Skybus

[Captzaahlie]

I think I just threw up a lil............

enjoy the taste....

try some of that motion sickness stuff ,it'll help you guys with the constant butterflies in the stomach thing....

 

[skiandsurf]

I'm going to be enjoying the left seat of an brand new A319 inside of 8 months.( if I accept the job offer.)

Just a heads up to you, I have talked to a couple of these pilots that left "good companies" for Skybus, and now regret going to Skybus. I am not sure where you work now (and I will not say where they came from, for their own protection), but take this into consideration before you leave a "good company".

If you are working at a sh!tty company now, good luck at Skybus.

 

[Captzaahlie]

Just a heads up to you, I have talked to a couple of these pilots that left "good companies" for Skybus, and now regret going to Skybus. I am not sure where you work now (and I will not say where they came from, for their own protection), but take this into consideration before you leave a "good company".

If you are working at a sh!tty company now, good luck at Skybus.

Hy S&S,
I welcome the advice and the vote of good luck.
I'm pretty sure that I know what I'm getting into, but I'm curious as to what their beef is....

 

[PCL_128]

Didn't you recently interview at AirTran? Did it not work out, or did you turn it down? Why Skybus when so many other reputable carriers are hiring?

 

[skiandsurf]

Hy S&S,
I welcome the advice and the vote of good luck.
I'm pretty sure that I know what I'm getting into, but I'm curious as to what their beef is....

These may seem like small complaints, but they add up.

1. Lies. They havent received their stock options paperwork. They are required to go to the Chief Pilots office to sign a "No Union Agreement". After they do this they will get their paperwork. Apparently, nobody is signing the paper.

2. They go thru FAs faster then they can train them. They either quit or get fired. The FAs are not happy. The commision is not working as planned.

3. No overnights. Fly west and deadhead back. Those seats are not comfy.

4. Crashpads. They are in it every night of work, due to no overnights.

These are just a few of the complaints that I have heard of.

 

[PCL_128]

They are required to go to the Chief Pilots office to sign a "No Union Agreement". After they do this they will get their paperwork.

Please tell your buddies to report this to the Department of Labor and the National Mediation Board. This is blatantly illegal.

 

[Captzaahlie]

Please tell your buddies to report this to the Department of Labor and the National Mediation Board. This is blatantly illegal.

it's not true, nor is the myth that there is some kind of training contract...

 

[Captzaahlie]

Didn't you recently interview at AirTran? Did it not work out, or did you turn it down? Why Skybus when so many other reputable carriers are hiring?

Coach and Miss L. loved me, but Mr. Uhmmm. is a tough nut to crack....... (all 3 had to dig you)
In 6 months we just might see again.
Still a great over all experience!

Sure there's risk but what other airline will you get to the left seat so fast?

Skybus has got a shot at being something very big if it just scratches the surface of what Ryan Air is doing in Europe. They have even gotten their costs lower because of this:

http://www.eads.com/1024/en/pressdb/archiv/2006/2006/Airbus/20061106_airbus_skybus.html

Time will tell....

 

[PCL_128]

Coach and Miss L. loved me, but Mr. Uhmmm. is a tough nut to crack....... (all 3 had to dig you)
In 6 months we just might see again.
Still a great over all experience!

Sorry it didn't work out. Hopefully you'll turn down the Skybus job and give us another shot down the line.

Sure there's risk but what other airline will you get to the left seat so fast?

I wouldn't care if they offered me the CEO seat that fast. I don't want anything to do with an airline that is treating their employees so horribly. Just $65k for an Airbus CA? I made significantly more than that as a 5-year CRJ Captain. I can make more than that as a 2 year 717 FO at AirTran if I work a little harder than usual. There's simply no reason to sell yourself so short. I hope you reconsider. You're worth more than that, especially with your level of experience.

 

[vixin]

I don't want anything to do with an airline that is treating their employees so horribly. Just $65k for an Airbus CA? I can make more than that as a 2 year 717 FO at AirTran if I work a little harder than usual. There's simply no reason to sell yourself so short. I hope you reconsider. You're worth more than that, especially with your level of experience.

Not only this but think about the next interview if Stybus doesnt work out. Who cares about upgrading so fast for 65k? It just maybe the mark to kill your career.

 

[BigMeat]

PCL you do not want somone like Captzaahlie working for Airtran. He seems like the guy that would walk through a picket line. Skybus sucks and anyone going to it makes me question their professionalism as a career pilot. Airtran is a good company with a strong group of guys. I hope you guys can shoot down that crappy TA.

