Republic Airways Holdings Inc fka RJETQ

[sosjtb]

SkyWest (SKYW) has been overstaffed on the Embraer 175 side of the operation with pilots for the last several months. They have trained and have almost 30% more pilots then they currently need sitting around on reserve collecting a paycheck and not having any flying to do. Management does not like paying pilots to sit around but they are also VERY strategic. The on,y airline in a position right now to immediately take on additional flying of E170/175 equipment right now would be SkyWest. Mesa is struggling to keep up with what they have and attrition of pilots is hurting any growth staffing they have, Skywest also raised first year pilot pay yesterday to $36.50 an hour (coincidence with Rjet BK?) Mesa first year pay for pilots is $22 and hour and my bet is they don't have the financial strength to raise it.