Republic Abuses Flight Crews

[aewanabe]

Um...wasn't republic one of the first alter ego's by schiitaqua to circumvent alpa and scope?

[Geico gecko voice] "A bottom feeder behaving like a bottom feeder...Brilliant!"

100-1/2

Umm, no. Quick history lesson kids. Republic is both an airline and the overall holding company that operates Chautauqua, Shuttle America, and Republic Airways. The original Republic Airways was going to be a strictly non-union E145 operator after the original CHQ pilots told Bedford hell no to J4J back in 2002-2003.

The benevolent Reverend and his management team responded by posting a list of tail numbers that would be sent to Republic and furloughing a few CHQ pilots. During the ensuing fray, which was co-incident with section 6 negotiations, Chautauqua's EXCO agreed to J4J on the property and secured regional-industry leading scope, when not just Chautauqua but Republic Airways Holdings was bound by one pilot list. This in turn prevented a Freedom/Go-Jets type debacle when E170s started miraculously showing up on property a year later.

In 2003 not a single CHQ pilot believed we'd be flying 70-seaters any more than we thought NASA would out-source the Space Shuttle to us. Giving credit where it was due, however, the Reverend was looking to the future and suddenly we had a deal to fly 145s and 170s for UA. Oops, our agreement with AA and the APA's scope clause did not allow us to fly such heavy metal on the CHQ certificate, thus we needed another certificate. No problem, we'll just fire up Republic again. Oops, it's harder to start a certificate then we thought?? Cool, we'll just buy this tiny Saab operator called Shuttle America (who happens to be flying a bunch of ex-CHQ Saabs), integrate their pilots, dump the Saabs and presto, instant 170 operator.

However, management kept working on getting the Republic certificate running, because now DALPA's scope is capping this new shiny jet at 70 seats, and we want to fly a few for US Airways with 72 seats. So, certificate number 3 finally appears, and now the same holding company and pilot group is spread over 3 different groups. Us pilots seem to think it's strange to start a certificate with 4 airframes, until shady shenanigans ensue involving Doug Parker, Reverend Bedford, and some goats, and suddenly Mid-Atlantic ceases to exist and Republic is flying all sorts of E170s for US. (Ps, kudos to U-ALPA for allowing even MORE narrow-body jobs and jets off the property).

You're welcome for this brief lesson of one of the few scope victories ever for a regional pilot group (albeit one that viciously highlights the continued decline of mainline flying). Please return to your regularly scheduled mindless bashing.

 

[cldsfr79]

Hope non of you regional guys who can’t handle the sits applied to the fractionals. Sitting 3-5 hours in between flights is normal and so is working 10-14 hours; and try doing that day after day for 7 days. And there are no early shows or late shows. You are the show, and the company owns you all day long.

You guys are lucky that your company is attempting to be productive. Maybe they need to furlough some more.

Remember there are guys out there on the street who would kill to have your job and work those hours with no complaining.

 

[BoilerUP]

Hope non of you regional guys who can’t handle the sits applied to the fractionals. Sitting 3-5 hours in between flights is normal and so is working 10-14 hours; and try doing that day after day for 7 days. And there are no early shows or late shows. You are the show, and the company owns you all day long.

Comparing business aviation to airline flying (fractional to regional specifically) really is no comparison at all.

A 2-3 hour sit in a food court or 10x15' room with 20 people squeezed in is NOT the same as a 2-3 hour sit in your average FBO pilot lounge with big-screen satellite TV, wifi internet, free coffee and cookies, crew cars, and comfortable recliners to sit/nap in.

 

[kf4amu]

You guys are lucky that your company is attempting to be productive. Maybe they need to furlough some more.

You're missing the point. Sitting 3-5 hours is not productive.

This kind of scheduling max duty days basically provides free reserve coverage. You get 10 crews with 5 hours of extra sitting a day, thats 50 extra hours of reserve coverage the company doesnt have to pay for.

 

[30West]

Heres an idea if you dont like the rules LEAVE!! Im sure there are a lot of crew members that would love to keep that seat warm in your place.

Bingo!

Everything that is currently wrong with the industry, eloquently summed up in two sentences.

 

[Airline Driver]

Bingo!

Everything that is currently wrong with the industry, eloquently summed up in two sentences.

There are a few other terms that you can add to the list.
1: Deregulation
2: Greedy Management!!!!!!!!!
3: Greedy Unions
4" Greedy Pilots
5: Greed
6: Greed
7: Greed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Greed all the way around the compass!!! Unfortunatley...

 

[SLUF4]

I'm not at republic, but I don't like the sentiment of "well, at least you have a job, so it doesn't matter if it's crappy where you work." don't get me wrong-I'm happy I do have a job and sorry for the guys that don't, but that doesn't give a company a green light to treat employees like crap.