 

[Captzaahlie]

PCL you do not want someone like Captzaahlie working for Airtran. He seems like the guy that would walk through a picket line. Skybus sucks and anyone going to it makes me question their professionalism as a career pilot. Airtran is a good company with a strong group of guys. I hope you guys can shoot down that crappy TA.

Little meat you seem to stretch your associations pretty far.... could it be a touch of the mad cow disease?
I actively back my union, have volunteered on a regular basis and am well liked by my peers.
Just WTF does wanting to get in on the ground floor of a start up have to do with crossing a picket line? What wages I'm willing to start at is really my own business, I wouldn't be so willing to start there if I didn't know that pay raises will follow as things get up to speed. I know a lot of guys who sold their souls to fly a B1900 for midwest/mesa, to get a foot in the door, how is that any different. Guys made a whole lot more flying turbo props at other companies.....seems like some hypocritical thinking to me. (accepting $25 an hour and no health insurance for 6 months is pretty desperate too, don't you think? Do I assume you are going to cross a picket line because of it? No, I'm not in high school anymore.....)

 

[BigMeat]

First year pay at Cont. sucks. Thats usually the norm at most majors, albiet CALs really sucks. The point is that we are in a place where there is room to better ourselves. Ive turned down jobs that got me into large jets because I believe that all I have worked for ,deserves better than that. The majors are all going to be hiring soon. Not saying that you want to go to one but but its going to cause a vacuum all over the industry. Try holding out for a more respectful company. If this was 9-11 and had thousands of furloughees and you had to feed a family I could understand. Not now. Go to Expressjet if you have to. They pay more with much much better benefits. I just hate seeing pilots sell themselves short when the industry is turning around. Let Skybus get the what they pay for. Not true professionals, maybe then they will raise their compensation.

 

[Pocono Pilot]

.... Try holding out for a more respectful company........I just hate seeing pilots sell themselves short when the industry is turning around. ........ Not true professionals, maybe then they will raise their compensation.

But you work for a company that doesn't pay health care benefits to new hires, right?

Somehow that's ok????

 

[temcgrew]

http://despair.com/achievement.html

Insert picture of a Skybus plane and there you go.....

 

[flywest]

Ask and you shall receive!

http://s240.photobucket.com/albums/ff5/flywest_photos/?action=view&current=skybusachievement.jpg

 

[samballs]

But you work for a company that doesn't pay health care benefits to new hires, right?

Somehow that's ok????

You seemed willing to deal with that, fatty.

 

[El Pobre]

ALPA national.....oooohhhhh very scary.....I'm sure Skybus' management must be pissin' in thier boots....NOT!

 

[buxflyr]

I see those skybus folks there in CMH quite often. Wonder how much less the stair thing is vs having a real jetway.........probably cheaper right now, but when someone falls on those stairs and sues skybus, I am sure that the cost of having a jetway would be cheaper.

Big deal...like half the regionals out there dont use the door stairs to board? Look at CLT. Over 3/4 of the E gates are outside boarding. I bet that pax total per day outdoes the per day outside boarding total in CMH.

Price will win. Skybus will stay around for a long time and has a chance to be big. Why?

1. They have the funding. (More than Jetblue when they started, and more than almost any startup airline.)

2. They have the pilots. (Why not work for 30k a year when you can be flying an Airbus?!!)

3. They have the pax. (Heard the loads are 85%...higher westbound.) This is the first player flying multiple vacation/business destination west coast flights from CMH and the people are jumping on it. They will deal with the little things to save a buck. Its the market we are in. Whether we as pilots like it or not, the management runs the ship and they are playing to the demand.

4. A business plan can and will change. (Give it time...they can make connections work when they get some of those new ((65 on order)) A-319's, a little time to build experience in this whole airline thing, and growth to support it. This is a startup, and it will take time for things to materialize into a full fledged "airline".

Summary: Whether we like it or not, Skybus has a model that is and will continue to work (for management.) They have cheap fares, destinations that people in central Ohio will want to get out of come January and costs that they can manage.

It will take the first contract of an airline to be signed that recovers the losses of 9/11 before anyone sees relief. At that point, there is some, if little, bargaining. Whether it be American, Delta, or US Airways, someone has to make it happen. Even then...we are looking at a few years before everyone is going to have a piece of the pie back in their contract. Never again will it be the same, but it can be close. Skybus may be the last, but they will be around, and its up to the pilots to make it better for themselves.

 

[PCL_128]

(Why not work for 30k a year when you can be flying an Airbus?!!)

I think I'm going to hurl. uke: