Being given a preferential interview should be looked on as favorable under this scenario, dontcha think?

Bluto and Bjet- talked with my buddy again yesterday and he said that only 6 or 7 FO's have bid for IAH. With the 45 number having been thrown around here for crews there, I would think that any XJet types who pass the interview will soon be flying outta IAH. Just FYI...

 

[145EXR]

"I had a management type in my jumpseat the other day who strongly hinted that the IAH Emb120 flying is just the beginning. Apparently CAL mainline has hinted to Skywest they aren't very happy with their current arrangement. Since the current contract is up in 2004? Skywest may have the opportunity to grab the entire route structure. Then who's flying will it be??

Enjoy."



interesting....3 members of the board of directors of cal are on the xjet board of directors,,,in addition cal is selling most of the xjet stock to cal stockholders,,,all the cal publications commend xjet on making regional airline of the year....i would not take too much from your management type that was in your jumpseat...in addtion xjet has exclusive rights to jet feed till 2006, not 2004.


after 2006 im sure there will be other jet aircraft in our hubs, but since cal has signed the leases to xjet on 274 145s, with options for 100more, i doubt they are gonna dump xjet completely.

 

[Bjet Driver]

Bluto and Bjet- talked with my buddy again yesterday and he said that only 6 or 7 FO's have bid for IAH. With the 45 number having been thrown around here for crews there, I would think that any XJet types who pass the interview will soon be flying outta IAH. Just FYI...

Trans-

Thanks for the update. If I do end up with you folks, it looks like I may have to commute. IAH would be best bet, but anything works for me.


As far as interviewing goes, we can only wait and see. But I'm sure many XJT guys will have the same attitude as mine.............

I'm not pissed off about having to interview. I will do that.

We just want to be back in the skies.........

 

[KFFA]

mckpickle,

What are your feelings about flying for a non-union airline? You need to talk to some Comair and ASA dudes about sharing hubs. Its not easy at first but deal with it. If you can't stand us there in IAH and you and your buddy's do things to screw with us and compromise my passengers then we will have to meet out back JK I am only kidding!!! But really, this indusrty it not the same as it was 2 years ago. You guys thought that this would never happen to you but now that Commutair and now us are starting to move in well its time to grow up and say welcome to IAH. We have done it for Comair and ASA in SLC. How come I remember some of you guys bragging a few months ago and how great it was to be all Jet??? By the way we really are nice guys and gals, we have great looking fa's and we really have pride in our company.

 

[Fred_IP]

Updated bid numbers

Bluto and Bjet- talked with my buddy again yesterday and he said that only 6 or 7 FO's have bid for IAH.

Just for those keeping count:

The bid closed Sunday night, May 25. The count as of Friday, May 23, from the Skywest EMB Captain upgrade/transfer list, is about 19 who request "ANY" for a domicile and about 16 who want to specifically go to IAH. So that's 35 for the 44 or so Captain slots opening at IAH. That said, there will be a handful of the "ANY" guys who might change their mind if offered IAH and get seat locked for 6 months. And some of the IAH guys are transfers, not true upgrades.

In the end, I would suspect about 30 of the IAH Captain positions to be current Skywest Pilots (mostly FO upgrades from the CRJ). The remainder of the 14-ish Captain and all FO positions will be Skywest poolies and COEX pilots. It's anyone's guess as to who be Captains first ("off the street"), although I woud expect experience in the EMB or significant PIC hours might give one an edge at the remaining 14 or so Captain positions.

So once the EMB positions are filled, then the remainder of the COEX and poolies will be going to the CRJ as FO's. Skywest is still looking to gain 2-3 CRJs per month through Feb 04. Beyond that, it's anyone's guess, but I would suspect Skywest to continue to grow with 70 or 90 seat CRJs, perhaps 737s in some markets.

There are EMB classes in June and July, and more afterwards (dates unknown). The first class in early June will have approx. 10 students in it. The goal is to have approximately 35 crews in place by October. By December, there will be approximately 44 crews there.

Good luck to all. And to all COEX guys coming to Skywest -- keep a chin up and keep a positive attitude. Good luck to those poolies too. It'll be worth the wait!

Fred

 

[Obi-Wan]

I understand that the Xjet guys are bitter that SKywest is flying routes they used to. Used to being the key words. It is what it is...

Some people are and they should be, not because its skywest but as the result of our flying going to another company. You will be angry as well when Comair does additional expansion in the west and Mesa gets more UAL routes. That’s just wave of the future. As far as Skywest doing more flying for CAL in the future, there is a definite possibility. There is also a strong possibility of Coex doing flying for DAL and NWA. Skywest people are not going to get the cold shoulder in IAH and express is not losing all its flying. CAL is very happy with our product and has expanded the contract to 2006 and will renew in the future. This whole pissing contest on the net is nothing new. As far as the interviews go, we will see. I have two friends in the pool that got the job without doing the sim. I'm sure it’s up to Skywest mgt to decide how the interview process will go. We just have to wait and see.

