Regionals (the early days)
09-11-2014, 01:45 PM
#21
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Dec 2012
Posts: 344
Originally Posted by Kprc1
Does anyone remember how easy it was to get a job at a Regional back in the late 1990's and the early 2000's? So many new regional companies hiring pilots right out of flight schools with 250 hours total time. Remember how proud those pilots were to get a job at an airline? Pilots commercial check ride was harder than the training they received at these airlines.
Look at the difference today. When I see a post from someone that is minimalizing the qualifications of a new hire today it makes me wonder ***. The hiring practices of Mesa, PSA, Piedmont, or Silver are no different from how some of these early regional pilots were hired. Difference is that the new hires today come with more flight time and more experience.
So, if you are a recruit, new hire or contemplating the industry don't let these morons diminish what you have had to accomplish to get an interview or a job. They had it much easier back in the day.
Look at the difference today. When I see a post from someone that is minimalizing the qualifications of a new hire today it makes me wonder ***. The hiring practices of Mesa, PSA, Piedmont, or Silver are no different from how some of these early regional pilots were hired. Difference is that the new hires today come with more flight time and more experience.
So, if you are a recruit, new hire or contemplating the industry don't let these morons diminish what you have had to accomplish to get an interview or a job. They had it much easier back in the day.
09-11-2014, 01:45 PM
#22
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Joined APC: May 2013
Position: to-go plate at hotel buffet
Posts: 801
I was not flying in the 90s but I know people who have and the only issue I have with this total time required back then compared to now is the opportunities available. In the time it takes to get 1500 hours today for the average pilot, they probably could have got 3000hrs in the same time. Other than pilot mill CFI jobs, entry level pt. 91 and 135 gigs are getting harder and harder to find these days. Aviation is about luck and timing. These days it's more luck than anything else. Good luck finding a kid with 500hrs multi these days.
09-11-2014, 01:50 PM
#23
Line Holder
Joined APC: Aug 2014
Posts: 55
Originally Posted by buddies8
lets see 19-20,000 a year 20 years ago versus the 19-23,000 per year 20 years later. accounting and economics was not required at you flight school college was it. Oh, yes, mainline first year was 23-25,000 per year then and then mainline pilots voted in B scale whch lasted for the next 15 years.
09-11-2014, 01:53 PM
#24
Prime Minister/Moderator
Joined APC: Jan 2006
Position: Engines Turn Or People Swim
Posts: 39,211
Originally Posted by inline five
No, it was not easy to get a job back in the early 2000's.
I graduated in 2003, pretty much no one was hiring, even flight schools.
I was lucky to land a CFI gig after moving 1000 miles. The chief flight instructor had a class date at ExpressJet on 9/11/01. Needless to say, he was still instructing/flying charter years later.
New hires back then were basically like they were now - lots had 135 experience, heck even Republic/Chautauqua wouldn't even look at you unless you had night freight time. I applied there multiple times with folks walking my resume in and no dice. Everyone I know hired there was either former Airnet, Ram Air, Ameriflight, or Flight Express.
Now, late 2004 to 2008, yes it was easy to get a job. Lots of scope relief from the legacies meant lots of new jets coming on property. Pretty much the glory years. 2008 financial crisis and age 65 but a big fat stop to that.
I graduated in 2003, pretty much no one was hiring, even flight schools.
I was lucky to land a CFI gig after moving 1000 miles. The chief flight instructor had a class date at ExpressJet on 9/11/01. Needless to say, he was still instructing/flying charter years later.
New hires back then were basically like they were now - lots had 135 experience, heck even Republic/Chautauqua wouldn't even look at you unless you had night freight time. I applied there multiple times with folks walking my resume in and no dice. Everyone I know hired there was either former Airnet, Ram Air, Ameriflight, or Flight Express.
Now, late 2004 to 2008, yes it was easy to get a job. Lots of scope relief from the legacies meant lots of new jets coming on property. Pretty much the glory years. 2008 financial crisis and age 65 but a big fat stop to that.
The training was harder, but not in a good way...often you had to memorize vast amounts of trivial knowledge which was utterly irrelevant to actually flying the plane (I can still tell you how many ounces of water the galley sink water tank on a CRJ-200 contains
).Checkrides included NDB approaches, which you hoped to God you never had to do in a turbojet without GPS or RNAV, and were PC format instead of AQP LOFT scenario. Wash rate was at least 10%, up to as much as 50% in some programs.
Training is much better today, and has gotten easier (in a good way) by making it more line-oriented and eliminating superfluous BS...that mainly served to make training dept. loosers feel good about themselves at your expense.
09-11-2014, 02:16 PM
#25
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Joined APC: Apr 2014
Position: RJ right-seat warmer
Posts: 632
Originally Posted by CaptUnderhill
Now please correct me if I am wrong, but isn't this proof that there isn't a pay shortage like ALPA says there is? I mean most of everybody says that regionals were hiring with 1,000+ hours back then, all for an $19,000 a year job. Yet, there were tons of pilots flocking for those jobs back then. So....is there something I am missing?
Then 9/11 happened...
09-11-2014, 07:35 PM
#26
On Reserve
Joined APC: Sep 2014
Position: LASA
Posts: 11
Originally Posted by exwaterski
Yeah I remember alright. All you had to do back then was write a check for $10,000 to Comair, ACA, Express 1, or any of the other PFT airlines and you were as good as hired. Yeah those were the days..
09-11-2014, 08:42 PM
#28
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Joined APC: Jul 2008
Position: ERJ-170 CA
Posts: 312
In my day... they paid in peanuts and bananas. They said... "Jump through the flaming hoop"! "Jump"!
Monkey see, monkey do. So I got paid the big bucks. On special occasions, I managed to get the banana split. What can I say... nuts and bananas on one plate. If I have an especially good performance, maybe they will let me out of my cage for lunch.
Next year.... I'll get on with a major....
Monkey see, monkey do. So I got paid the big bucks. On special occasions, I managed to get the banana split. What can I say... nuts and bananas on one plate. If I have an especially good performance, maybe they will let me out of my cage for lunch.
Next year.... I'll get on with a major....
09-11-2014, 09:08 PM
#30
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Apr 2014
Position: RJ right-seat warmer
Posts: 632
Originally Posted by Aksleddriver
love the talk of the good old days being late 90's early 2000's lol good god im getting old lol my certificate numbers still my SSN # lol
• GPS did not exist
• Class B was a TCA, Class C was an ARSA, Class D was an ATA (I think)
• A 'fancy' panel meant you had 2 navcomms instead of just one. If you had DME, you were some sort of sky god.
• Written tests were...actually written tests, not computerized tests.
• Sometimes you'd actually drive over to the FSS to get an in-person weather briefing
• The hardest part about departing IFR from an uncontrolled field without a decent RCO was the sprint from the payphone (after you'd been given your clearance and void time from FSS) to the aircraft, and then the quick startup and 40-knot taxi to the runway, just so you could make your void time. True story: once at a airport without a working payphone, the guy on the field drove me to his house so we could call FSS and ask for a 15-minute void time, which they gave us.
• Most of the instructors remembered flying the old 4-course radio ranges
• