Skybus the Latest

[Junkflyer]

I'd be more than happy to work at FedEx/Ups, but was not invited. If Skybus was the "best option available" maybe those guys didn't look at enough options. By working for these true bottom feeders you don't anyone a favor. Sure I'm an lowly freight dog, but we are nowhere near the likes of Skybus, Mesa etc.

 

[mvedepo]

I'd be more than happy to work at FedEx/Ups, but was not invited. If Skybus was the "best option available" maybe those guys didn't look at enough options. By working for these true bottom feeders you don't anyone a favor. Sure I'm an lowly freight dog, but we are nowhere near the likes of Skybus, Mesa etc.

Maybe these guys can't be way for up to 6 weeks at a time flying international freight. I had to give it up when I got full custody of my 2 year old daughter. And yes I did look at Skybus as an option as well as many others. Had F9 not panned out for me I would have gone to Skybus. You don't know what the details are that go into why the Skybus pilot's went to work there. I just don't understand why people on here feel they are in a position to judge other pilots that are just trying to make the most of this crazy industry.

Also lets not forget at the company you work for a 747 captain could make as little as $74 / hr. Your pay is lower in the 47 then UA, NWA, Atlas, Polar, and Southern. In fact the only pay scale you are better then that I can find is Tradewinds and Evergreen. So be careful going around calling people bottom feeders.

 

[Bavarian Chef]

You know what's absent from all of these Skybus threads:


Skybus pilots.


If they thought it (the job, the pay rate, the biz model etc etc) was such a good idea, wouldn't we have heard from them by now?


crickets ...

 

[AirCobra]

How about an end to the "holier than thou" attitude from some of you guys, especially the regional airline pilots. Skybus is the culprit for driving down wages? How about TSA, Skywest, and Mesa. When I left United for a corporate gig, regional airlines were doing 40% of United domestic flying. Routes flown by A-319's and 737's with 4000 hour pilots making $60-70k were taken over by guys flying ERJ's and RJ's making $20-30K. So for someone at a regional airline to single out pilots who just lost there job and to gloat is both sad and unprofessional.

Am I bitter? No. I understand ecomics and this being the price we pay for a free market. It seems some of you hate any kind of competition for your job but are more than willing to fly for an airline that can get you ahead at a cost to someone else.

I still would like someone to explain how TSA taking flying away from mainline United was totally okay, but GO Jet taking flying away from TSA was not. How about Skywest? Non-union airline taking away flying from a union airline.

When Northwest parks its DC-9's who do you think takes over that flying? Probably Compass who pays way less than Northwest. Where are the anti-Compass threads? My bet is there aren't any because you guys are all trying to get jobs there, so you can fly an E-Jet for 10 more bucks an hour.

I can go on. About once a month I fly the same US Airways Flight. It has always been a 737. Guess what, its now Shuttle America.

So before you laugh at the demise of other pilots, or plan on having a fight in a St. Louis parking lot, first look at the plank in your own eye before pointing at the speck in your brothers eye.

 

[spinproof]

You know what's absent from all of these Skybus threads:


Skybus pilots.


If they thought it (the job, the pay rate, the biz model etc etc) was such a good idea, wouldn't we have heard from them by now?


crickets ...

I'm not a Rocket Surgeon but I'll take a stab at it. I believe they feel bad enough without being told how stupid they were in believing this business model would work and prosper.
But I know you know that because being a ballastic physician takes years of study and practice....

 

[spinproof]

How about an end to the "holier than thou" attitude from some of you guys, especially the regional airline pilots. Skybus is the culprit for driving down wages? How about TSA, Skywest, and Mesa. When I left United for a corporate gig, regional airlines were doing 40% of United domestic flying. Routes flown by A-319's and 737's with 4000 hour pilots making $60-70k were taken over by guys flying ERJ's and RJ's making $20-30K. So for someone at a regional airline to single out pilots who just lost there job and to gloat is both sad and unprofessional.

Am I bitter? No. I understand ecomics and this being the price we pay for a free market. It seems some of you hate any kind of competition for your job but are more than willing to fly for an airline that can get you ahead at a cost to someone else.

I still would like someone to explain how TSA taking flying away from mainline United was totally okay, but GO Jet taking flying away from TSA was not. How about Skywest? Non-union airline taking away flying from a union airline.

When Northwest parks its DC-9's who do you think takes over that flying? Probably Compass who pays way less than Northwest. Where are the anti-Compass threads? My bet is there aren't any because you guys are all trying to get jobs there, so you can fly an E-Jet for 10 more bucks an hour.

I can go on. About once a month I fly the same US Airways Flight. It has always been a 737. Guess what, its now Shuttle America.

So before you laugh at the demise of other pilots, or plan on having a fight in a St. Louis parking lot, first look at the plank in your own eye before pointing at the speck in your brothers eye.

Well said!

