Well I've been keeping it silent for a while now, but I figure the time is now to make the announcement about new employment!
As some of you may know I was furloughed from my airline in 2009 and then recalled in 2010, (while literally going over Donner Pass on the Zephyr) to go back to my airline. Well I went back and have been there since, however recent announcements came last fall that my airline would be reducing its fleet by half and letting go half it's pilot group over the course of the next two years. Obviously it was something none of us wanted to hear after just coming back to work after a 17 month hiatus.
Needless to say, I began applying elsewhere, and after having not much luck, Skywest Airlines gave me a call to interview in Salt Lake City last February. So I went, interview went well and was offered the job a few days later. Now I've been at my current airline nearly 4 years now and get paid a decent wage, but since little hiring has been done and many furloughs remain on the seniority, I'm still near the bottom of the seniority list! Now I could stay at my current company and at least keep my pay rate for another year or so and just see what happens, OR go to a different place with actual plans for future hiring and growth. The only downside is that I start over in seniority, I take a paycut for the year, and there is always the risk of slowed hiring and I'm stuck at the bottom of the list again for a long time.
After many days of thought, I've finally decided to take the new job starting on March 28th! It seems my future will be much better there as well as the opportunity to fly in different parts of the country than what I'm use to. I'll be flying the same aircraft I'm on now, the CRJ-200, however I will get to also fly the CRJ-700 and -900, which are the stretch versions of the -200 model. Skywest flies as both United Express and Delta Connection. Right now, I'm not sure where I'll be based, but it'll most likely be Houston IAH (easy commute), Chicago ORD (lots of trains to ride), or MSP (Empire Builder and lots of college friends). They also have Denver and Salt Lake as well as several bases in California, but those tend to go pretty senior.
So I pretty much will be doing the same thing, just a different company signing my paychecks, and hopefully I'll get to see what its like flying west of the Mississippi River as well. So if anyone is travelling through SLC on the CZ, let me know! I'll be in training for about 6 weeks!
Sax
As some of you may know I was furloughed from my airline in 2009 and then recalled in 2010, (while literally going over Donner Pass on the Zephyr) to go back to my airline. Well I went back and have been there since, however recent announcements came last fall that my airline would be reducing its fleet by half and letting go half it's pilot group over the course of the next two years. Obviously it was something none of us wanted to hear after just coming back to work after a 17 month hiatus.
Needless to say, I began applying elsewhere, and after having not much luck, Skywest Airlines gave me a call to interview in Salt Lake City last February. So I went, interview went well and was offered the job a few days later. Now I've been at my current airline nearly 4 years now and get paid a decent wage, but since little hiring has been done and many furloughs remain on the seniority, I'm still near the bottom of the seniority list! Now I could stay at my current company and at least keep my pay rate for another year or so and just see what happens, OR go to a different place with actual plans for future hiring and growth. The only downside is that I start over in seniority, I take a paycut for the year, and there is always the risk of slowed hiring and I'm stuck at the bottom of the list again for a long time.
After many days of thought, I've finally decided to take the new job starting on March 28th! It seems my future will be much better there as well as the opportunity to fly in different parts of the country than what I'm use to. I'll be flying the same aircraft I'm on now, the CRJ-200, however I will get to also fly the CRJ-700 and -900, which are the stretch versions of the -200 model. Skywest flies as both United Express and Delta Connection. Right now, I'm not sure where I'll be based, but it'll most likely be Houston IAH (easy commute), Chicago ORD (lots of trains to ride), or MSP (Empire Builder and lots of college friends). They also have Denver and Salt Lake as well as several bases in California, but those tend to go pretty senior.
So I pretty much will be doing the same thing, just a different company signing my paychecks, and hopefully I'll get to see what its like flying west of the Mississippi River as well. So if anyone is travelling through SLC on the CZ, let me know! I'll be in training for about 6 weeks!
Sax