 

[BrownStreak]

I'm just glad to see the day where a dickyard FO isn't strutting around telling everyone how much better his airline is because the engines are wing mounted and there are no airstairs on the door.....I guess lifestyle on the jumbo shrimp sucks equally to anything else with Express on the side of it.

ps - I'm not baggin on you guys republic, but you know as well as I do that there are a few of your guys running with their noses turned up at the other regional guys like they have a better pot to p!ss in.

This happened on a deadhead, not kidding...it was back when everyone was hiring like crazy and lots of new faces were around. A very young new Republic FO sits next to me and strikes up a conversation:

Junior: Hey man, how ya doin? This is great that we get paid to go on an airplane ride!

Me: The thrill is long since gone, but it beats an office job. How long have you been with Republic?

Junior: Two weeks! I start the sim next week!
(junior was wearing a uniform, hat and all!) What do you fly?

Me: The CRJ 200 and 700.

Junior: (with a disgusted look on his face) Oh that sucks man...when are you gonna come to Republic and fly the REAL airliner?

Me: ... (I just stared at him..and replaced my headphones.....I wasn't going to acknowledge it, it was just too dumb)

Most of you guys and gals are really nice though

Mesa sucks.

 

[Airline Driver]

I'm not at republic, but I don't like the sentiment of "well, at least you have a job, so it doesn't matter if it's crappy where you work." don't get me wrong-I'm happy I do have a job and sorry for the guys that don't, but that doesn't give a company a green light to treat employees like crap.

I have been in the RAH family for 5+ years. 3 of which is at Republic. I can say whole heartedly that I am not treated like crap. I am not going to say things shouldn't be better, but I will not say that things are as bad as people say they are. It's all in how you approach the surroundings. Our contract does have many loopholes and Grey areas that need to be cleaned up and filled in, but that will come in time. I am quite happy there and am probably going to stay for a while. $90K per year is not a bad salary to live on these days. Things will get better in time. This job beets digging ditches and cleaning toilets!!!!

 

[Airline Driver]

I'm just glad to see the day where a dickyard FO isn't strutting around telling everyone how much better his airline is because the engines are wing mounted and there are no airstairs on the door.....I guess lifestyle on the jumbo shrimp sucks equally to anything else with Express on the side of it.

ps - I'm not baggin on you guys republic, but you know as well as I do that there are a few of your guys running with their noses turned up at the other regional guys like they have a better pot to p!ss in.

This happened on a deadhead, not kidding...it was back when everyone was hiring like crazy and lots of new faces were around. A very young new Republic FO sits next to me and strikes up a conversation:

Junior: Hey man, how ya doin? This is great that we get paid to go on an airplane ride!

Me: The thrill is long since gone, but it beats an office job. How long have you been with Republic?

Junior: Two weeks! I start the sim next week!
(junior was wearing a uniform, hat and all!) What do you fly?

Me: The CRJ 200 and 700.

Junior: (with a disgusted look on his face) Oh that sucks man...when are you gonna come to Republic and fly the REAL airliner?

Me: ... (I just stared at him..and replaced my headphones.....I wasn't going to acknowledge it, it was just too dumb)

Most of you guys and gals are really nice though

Mesa sucks.

I will admit we do have some of the "Academy" kids here who have gotten drunk of the "I am better than You Koolaid" because I fly the 170 and give us RAH crews a bad name. Sorry about that!!! Trust me they are being either weeded out , shaped up or let go. On the other hand Mr. Brownstreak, you PSA folks have your share of arrogant Pigheaded Pilots on your property as well. I have come across MANY of your pilots with bad Attitudes!!! Every airline has their share of Idiots, yours is no different than mine!!!! The Majority are a Fine but their is that 10% of knuckleheads!!!

Happy New Year!!:beer:

 

[FSIGRAD]

I'm just glad to see the day where a dickyard FO isn't strutting around telling everyone how much better his airline is because the engines are wing mounted and there are no airstairs on the door.....I guess lifestyle on the jumbo shrimp sucks equally to anything else with Express on the side of it.

ps - I'm not baggin on you guys republic, but you know as well as I do that there are a few of your guys running with their noses turned up at the other regional guys like they have a better pot to p!ss in.

This happened on a deadhead, not kidding...it was back when everyone was hiring like crazy and lots of new faces were around. A very young new Republic FO sits next to me and strikes up a conversation:

Junior: Hey man, how ya doin? This is great that we get paid to go on an airplane ride!

Me: The thrill is long since gone, but it beats an office job. How long have you been with Republic?

Junior: Two weeks! I start the sim next week!
(junior was wearing a uniform, hat and all!) What do you fly?

Me: The CRJ 200 and 700.

Junior: (with a disgusted look on his face) Oh that sucks man...when are you gonna come to Republic and fly the REAL airliner?

Me: ... (I just stared at him..and replaced my headphones.....I wasn't going to acknowledge it, it was just too dumb)

Most of you guys and gals are really nice though

Mesa sucks.

Every time I read these little encounters my BS flag goes up. If he had only been here only 2 weeks no way he had a uniform. He definently wouldn't have hat brass. He would be lucky if he even had an ID. The company wouldn't be paying him to DH anywhere. Your not even payed at all in the first month. If your going to make up more dribble like this at least make it somewhat believable.

 

[flynryan15]

Me: The CRJ 200 and 700.

Junior: (with a disgusted look on his face) Oh that sucks man...when are you gonna come to Republic and fly the REAL airliner?CAN WE SAY BLENDED RATE?

Mesa sucks.

Who are you calling Junior? You just went through Puberty last week!:laugh:

 

[BrownStreak]

I will admit we do have some of the "Academy" kids here who have gotten drunk of the "I am better than You Koolaid" because I fly the 170 and give us RAH crews a bad name. Sorry about that!!! Trust me they are being either weeded out , shaped up or let go. On the other hand Mr. Brownstreak, you PSA folks have your share of arrogant Pigheaded Pilots on your property as well. I have come across MANY of your pilots with bad Attitudes!!! Every airline has their share of Idiots, yours is no different than mine!!!! The Majority are a Fine but their is that 10% of knuckleheads!!!

Happy New Year!!:beer:

Agreed...a shame we can't have them sterilized

 

[SLUF4]

I have been in the RAH family for 5+ years. 3 of which is at Republic. I can say whole heartedly that I am not treated like crap. I am not going to say things shouldn't be better, but I will not say that things are as bad as people say they are. It's all in how you approach the surroundings. Our contract does have many loopholes and Grey areas that need to be cleaned up and filled in, but that will come in time. I am quite happy there and am probably going to stay for a while. $90K per year is not a bad salary to live on these days. Things will get better in time. This job beets digging ditches and cleaning toilets!!!!

didn't mean necessarily at RAH, but just in general-the fact that the economy is bad doesn't mean it's OK for an employer to take a dump on employees and the consensus here seems to be that it is OK.

 

[dh2981]

There are many flight crew abuses going on at Republic. I dont think people realize that this place isn't much better than Mesa airlines when it comes to employee treatment.
Here are some of the unethical things that go on here:

3-5 hours sits during a trip. On a four day trip you could possibly have three of these. Sitting around the food court in PHL of CLT for up to five hours. Then we continue with our 14hr duty day.

Subpar hotels. Not all are bad, but most are. The company considers a gas station or a McDonalds next door quality food. Some of these hotels are in pretty bad shape or in bad parts of town.

The company refuses to follow the contract. This happens on a daily basis. The company says, "just do what we say and greive it".

We have many 3 or 4 day trips that start at 5am day 1, then finish at 11pm on the last day. So, the first 3 days of our trip we get up at 430am then the last day we don't start until later morning then fly until midnight. This of couse is after a 4 hour sit in PHL food court.
Obviously the company could care less about pilot rest, comfort, and safety.

Our crew room in PHL is a 5x8 bag room. This room has two roach infested chairs and is full of bags. The company calls this the "quite room" I guess this is were we are supposed to rest on our 5 hours sits?

Our CEO is continuously posting letters with his religious based propoganda. I am not talking about a reference or two about the Lord. These things look like they are written by the Pope. He has pushed his religious and political views on us many times. There needs to be some separation of religion and politics here at work. We have people from many different backgrounds.

This is just the begining of some of the things we deal with here at Republic Airlines. This is a warning to all. When and if this place ever starts hiring again, please think about your decision. I dont know many people here that are happy. There are other companies out there that would treat you much better for your hard work.

Abuse? WTF?!!
I've worked for skyway and talk about abuse. 8 leg in one day and 15ish hours of flight time in 4 day trip. I dont know about you but i made a great move from skyway. I did enjoy some great time working with great crew in skyway but this is much better. Once i had to go back home during my trip b/c of family emergency and chief pilot called me and he personally arragned a flight for me so that i could get home. Yea, i do agree that we need better contract but that something that we are working right now.I rarelly got 4 hour sit. maybe 2 or 3 times?? I do admit that we have some bad hotel but i've been to some awesome hotels. This is REGIONAL!!! you work for REGIONAL AIRLINES!!! You fly to small airports. This means that you might or company might not have many options. I know that you are posting your personal opinion but pilots do complaint alot. ALOT!!!!