 

[mvedepo]

How about an end to the "holier than thou" attitude from some of you guys, especially the regional airline pilots. Skybus is the culprit for driving down wages? How about TSA, Skywest, and Mesa. When I left United for a corporate gig, regional airlines were doing 40% of United domestic flying. Routes flown by A-319's and 737's with 4000 hour pilots making $60-70k were taken over by guys flying ERJ's and RJ's making $20-30K. So for someone at a regional airline to single out pilots who just lost there job and to gloat is both sad and unprofessional.

Am I bitter? No. I understand ecomics and this being the price we pay for a free market. It seems some of you hate any kind of competition for your job but are more than willing to fly for an airline that can get you ahead at a cost to someone else.

I still would like someone to explain how TSA taking flying away from mainline United was totally okay, but GO Jet taking flying away from TSA was not. How about Skywest? Non-union airline taking away flying from a union airline.

When Northwest parks its DC-9's who do you think takes over that flying? Probably Compass who pays way less than Northwest. Where are the anti-Compass threads? My bet is there aren't any because you guys are all trying to get jobs there, so you can fly an E-Jet for 10 more bucks an hour.

I can go on. About once a month I fly the same US Airways Flight. It has always been a 737. Guess what, its now Shuttle America.

So before you laugh at the demise of other pilots, or plan on having a fight in a St. Louis parking lot, first look at the plank in your own eye before pointing at the speck in your brothers eye.

Exactly!

 

[rtmcfi]

Skybus is the culprit for driving down wages?

Nope, fortunately they died off quickly. Had they prospered, hell yes they would have been the culprit for any further compensation depression.

How about TSA, Skywest, and Mesa. When I left United for a corporate gig, regional airlines were doing 40% of United domestic flying. Routes flown by A-319's and 737's with 4000 hour pilots making $60-70k were taken over by guys flying ERJ's and RJ's making $20-30K.

Congrats on getting out of the rat race! However, this is apples to oranges. The RJ folks were not undercutting mainline to get to fly a jet. The mainline folks outsourced it to the RJ operators. RJs became an entry level position. Skybus was a different situation altogether. The pilots there were intentionally, and voluntarily undercutting everyone to a huge degree. The pilots that went their could have gone many other places for the same, or even better compensation.

So for someone at a regional airline to single out pilots who just lost there job and to gloat is both sad and unprofessional.

It would be happy and professional if a Mainline or corporate pilot was doing the gloating?
I don't really like the fact that these guys are on the street. However, it's not like these guys were not warned. They chose the selfish route, and now they can lie in their bed. I don't really want any of them on my team when it comes to contract negotiation time. I really hope they leave the industry. If they will fly the Airbus as a captain for 65K, how much do you suppose they would fly a bizjet for?

It seems some of you hate any kind of competition for your job but are more than willing to fly for an airline that can get you ahead at a cost to someone else.

Nope, I don't hate competition at all. If someone else can do it better, so be it. I do have a problem with guys whoring themselves out, and undercutting all of labors years of negotiations.

I still would like someone to explain how TSA taking flying away from mainline United was totally okay, but GO Jet taking flying away from TSA was not. How about Skywest? Non-union airline taking away flying from a union airline.

Again, the regionals didn't take anything away. The mainline folks traded that flying away. TSA took what you wiilingly gave. Ho-jets was completly different. They were created during labor negotiations with TSA. The sole reason for their existance is to circumvent scope clauses. Other airlines were hiring rapidly during hojets begining. Every pilot that went there had other options. They made a choice, and they will have to live with it.

When Northwest parks its DC-9's who do you think takes over that flying? Probably Compass who pays way less than Northwest. Where are the anti-Compass threads? My bet is there aren't any because you guys are all trying to get jobs there, so you can fly an E-Jet for 10 more bucks an hour.

Again, compass was created by NWA. The pilots (foolishly I think) traded away those airframes. Compass is represented by the NWA MEC. They are a willing creation of mainline.

I feel very little empathy for those that went to Skybus. They undercut my wages. They made it difficult for pilots to make any advances in compensation. They cost real airlines revenue. Skybus pilots didn't think about the sacrifices made by generations of pilots before them. All of the Skybus pilots took a selfish gamble and lost. They thought only of themselves, and only short-term. I should mourn them why?

 

[motch]

MV..

Since you decide to mock my military service, I'll ask you to at least get it right.

Looking at my profile you would see my position as FO/FE.
I am a C5 FE, though I was a LM on a Herk (slicks and Talon 1's!) at one time. Either way... required crewmember though as an FE I do log my time as it's a flightdeck crewmember.

What service were you in?

RMTCFI answered all the other questions that people had so I won't go on about that. (Great post BTW>>!)

 

[Sparse]

I feel very little empathy for those that went to Skybus. They undercut my wages. They made it difficult for pilots to make any advances in compensation. They cost real airlines revenue. Skybus pilots didn't think about the sacrifices made by generations of pilots before them. All of the Skybus pilots took a selfish gamble and lost. They thought only of themselves, and only short-term. I should mourn them why?

I don't know who you work for but what Skybus did is just the latest chapter in a very long book. What is a real airline anyway? Is Airtran? Didn't Valuejet (Airtran) undercut Delta wages? How about JB? Didn't they undercut Delta and American wages? This spiral started a long time ago.