That is what many of the professional pilots of Air Wisconsin are wondering.

We, the pilots of Air Wisconsin, are deeply concerned about the direction of our  company. While we were once the premier regional airline to fly for, that is no longer the case. The ALPA MEC has initiated a strategic campaign known as “Do I Have a Future Here” to put a spot light on our concerns.

Recent developments, such as the rigid enforcement of an Attendance Policy that disciplines pilots who call in sick when they are actually sick, unilateral policy changes that have cost our pilots substantial amounts of pay, an exceedingly high grievance case load, and repeatedly denied requests for scheduling accomodations that would greatly enhance our quality of life have provided the impetus for this strategic campaign.

We want what every professional pilot deserves: a good place to work. In recent years Air Wisconsin has gone from arguably the best regional airline to work for, to one of the worst. This is due to management decisions that embody a philosophy that does not value us as pilots or as employees.

“Do I Have a Future Here” is a question that many Air Wisconsin pilots are asking. It is a question that management is forcing us to ask. A pilot is prohibited by the Federal Aviation Regulations from flying when sick. If an Air Wisconsin pilot has the misfortune to be sick more than a certain number of times in a year, the pilot will lose his job. For that pilot, there is no future here.

A pilot who lives in Denver must now commute to the east coast to start his flying assignments. ALPA has repeatedly asked for scheduling accommodations to enable all of our pilots to have more time at home. No meaningful changes have occurred, and as a result, the pilot’s family life is strained. He simply doesn’t have enough time at home. For that pilot, there is no future here.

Many of our pilots, especially our First Officers, struggle to make ends meet. Without any advance notice earlier this year, Air Wisconsin unilaterally changed its interpretation of our commuter policy. Many pilots lost several days of pay, and in some cases, an entire week of pay. For these pilots, there is no future here.

When we went to arbitration over Air Wisconsin’s decision to retain the savings from the concessions we granted that were to be passed onto United Airlines to retain the United code sharing agreement, management’s response was that they did not believe that our pilots were due a single penny. Instead, the owners of Air Wisconsin are systematically draining the corporation of its cash, leaving little buffer for stormy times. The potential consequences are clear: for all of our pilots, there may be no future here.

Despite record gains for the owners of Air Wisconsin (at least 300 million in the last few years) nearly every request of ours is met with the same response:  if it costs money, we won’t do it.

Neither the MEC nor this pilot group is willing to sit on the sidelines any longer. Regardless of management’s attitude toward our pilots, regardless of the arbitration decision, we will take greater control of our working lives.