 

[Jack Mehoff]

Just the truth here chief. I've been here long enough to see that goods and the bads...and for the record...I don't drink the cool aid....I just stress personal responsibility.

We find ourselves in situations of our own choosing.

You don't get crew meals. Mesa Crews get 3-5 Sh!t sammaches a day don't they?

 

[Crossky]

I was too slow to get on with United or NWA this last go round, I was concerned about the 50%+ pay cut the first year. I would've been furloughed anyway.

So I'm staying here at Air Wisconsin, thankful for the contract and rigs we have. Growth at the regionals has slowed down. Now is the time to improve your contract guys! If you don't have it, you deserve:

Duty rig: 1 for 2 hrs duty (CS avoids those long sits)
Cancellation pay for any reason
Trip rig: 1 for 4 hrs start trip to end trip
min day 3 hrs or better
a day room (hotel) during sch or unsch more than 4.5 hrs break
a crew room contractually spelled out
block or better
highest sch block minimum if rerouted
hotel during CDO's
commuter policy

Employers should give you working conditions and days off which foster and maintain safety, and the opportunity to have a real life outside of work, so you can be a productive and safe employee at work. That is the moral and ethical bottom line.

Happy New Year.

 

[Pilot124]

There are many flight crew abuses going on at Republic. I dont think people realize that this place isn't much better than Mesa airlines when it comes to employee treatment.
Here are some of the unethical things that go on here:

3-5 hours sits during a trip. On a four day trip you could possibly have three of these. Sitting around the food court in PHL of CLT for up to five hours. Then we continue with our 14hr duty day.

Subpar hotels. Not all are bad, but most are. The company considers a gas station or a McDonalds next door quality food. Some of these hotels are in pretty bad shape or in bad parts of town.

The company refuses to follow the contract. This happens on a daily basis. The company says, "just do what we say and greive it".

We have many 3 or 4 day trips that start at 5am day 1, then finish at 11pm on the last day. So, the first 3 days of our trip we get up at 430am then the last day we don't start until later morning then fly until midnight. This of couse is after a 4 hour sit in PHL food court.
Obviously the company could care less about pilot rest, comfort, and safety.

Our crew room in PHL is a 5x8 bag room. This room has two roach infested chairs and is full of bags. The company calls this the "quite room" I guess this is were we are supposed to rest on our 5 hours sits?

Our CEO is continuously posting letters with his religious based propoganda. I am not talking about a reference or two about the Lord. These things look like they are written by the Pope. He has pushed his religious and political views on us many times. There needs to be some separation of religion and politics here at work. We have people from many different backgrounds.

This is just the begining of some of the things we deal with here at Republic Airlines. This is a warning to all. When and if this place ever starts hiring again, please think about your decision. I dont know many people here that are happy. There are other companies out there that would treat you much better for your hard work.

Than QUIT...WHINER!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[QOL_is_great:)]

Long way to go!

Comparing business aviation to airline flying (fractional to regional specifically) really is no comparison at all.

A 2-3 hour sit in a food court or 10x15' room with 20 people squeezed in is NOT the same as a 2-3 hour sit in your average FBO pilot lounge with big-screen satellite TV, wifi internet, free coffee and cookies, crew cars, and comfortable recliners to sit/nap in.

I can see by your flight time that you have had your fair share of sit time in many places for extended periods of time. What you're saying is FBO sitting is better then airport sitting, right? Interesting. I have sat in TTN (terminal) with NO crew area, BED (terminal) with no the small ops to sit, or with NJA in SD at a mom/pop FBO on a small uncontrolled airport. Only naming a few examples, but each place had no TV, comfortable chairs or couch, crew cars or internet. You can have my share of the coffee and cookies.
Oh yhea, try finding a place out of public view at an FBO when the crew room is packed. I agree, there are many FBOs that have what you mentioned and it does make the time more comfortable, but it's not home or a hotel room.
I've done sitting with the military, airline, corporate and currently at NJA and all have have a common denominator; ya gotta make the best out of the situation you're in. They all have their good side and bad side of this down time. Just have fun!!
I also look at the flying I am doing now and at least nobody is shooting at me, so life is real good.

 

[Mav204]

I have been in the RAH family for 5+ years. 3 of which is at Republic. I can say whole heartedly that I am not treated like crap. I am not going to say things shouldn't be better, but I will not say that things are as bad as people say they are. It's all in how you approach the surroundings. Our contract does have many loopholes and Grey areas that need to be cleaned up and filled in, but that will come in time. I am quite happy there and am probably going to stay for a while. $90K per year is not a bad salary to live on these days. Things will get better in time. This job beets digging ditches and cleaning toilets!!!!

RAH management must LOVE you...your drinking the KoolAid and smoking whatever they give you!