 

[PBRstreetgang]

Hey,
Your flying, our flying their flying, some flying, BLA,BLA,BLA.
You really need to get over this feeling of entitlement for your own good. You, me and every other pilot gets paid by the hour. Your company makes money, do you get paid more than your contract allows for? Your company looses money do you get paid leaa than the contract?
The above "FLYING" is owned by the company and it's shareholders, period, dot, end of sentence. I do not care personally where the pax comes from, nor do I care where they go. That is between the company and them.
I can tell you for a fact that if you come to SKYW with a good attitude you will do well. If you come with a bad attitude and slip by the interview/meet greet process, you will still have to do probationary pilot evals and a whole year is a long time to fake a good attitude. I know for a fact that just completing a year is no guarantee of keeping your job, your evals by line CPTS as well as your off prob P.C. then interview with your chief pilot must be successfully completed. We are not afraid of letting people who are not fitting into the "culture" go find a more suitable place of employment after a year.
In summary:
Good attitude-Welcome
Bad attitude-You are wasting your time.
OLA
PBR

 

[trans2fly]

Re: Updated bid numbers

The bid closed Sunday night, May 25.

In the end, I would suspect about 30 of the IAH Captain positions to be current Skywest Pilots (mostly FO upgrades from the CRJ). The remainder of the 14-ish Captain and all FO positions will be Skywest poolies and COEX pilots.

There are EMB classes in June and July, and more afterwards (dates unknown). The first class in early June will have approx. 10 students in it. The goal is to have approximately 35 crews in place by October. By December, there will be approximately 44 crews there.

Fred [/B]

Hey Fred- I got an e-mail from my friend at OO; the bid actually closes Tuesday morning, and it is expected that more bids will have come in by then. Definitely not "all FO positions" will be poolies and COEX pilots, as at least 7 have bid IAH already. The next EMB classes are scheduled for July, not June, though your size number is correct. From what I hear, all captain positions will be SKYW types, as the opportunity to upgrade will be too attractive, and the majority of the FOs will be Coex.

As others have said, we'll see...

 

[Fred_IP]

I got an e-mail from my friend at OO; the bid actually closes Tuesday morning, and it is expected that more bids will have come in by then. Definitely not "all FO positions" will be poolies and COEX pilots, as at least 7 have bid IAH already. The next EMB classes are scheduled for July, not June, though your size number is correct. From what I hear, all captain positions will be SKYW types, as the opportunity to upgrade will be too attractive, and the majority of the FOs will be Coex.

You're right about the bid close. It WAS to end on Sunday, but I think they extended it late last week because of the holiday. It will be announced Thursday at noon -- two days later than was in the original message from Skywest. Also, I did NOT look at the FO bid list -- yes, 5 of them want to go to IAH.

Like I said, about 35 Skywest pilots currently desire and are qualified to upgrade/transfer to IAH. Skywest needs 44 crews in IAH. To fill the 9 or so remaining left seats, Skywest management will probably then evaluate its remaining Skywest pilots. Management will determine on a case by case basis to see who's MOST qualified to waive certain requirements to upgrade into the left seat. For example, if they have an FO who has 2000 total hours with 500 in the EMB, they might waive their 1000-hour "in type" requirement. Then they MIGHT hire Captains "off the street," to fill any open Captain position, if the candidate is exceptionally qualified. But I would think SKW would prefer to make Captains out of their own pilots.

As far as class dates, actually, there is a class scheduled for June 16, then July 2. I would think they need to add several more classes to meet the goal of 35 crews by October.

There's also CRJ classes June 2, June 11, June 19 and July 24, for inquiring minds who want to know.

Fred

 

[hawkowl88]

bid closing

I think the bid will not "close" until either a few days before the scheduled class--or they get enough upgrade bids from current f.o.'s. This is what they have done in the past. In the very remote possibility they don't get enough existing people who bid emb captain in IAH, then it is likely they would put a qualified new hire as a captain. However, in the past, insurance requirements dictated 2500 hours total time and 1000 hours multi-turbine PIC in a 121, 135, or military environment.

 

[nimtz]

Re: just the beginning

I had a management type in my jumpseat the other day who strongly hinted that the IAH Emb120 flying is just the beginning. Apparently CAL mainline has hinted to Skywest they aren't very happy with their current arrangement. Since the current contract is up in 2004? Skywest may have the opportunity to grab the entire route structure. Then who's flying will it be??

Enjoy.

Well I had a CD MClean, President of CAL, on the jumpseat the other day and he said the codeshare was facing difficulties from the insurance underwriters. It has something to do with all Skywest pilots have tiny c*cks!

Nice flame bait. Contract ain't up to early '07 and Gordo's got a little to much vested interest (ie his own pockets) to straight up give the whole operation to Skywest. Just remember if your management tells you to cross our picket line, you have no legal recourse but to do so. Ah the joy of selling out your profession! BTW, when you cross that union line just remember with our big base in EWR we have 'friends.' I'll take the Sopranos over the Mormons any f*cking day.

 

[utahpilot]

and the winner is.......

I'll take the Sopranos over the Mormons any f*cking day.

and the winner is.........41 posts until someone plays the tired, stupid, unintelligent, misinformed and ignorantly predjudiced 'religion' card.

get a life, geek.

 

[JBcrjca]

Nice attitude there nimtz. So what was mckpickle saying earlier about militant SkyWest pilots? It looks like more Xjet pilots have that problem. More veiled threats, this time about what might happen to SkyW pilots if they cross a picket line. Geez, get a grip Soprano.

SkyWest pilots would be the last ones to cross your stupid picket line and sell out the profession. The company knows better than to make that demand. Look at the previous posts referencing the Comair strike.

This almost gets more and more entertaining, but it's actually rather sad. What a dork.

 

[Jetta]

Hey Nimtz

Why dont you get off daddys computer jack@ss. If there were any problem with insurace, it is probably because the furloughed coex pilots have about 500 hrs. tt and about 15 multi. ahh those wonderful hiring practices of coex a few years ago.

 

[nimtz]

Re: Hey Nimtz

Why dont you get off daddys computer jack@ss. If there were any problem with insurace, it is probably because the furloughed coex pilots have about 500 hrs. tt and about 15 multi. ahh those wonderful hiring practices of coex a few years ago.

Thanks for letting me enjoy a laugh fellas. We all need to get out more, that's pretty obvious. Having read these threads for almost a month, they have become about as intelligent as RJDC vs DAL threads. That last post of mine was pure in sacrasm and if everyone (from xjet capt to skywest fo) cannot recognize that then they need to log off the computer a little bit more often.

Hey you now what, Skywest is getting the IAH flying and XJet is getting screwed by CAL management. There I said it, you guys win! Once again we see a race to the bottom by airline managment where trained professionals like ourselves are nothing but pawns. That's the truth we all recognize! Now can we please stop these stupid threads and wait until we hear the FINAL WORD from CAL management, the true master that they are!

 

[mckpickle]

You said it Nimitz. You know what guys. CAL is using you to screw us. Just like they used Commutair to do it. The diference was that the Commutair guys at least kissed us afterwards. They didn't go flapping their pie holes about how our guys might not be acceptable to them. They wore their hearts on their sleave and showed some humility and empathy for what was being done to us. Would it be that hard for you to do the same? I mean come on. Really! 44 Skywest guys are going to be captains because of this deal. So you guys are making out just fine. But don't tell us our guys might not "fit in" with your precious corperate image or that you are entitled to OUR flying. Just a little respect hu?

 

[phishn@daves]

My God! (and I'm athiest by the way so take it for what it's worth)

You guys are the reason why I hate this industry!

Stop all of your bitching about this pilot or that one, or this group..................................etc.

Everyone knows it's management folk out there making the decisions trying to screw all of us!

Most of us got a free ticket here (low-timers), not really paying dues, so stop pitting one group against another!

And you know who you are, the pilot fu@&ing geeks that I cannot stand, the ones who think they knoweverything about flying but can't fu@&ing fly a plane!

Can we ALL please work together and make something happen here? Do we have to all settle for industry lowered rates? It is NOT the pilots, it's management making the pilots look bad! Making them vote this or that, or else!!!!!

I love to fly but I hate some of the negativity and bashing that goes on here, you just don't get it, there are two sides to every story, so get the facts.........and get a life.

Fly safe everyone, loosen up, we are really all on the same side!

 

[WmuBronco]

Ain't it great how management pits us against each other. I'm a furloughed Coex Pilot, and would love the opportunity to do some flying over at SkyWest, and maybe even stay, California is calling my name. I have some great friends with that company, and have heard nothing but good things. Express Jet is a great company too. It's to bad that a couple bad seeds on both sides of the fence make the majority of us look bad.

Oh, and by the way when I was hired at Continenal Express,

1400 TT, 600 ME, 240 Turbo-Prop, 260 Lear Jet.

There wasn't that many guys that were hired with 500 TT, and let me tell the few that were, I've heard were exceptional pilots.

