Republic Abuses Flight Crews

[RobCat]

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.

Mr.Stain sorry Brownstain, Brownstreak whatever you call yourself. I have a story for you. Back when I was at PDT and commuting from MSP to CLT I would jumpseat on your 700's. I can't count how many times flight crews (FA and Pilots) from PSA would ask me who I worked for and then ask "when I was going to move over to a real airliner?" Every airline has those and that includes YOURS...

 

[Airline Driver]

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

Actually I am looking beyond the end of my nose and outside the box which is something you apparently need to learn how to do! I go to work, do my job, and go home to my family. That's it plain and simple.
I have learned, in my 25 years of flying, "which is probably older than you are", that if you make the best of your surroundings, have a little patience, and hope for a little luck, things will get better. Maybe not immediately, but the universe has it's plans for us all what ever it may be.

 

[Ratherbsurfing]

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.

Does widdle iddy biddy baby wanna glass of warm milk and a change of diapers?

 

[dh2981]

Does widdle iddy biddy baby wanna glass of warm milk and a change of diapers?

shut up and lets go get his mommy!!! lol

 

[nerjdriver]

I agree, that is one of the reasons we call them regionals.

XJT.............

 

[Mav204]

Actually I am looking beyond the end of my nose and outside the box which is something you apparently need to learn how to do! I go to work, do my job, and go home to my family. That's it plain and simple.
I have learned, in my 25 years of flying, "which is probably older than you are", that if you make the best of your surroundings, have a little patience, and hope for a little luck, things will get better. Maybe not immediately, but the universe has it's plans for us all what ever it may be.

I am not the most experienced person on this board; but am older than 25. I do know that the RAH contract sux and SOME pilots are pretty full of them selves and their RJ!
The ones that I am talking about are walking around with "guppy killer" stickers on their bags, and think that they deserve to fly that RJ for Midwest and are pissed at the Midwest pilots!

 

[Erlanger]

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.

Weekly Letter from Bryan Bedford
For the week ended 12-31-08

Good afternoon, I hope this note finds you and your families well.

As we come to the close of another year, most people I talk to in this industry seem to agree the
best thing about 2008 is that it is over. But I don’t think that is entirely fair. No doubt this year did
not go as anyone planned or would have hoped. High fuel prices caused our network partners
and their employees significant pain. We too suffered as Frontier filed bankruptcy and ultimately
terminated our partnership. However, some good things also happened this year that we should
try to remember. For example, we took delivery of 25 new E175 aircraft. We were able to
develop two new relationships with the displaced Frontier aircraft: Midwest and Mokulele. We
were able to help all of our partners with financial support, for example the accelerated removal of
the 15 E135s from Delta and the restructuring of our American agreement. And we accomplished
all of this without asking our employees to make any sacrifices. We were able to pay bonuses
and maintain our 401K matching contributions, which are benefits almost every company in
America have eliminated in response to the current economic recession.

Clearly 2009 will have its share of challenges for us to overcome. We have no growth under
contract and have no new aircraft orders after February, something we haven’t seen since 2000.
Unless we develop some growth opportunities we will actually shrink next year, another first. I
think we can all agree that is not an acceptable outcome. We have an open labor agreement with
our pilots that needs to be closed. Without clarity on the costs and productivity of our cockpit
crews we are going to have a difficult time developing new opportunities for next year and
beyond. We have to arrange new sources of cost-efficient aircraft financing to replace the
traditional European bank financing we’ve relied on for the past several years. And finally, we still
have to manage our relationships with our network partners. Hopefully none of them will file for
bankruptcy, but we must be prepared for any hick-ups in the event one or more of them have
financial difficulty.

Yes, next year holds many challenges for Republic and yet I have to tell you I am optimistic about
our future. I think we have the best people, the best culture, and the best aircraft and (in all
humility) the best management team for the type of economy we are going to encounter in 2009.
We do not fear next year; rather we look forward to working together to overcome the challenges
God has planned for us. We will continue to place our trust in Him. So as you celebrate the New
Year, please take a moment to give thanks to our loving God who has once again bless us with
abundant grace and love.

Finally on a purely business note, last week Delta informed us of their plans to replace (entirely)
their mainline shuttle product between LGA and DCA with Shuttle America E175 aircraft
beginning March of next year. We will actually begin operating some flights in January, but that
was supposed to be a temporary situation. Now it seems our stay in LGA will be longer and
cover a larger network footprint for Delta in New York. I know there are a lot of questions about
crew bases and schedules, but we are still working with Delta to figure out what this means to
Shuttle America in both the near and long term. The people we work with at Delta seemed to be
just as surprised as we were about these plans and we are not in a position today to make long
term crew base and maintenance base decisions until we get more visibility from Delta’s network
planners about the future of our E175 operation in New York. As soon as we understand their
plans we will communicate with that information with you. Meanwhile, let’s give our new business
passengers the best service they’ve experienced in this very visible market.

In closing, I want to wish each of you and your families a very safe and peaceful New Year. As
we witness the beginning of new strife in the Holy Lands, we should truly appreciate all our
blessings in United States of America. And give thanks to those who have sacrificed their lives
for our freedoms and continue to endure danger and separation from their family’s to defend our
liberty and to bring freedom to those who have never know it. May God bless and protect them.

 

[BoilerUP]

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?

In my experiences and opinions, yes.

My total time may be less than half yours but I've done a fair share of hanging out in the terminals and food courts of airports like PHL, CLT, PIT, DCA, RDU, LGA, HPN, etc. I've also spent long days hanging out in not-so-Million Air-like small town FBOs. You know the sort...the airport dog is a local celebrity, the crew car is a 25 year old pickup, catering is a Snickers bar out of the vending machine, coffee in the pot tastes like its (at least) 2 days old, and the local fine dining is an Applebees.

Personally, I'll take that most every day over hanging out at Popeye's in RDU...especially when that's the exception more than the rule. Obviously, others' mileage may vary.

 

[ePilot22]

[quote="BB's Letter]And we accomplished all of this without asking our employees to make any sacrifices.[/quote]

I'm guessing he doesn't consider furloughing a sacrifice.

We were able to pay bonuses

That must feel nice, especially with employees on furlough. *warm hug*







eP.

 

[Browntothebone]

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.

If the place is as bad as you say, you should quit. By you staying there, you are giving approval to the way your company treats you.