Open Letter to SkyWest Pilots
This letter is a response to recent articles that appeared in the Salt Lake Tribune and a warning of what role you have played and will play in the industry in the years to come. In 2000, SkyWest and Mesaba Airlines were equal in size when comparing aircraft fleet and pilot groups. The reason that I use Mesaba as an example is for two reasons; the first is because I am a pilot at Mesaba, the second reason will come later. To the credit of SkyWest management, they have more then doubled the size of your fleet in only five years, as well as diversified into several main line carriers.
In the go-go days of the late 1990’s thru early 2000 all pilot groups were negotiating for their share of the corporate profits. Delta was buying their regional carriers because the legacy’s believed this was the best way to control their investments. SkyWest pilots wondered where they would fit in this grand scheme. Being tied to two legacy carriers made it an impossibility to be owned by either one.
After years of contract negotiations, Comair pilots took an unprecedented stand and were forced into a strike that lasted 89 days. This shut down Cincinnati and a large portion of Delta’s routes. The lesson learned by the legacy carriers was to diversify their regional routes. Comair and SkyWest routes were integrated as were Northwest Airlink routes; Mesaba and Pinnacle. United would soon follow suit.
About this same time, Mesa Airlines CEO Jonathan Ornstein decided that he would squelch the Mesa pilot’s negotiations by starting a non-union carrier called Freedom Airlines. The Mesa pilots gave up considerable pay in order to obtain job security (scope clause). In a move by Ornstein, reminiscent of Frank Lorenzo, many other regional airline CEO’s decided to use this new “union busting” technique to become known
as -whipsawing-.
Once all regionals had diversified routing and overlap the majors would put the regional flying up for re-bid. Effectively making the regionals bid on their own flying. Management was then “forced” to ask the labor groups for concessions in order to secure the flying previously awarded. United started with ACA and Air Wisconsin. In a brave move both airlines told United to take a flying leap. ACA became FlyI, and Air Willy moved on (both pilot groups were still forced into concessions). During Mesaba pilot contract negotiations Northwest (NWA) shrunk the size of one Airlink (Mesaba) and increased the size of the other (Pinnacle). Express Jet pilots lost some of their flying to SkyWest during their negations.
As it stands today, Continental has asked Express Jet for concessions and threatened to take 69 planes from them. Mesaba has been told that it will loose 35 of its jets, Pinnacle has parked 15 jets. ASA has been told by Jerry Atkin that the reason the 70 seaters went to SkyWest is because their [SkyWest] 70 seat rate is lower.
Mesaba has been forced into bidding on its own flying as well as bidding on Express Jet’s and Pinnacle’s. Comair is bidding on Delta and Mesaba routes. SkyWest is bidding on Mesaba and Pinnacle routes for Northwest and Express Jet routes. Effectively all regional flying has been put up for bid forcing artificial competition between labor groups. Many of these labor groups are associated with a carrier in bankruptcy. The choice this leaves is either take concessions or loose your labor contract and/or flying.
As ASA pilots fought for a better contract, Delta saw the writing on the wall. So now ASA pilots and SkyWest pilots will be in direct competition. ASA pilots will be forced into concessions to compete with SkyWest. SkyWest pilots won’t be getting an equitable raise because Atkin just used $330 million of your profits to “pay” for guaranteed flying for Delta. After the acquisition of ASA, SkyWest profits went up 83% in the fourth quarter. The pilot’s of SkyWest will not reap the benefits of this, even in your meager profit sharing. Your raises are based on an industrial survey. With all other airlines taking concessions you will be forced down this road as well.
Since SkyWest pilots don’t work under an organized union contract per se, you will have no protection under an acquisition/merger scenario. You are an airline CEO’s wet dream, a non-unionized carrier with no leverage to negotiate. This is the reason that you have not felt directly under attack as all other pilot groups have. I am not saying that the union is the answer (far from it), but this is why you have abated the misery of what has become of the industry.
While your current pay scales are good, with the exception of the 70 seat rate, they will remain the same (if not decrease) for a very long time. You work under substandard work rules and now will be in direct competition with ASA. Although you have bid on Northwest flying you will not be awarded any of it. See, Northwest can’t control you and therefore you are of no interest to them. You are being used as a way to decrease the cost of the Airline Service Agreement between NWA, Mesaba and Pinnacle. (This is the second reason that I write this). SkyWest pilots watch your management carefully; you are being used as pawns to draw down the contracts of organized pilot labor groups.
