SkyWest Seniority Domiciles - continued thread

Airline Pilot Questions & Answers
1

Fair enough Chris, no problem. Re: staying at a regional for a longer tenure vs. going to Major…

To answer your question, I’m not totally sure yet because the latter hinges on:
a). just how long it might take to transition to the majors.
and
b). what happens during my time in the minors

Not sure what SkyWest contracts look like for a new F.O., but I would imagine it’s a 2 or 3-year contractual commitment?
Whatever it is…all good. The question then becomes…WITHIN those two or three years, how might my options improve/shift relative to getting a domicile of choice (if it all), and how long might that take on average?

Feel free to edify, refine, or critique this potential cost/benefit analysis (again this is only my novice understanding so far):

  • Seniority in the minor leagues could happen swiftly if people are eager to bounce over to the majors. At which point, you automatically climb the ranks (in that regard), thereby augmenting the probability that you could improve your schedule/ preferences as an F.O. with Seniority among other FOs only. Net Net - stay put and rack up seniority, and this “strategy” could be more advantageous to your personal life, let’s call it.

  • While staying with SkyWest, one could then level up to Captain status at which point you’ll drop in seniority and compete for PTO/shifts only with other Captains who are senior than you. You’ll increase your pay (seems SkyWest is now offering north of 200K for
    first year captains) but you’ll go back to the bottom relative to “choices” overall.

So it seems that if the main value driver for a pilot is schedule/domicile of choice/priority…and if you want that motion to start sooner rather than later, then probably best to stick around at SkyWest so that your seniority builds and lifestyle becomes just a bit more in your control. Tenure rules.

BUT if nothing really changes in that 2-3 year run, somehow your seniority barely budges, and you still have a long commute or unfavorable schedule or whatever, then doing the math…it seems one might as well pop over the majors and start all over since you’re not giving anything up.

Cross that bridge when you come to it. Over to you…

2

Brett,

A couple of things. First off, please stop calling the Regionals “the minors”. It’s incorrect and offensive to those who have chosen that lifestyle.

Next, the only time you’ll be under contract is if you accept a hiring bonus, tuition reimbursement, etc. Those come with strings. Also, not sure where you got the $200k Capt pay but that’s 12yr not starting (which is about $150k, which isn’t bad).

Finally while there’s a shortage and movement has gotten significantly easier, you seem to have the impression you can just jump into a Major at will. Flying for a Major is still the pinnacle of this industry and frankly not everyone gets there. Bust a few too many checkrides, suffer an incident or accident, or simply be someone who rubs people the wrong way and you could find yourself at a Regional alot longer than you might like. Using your scenario if there’s no movement and you’re stagnant at SkyWest after 3 years, that’s probably because hiring at the Majors has slowed (which it already has).

Adam

3

Helpful tips, thanks again.