Some of you guys(both Xjet & SkyWest) need to "spank the monkey" more. It might help with the inflated egos.

Christian Mooradian
furloughed CoEx, EMB120

 

[Metro A-Team]

Question for those who used to be based in the "Great Nation of Texas" before the shaft was inserted and the "rock kicking" began? For all of you native Texans...it is just a joke.

Of the dudes/dudets that are on the street with Coex how long ago were you actually hired by Express (some have posted being out of work for 18 months)? Are/were some of you PICs? Is there an average TT of those of you not working? Are there some that won't meet SkyWest's hiring mins (1200TT, 200ME...I think)? How many people are out of work? Are there any Broncos in that group?

I'm just trying to get a feel for how my time/experience is going to stack up against the other "Professionals" that I will be sitting in class with soon...I hope.

Respectfully,

A pool man

 

[Metro A-Team]

WmuBronco,

Thanks for the info! I guess we were typeing at the same time. How many other Broncos are working or not @ Coex?

Good luck, see you in class.

 

[Bjet Driver]

Metro-

You'll stack up just fine with the XJT furloughees. I think all of us on the street were FO's, don't think there were any Capt's (maybe a small handful). I remember the total time varying from 800 to around 3000 when I was in class. Some will grasp things aurally, some by reading, and some won't excel until they begin FTD, sim, A/C training. In the end, we all make it and enjoy flying the line. I look forward to meeting you in class as well. I think it's gonna be a lot of fun!

BTW, I am pretty low TT myself, only around 1700. I was an SIC on the Diamond/Beechjet, PIC on the King Air 200 before getting on with XJT.

 

[WmuBronco]

I know of about 7 WMU grads, currently working still and furloughed with Coex. I am sure there are plenty more out there. A buddy of mine just moved back to the ZOO for summer, definately have to head out there for some college honeys.

I'm still just curious on how this will all work out. I am one of the bypassed 33 furloughs, that is currently getting a paycheck as if I'm flying for Commuteair. Pretty nice to get paid for doing nothing and work as a part time instructor on the side. I'm wondering if I can bypass recall to SkyWest, and still get paid for doing nothing till I return to CoEx. According to the way the document was wrote, us 33 will be paid up until the day we begin training again with EXPRESS JET, not SkyWest, so looking at that, i would say yes. I guess will know something soon. Oh yeah, my hired date at CoEx was 4/9/01, I was furloughed as of 10/01/01, so I'll be up to 20 months now on the street.

 

[Bjet Driver]

Christian-

Just email Neal, he'll probably have an answer for you.

 

[DanielWebster]

But your welcome in IAH is going to be lukewarm at best.

this statement really cracks me up. you must be a real tool!

let me guess, daddy is an airline pilot right??? hooked you up after perdue, huh, or maybe riddle??

 

[Paladin]

this statement really cracks me up. you must be a real tool!

Like you know the guy...

It will be nice when cooler heads finally prevail. XJT management are the ones doing the shafting here and everyone needs to realize this and quit the pissing contest. Certain cards have already been dealt and everyone need to make sure that the guys on the street get a fair deal.

 

[MTorbust]

Oh! gosh, I have been here X years, did you see how that guy looked at me! oh gosh oh gosh o I quit.

Chief Pilot gets a call: HI, I quit, Captain McPickle came me a baaaaad look. I have a sudden urge to be a plumber. Buh Bye.

Mcpickle, I sense you are a very vocal minority.

 

[mckpickle]

this statement really cracks me up. you must be a real tool!

let me guess, daddy is an airline pilot right??? hooked you up after perdue, huh, or maybe riddle??

YOUR FUNNY. I humbly will try to respond to a 747-400 pilot. Which I find rather amusing since if you did go to Daniel Dumpster I highly doubt you are.

And just so you know my almna Mata (you get the idea) is the same as yours.

 

[MTorbust]

And just so you know my almna Mata is the same as yours. [/B]

Nice spelling, what was your highest level of education completed?

 

[mckpickle]

I really don't understand how anything I've said is that bad? We are getting the shaft and on top of it a bunch of guys are on the boards telling us how we should lay back and enjoy it. We are pi$$ed. There isn't much we can do about it but I have said time and again lets wait and see what happens. But a bunch of skywest guys just wanna jump up and down about making it as hard as possible. This thing is going up our a$$ we dont need a bunch of Skywest guys trying to turn it sideways. I am not going to win the debate that it is OUR flying. But 95% of my co-workers feel the same as me. Doesn't look like I'll win the meet-and-great argument either. But 95% of my co-workers agree.

So what are you so bent about. The fact that I asked if a Non union carrier might possibly scab our work since we are in heavy contract talks? BFD. I asked, you answered get over it. I have not started any personal attacks so why are you?