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SkyWest Upgrade Times -- setting the record straight

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propjockey

Supreme Commander
Joined
Nov 29, 2001
Posts
245
SkyWest Upgrade Times

Friends, I have seen post after post on this board talking about how "average upgrade time at SkyWest is currently around 1.5 to 2 years." I wish to set the record straight. This is simply not true!

What is true is that a FEW lucky people at SkyWest have managed to upgrade with hire dates less than two years from today (Sept 26, 2005). I just counted on the seniority list only 20 captains (that's 9/10 of 1% of the seniority list) who fit this profile. Those who have managed this feat have been:
  • Not seatlocked at a time when a number of more senior people were, and hence were allowed to upgrade before them (i.e. in the right place at the right time)
  • Upgraded at a time when there was unprecedented growth at SkyWest
  • Willing to put up with eternal reserve, a lot commuting to ORD
While I can't put a number on it without more analysis than I care to do, I'd say the "average" upgrade time at SkyWest is considerably longer than 2 years. And the day this growth stops, we're going to have upgrade times like Horizon.

Now I don't want to be a glass-half-empty kind of guy, but some of you need to put down the crack pipe, take off those rose-colored glasses, and realize that less-than-two-year upgrades at SkyWest are more aberration than norm. I think anyone that is hired today who thinks he's going to upgrade at SkyWest two years from today is delusional.
 
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While I can't put a number on it without more analysis than I care to do, I'd say the "average" upgrade time at SkyWest is considerably longer than 2 years. And the day this growth stops, we're going to have upgrade times like Horizon.

Now I don't want to be a glass-half-empty kind of guy, but some of you need to put down the crack pipe, take off those rose-colored glasses, and realize that less-than-two-year upgrades at SkyWest are more aberration than norm. I think anyone that is hired today who thinks he's going to upgrade at SkyWest two years from today is delusional.[/QUOTE]

Like ASA now!!!
 
propjockey said:
Friends, I have seen post after post on this board talking about how "average upgrade time at SkyWest is currently around 1.5 to 2 years." I wish to set the record straight. This is simply not true!
Thanks for your post! Now I can sleep better at night!
 
I saw someone got EMB CA in SLC in the 1500 seniority number range. That's about 18 months with the company. You're right, average upgrade is more than 2 years for those not willing to commute to reserve.
 
But my point is that it's exceptionally rare -- not the norm, as many people are advertising. Just glancing at the standing bid list for SLC EMB Capt, there are 12 seatlocked people on the list that are senior to any 1500 numbers, and one who isn't seatlocked, but has an "award after new year" stipulation on the bid. With these seatocks on people, this award goes beyond just being "willing to commute to reserve."
 
Another thing to consider is over the past year, they've hired a lot of pilots that are near the min hiring time. A pilot that gets hired with low flight time then sits reserve for the first couple months, the pilot won't have the 2500 TT to upgrade at 1.5-2 years
 
Viper, keep in mind, past performance is not always a good indication of future returns. Upgrade could be that low in ORD, but it's really dependent on continuing growth within the company as a whole. If we get a new codeshare and some new domiciles, it could well be lower than that. Stagnant growth and no new airplanes and it could be significantly longer.
 
When I got hired 5 years ago RJ upgrade was at 3 years. EMB upgrade at 2 years. Then a year later it went as low as 2 years for the RJ. Then when it was my turn the earliest I could have upgraded on the EMB was 2 years 4 months. For me the earliest for the RJ was 3 years 8 months. Occasionally it's dropped low but for me it was longer than what you keep hearing out there and what I kept hearing the whole time. Like Bluto said, what is happening right now is no indicator of the future, whether it be better or worse.
 

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