Pinnacle is a far cry from Gojets, there are no contracts to the company- Just the current ALPA contract that is being re-negotiated(STILL). The other cert has been here since pinnacle started- the predecessor was express 1, which is still held by pinnacle but has not been used in some time. I find it highly improbrable that Pinnacle would be able to operate express one without using the current senority list and ALPA contract, while the pay rates could be less (could use turboprops instead of jets) I doubt they can get around ALPA. I know, personally, if there is non-unionized fying- I'm Gone! I doubt many would stick around and take the "scab" on the record. In reality and the short term I think the pilots union will get a contract with only small pay increases (currently first year is about $21 an hour, second is only $24 I believe) and NW will renew a contract with PNCL. Beyond that I could see express 1 start up with the old saabs (currently parked) or possibly some 50 seaters (as some may recall NW parked 15 of the Crj's a while back that may be able to be negotiated for) and serve some market (have no idea here), but by no means do I see a non-Alpa work environment anywhere under the pinnacle management banner- there are just too many pilots that would act before the company could get scabs to keep things afloat. What I could see coming is a training contract of some sort. Attrition varies month to month but all signs show to about one class of 20-25 a month just maintains the attrition. While that may just be a sign of the times most pilots leaving are only in the 1st or 2nd year with the company- I believe the quote was "For each pilot that leaves before 2 years of service costs the company $30K.." I am sure that is why they can get a way with the lower wages and get the young/academy guys- with 300-500 hours they cant upgrade till 3000 hours and wouldnt have time to go elsewhere for a while, and when they did have time to go somewhere else they realize they hold a line, make OK money, and are getting close to hold senority for captain. Its kinda smart from Pinnacle Managements point of view, but I dont feel very good about guys with less than half my time flying my family around, I just recall how much I "thought" I knew, and how much I "learned" when going from 500hours to the 1000hours I have now- and I don't even begin to say that I am "experienced". Some of these guys in class have never even seen a flight level, nor anything that does 200kts on a ground speed. At least I wont be flying with them!
-Sorry for the rant, but I do think you get my drift-
