PSA in DFW April 30th
04-17-2014, 09:33 PM
#54
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: May 2009
Position: Another RJ FO
Posts: 1,272
Originally Posted by pete2800
Again, it doesn't matter if you're off reserve if you're still commuting to somewhere you don't want to be. Here's a step by step guide to picking a regional:
1) Where do you live? Make a list of the cities withing driving distance, or cities that you'd be willing to move to.
2) Research ALL of the current regional airlines to see which ones have bases in those cities.
3) Apply to ALL of those regional airlines that fit that criteria.
4) Assuming you get an interview at each, and are successful in each interview, you'll now have a few job offers to pick from.
5) Arrange the options by total compensation. This includes pay, days off, per diem, minimum guarantee, potential for premium pay, healthcare benefits, profit-sharing, stock purchase plans, and any bonus programs. I recently found out that I pay almost 100 bucks less per month for health insurance than one of my friends at another regional carrier.
Now look at your list. Do any of these companies have any HUGE red flags? Do they have a union? Is that important to you? Does the union have a contract, or is the future of their compensation package an unknown? Has the pilot group shown an inability to act in unity with the rest of the industry? Eliminate any carriers with extremely large issues.
Look at your list again. It should be quite short at this point, and the first one or two options should be good ones.
Things that are not important:
1) Jet vs. Prop. Unless your goal is Emirates
2) Upgrade time. It will change. Upgrade time is a snapshot of past performance. The upgrade time at my company has changed by 3 years in the last 4 months. By the time you upgrade, the advertised time when you got hired will be a joke.
3) Signing bonus. A one time pay-out for a substandard compensation package is still a bad deal.
4) Time on reserve. This changes more quickly than upgrade time. If your work rules don't suck, living in the city that you're based in while on reserve is pretty good. I get paid to play Xbox sometimes, and sometimes I get paid to work on my motorcycle. The motorcycle I bought by not agreeing to a sub-standard compensation package.
1) Where do you live? Make a list of the cities withing driving distance, or cities that you'd be willing to move to.
2) Research ALL of the current regional airlines to see which ones have bases in those cities.
3) Apply to ALL of those regional airlines that fit that criteria.
4) Assuming you get an interview at each, and are successful in each interview, you'll now have a few job offers to pick from.
5) Arrange the options by total compensation. This includes pay, days off, per diem, minimum guarantee, potential for premium pay, healthcare benefits, profit-sharing, stock purchase plans, and any bonus programs. I recently found out that I pay almost 100 bucks less per month for health insurance than one of my friends at another regional carrier.
Now look at your list. Do any of these companies have any HUGE red flags? Do they have a union? Is that important to you? Does the union have a contract, or is the future of their compensation package an unknown? Has the pilot group shown an inability to act in unity with the rest of the industry? Eliminate any carriers with extremely large issues.
Look at your list again. It should be quite short at this point, and the first one or two options should be good ones.
Things that are not important:
1) Jet vs. Prop. Unless your goal is Emirates
2) Upgrade time. It will change. Upgrade time is a snapshot of past performance. The upgrade time at my company has changed by 3 years in the last 4 months. By the time you upgrade, the advertised time when you got hired will be a joke.
3) Signing bonus. A one time pay-out for a substandard compensation package is still a bad deal.
4) Time on reserve. This changes more quickly than upgrade time. If your work rules don't suck, living in the city that you're based in while on reserve is pretty good. I get paid to play Xbox sometimes, and sometimes I get paid to work on my motorcycle. The motorcycle I bought by not agreeing to a sub-standard compensation package.
04-17-2014, 10:23 PM
#56
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: May 2009
Position: Another RJ FO
Posts: 1,272
Originally Posted by pete2800
I'm just trying to get pilots to think more like businessmen, and less like gamblers at a craps table. When we can do that, we will be successful.
04-17-2014, 10:26 PM
#57
Works Every Weekend
Joined APC: Apr 2006
Posts: 1,210
Originally Posted by rcfd13
There's a reason we're pilots and not businessmen. If I were smart enough for a business or engineering degree I'd make far more money than I do right now...
College being required or not isn't causation for anything. My grandfather was orphaned when he was very young. He left his foster home and became a hobo (freight trains and all) when he was 14. He retired as an engineer for Boeing. No college, no high school, just reading books.
04-19-2014, 05:38 AM
#59
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Dec 2013
Position: Shiny One
Posts: 235
I think if you have no flow through, or furlough protection you are shooting yourself in the foot especially if the 40 CRJ-900 options happen, or the 47 CRJ-700s come over. What have you got to lose? Sitting next to someone bitter and unhappy in the left seat while you rot away for 8 years as an FO, and will probably never upgrade as the fleet shrinks. Go take a cold shower, think about life when you get out, and then put on your big boy pants, and take a shot at an interview.
All the Eagle guys who left already for greener pastures, including for PSA, are wayyy ahead of you. Are you weak in training or the simulator? PSA has a great training curriculum, and provides plenty of opportunity for you to succeed. They are working with people to get them through if they happen to need it. I mean they aren't giving it away, you're going to bust if you aren't any good, but they want you to succeed.
PSA pays 75 hours guarantee and continuous per-diem in training. Eagle doesn't even do that.
All the Eagle guys who left already for greener pastures, including for PSA, are wayyy ahead of you. Are you weak in training or the simulator? PSA has a great training curriculum, and provides plenty of opportunity for you to succeed. They are working with people to get them through if they happen to need it. I mean they aren't giving it away, you're going to bust if you aren't any good, but they want you to succeed.
PSA pays 75 hours guarantee and continuous per-diem in training. Eagle doesn't even do that.
04-19-2014, 05:41 AM
#60
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Jan 2013
Posts: 1,648
Originally Posted by Joliet
I think if you have no flow through, or furlough protection you are shooting yourself in the foot especially if the 40 CRJ-900 options happen, or the 47 CRJ-700s come over. What have you got to lose? Sitting next to someone bitter and unhappy in the left seat while you rot away for 8 years as an FO, and will probably never upgrade as the fleet shrinks. Go take a cold shower, think about life when you get out, and then put on your big boy pants, and take a shot at an interview.
PSA pays 75 hours guarantee and continuous per-diem in training. Eagle doesn't even do that.
PSA pays 75 hours guarantee and continuous per-diem in training. Eagle doesn't even do that.
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