Politics in the Workplace

I have never been very outspoken at work regarding "the issues" but I am certain that I am one of the most informed pilots at my company regarding benefits, policy, news etc. I have never voiced my opinion much for a few reasons. One of them is I have never been sure if Skywest will be my final career resting place. Making a fuss about things always seemed kind of pointless if I would be leaving here in a relatively short amount of time. Well, things may have changed.

If you look at my left sidebar you can see a couple of my dream jobs. SLC corporate job, and Netjets. Netjets is a great company that many have never heard of. In brief, it is fractional airline owned by Warren Buffet/Berkshire Hathaway where the wealthy buy shares of private jets that are at their disposal at the snap of their fingers. The company has been EXTREMELY successful and has lot of money and airplanes on order. Their pilots are well compensated with outstanding benefits. The bad news is they just announced the furlough (layoff) of 500 pilots in January due to a decline in business.

With hiring stalled in the aviation industry, this means I will be staying here at Skywest for many more years, and possibly forever. Don't get me wrong, I have always considered Skywest as a career but now this may be the most viable option. So my question to all of you dedicated readers of my blog is...

How political are you at work?

When company memos come out about this and that do you let management know how you feel? How about your peers and co-workers? How informed do you keep your family? Here at Skywest MANY big things have happened lately. Severe slashing of medical benefits, stock, and travel privileges to name a few. Also, there has been some good news with new flying contracts and a little growth with potentially more. We are making a good profit as a company as well. The problem is many are seeing our moderate success come at the expense of us, the employees, and there is a push for our pilots to unionize.

Skywest is one of the few airlines left in the country without a union. Our company wants to keep it this way and I believe much of our success has come because we don't have a union. But when does management push it too far? How much difference would a union even make? I personally think a union is just a "grass is greener on the other side" notion but I may be wrong.

I want to hear your opinions about how verbal to be at work and whether or not it has made it a better or worse environment. I am very content being informed, but not outspoken keeping my thoughts and opinions to the private ballots. Although now I may need to rethink this tactic seeing that this may be my lifetime employer and my family and I need to have confidence in being well cared for.

Let me know what you think. Thanks.

John Curtis, Provo Mayor

It was a fun night with a very good ending. John started a bit behind, but that was expected the with the way the precincts report. When the numbers had come even with only the precincts in John's neighborhood left to report we knew he had won.

He worked so hard and if this is any indication of the kind of Mayor he will be Provo is in for a treat. He came from ground zero to defeating a 20 year Utah politician. He managed to keep focused on the issues and run a clean campaign. Congratulations Mayor!

John Curtis Wins Provo Primary!

My father-in-law, John Curtis, took Provo by storm today and won the Provo primary election for Mayor by 201 votes over his closes opponent. As we watched the precincts lighting up John was slightly behind until the last part of Provo reported and he took the lead.

When I've been out helping him campaign, one of the questions people ask me is,"Why are you helping him?" I give the honest answer first and tell them I am his son-in-law, but then I give my real answer.

"Because I think he is one of the smartest guys in the world"

John really is brilliant with people, business, and he has an instinct for things I have never seen anyone else have. It was a lot of fun to see him be successful tonight and my hope is that he continues strong and wins. Provo would really be missing out if they didn't elect John as Mayor.

With the primary election now over, there are over 1,000 votes out there tonight that neither John nor his opponent, Steve Clark, received. This is going to be a busy six weeks for the John Curtis campaign but nobody will work harder than he does. I guarantee that. Tell everyone you know in Provo to get out and vote for him. It's going to be a very tight race.

He really is the best. I've never been more sure of any politician in my life: http://www.johncurtis.org/

One Reason to Have a Mac. imovie.

Here is the amateur movie I made of Jett's arrival into our lives:

What's in a Name?

Our First Picture

Jett Joshua. Kirsten loved this name when I told her about a friend who had name his 3rd boy Jett. I liked it too because it met my criterion for a good name. Short, easy to say, and not to be confused with a girl. The jet airplane didn't really even cross my mind although I know the connotation with his name and my job will always exist. Here is some information on the name Jett:

The US keeps track of the most popular 1,000 names each year for boys and girls. Jett last year was #529 sandwiched between Rohan and Kieran. Roughly 2,064 boys were named Jett last year. The word "jet" originates from an ornamental stone mined in east asia that was a very deep black color. That is where the term "jet black" comes from. Hopefully Jett's hair will go dark to match his name. One baby book also had his name meaning as "freedom" which I really liked.

So there you have him. He is awesome. Almost 24 hours old and changing by the minute. As I get to know him more I see us in him. Kirsten's blog will go over more of the details of August 26th. From his father though, there is nothing like it I have ever seen or experienced. What a little stud.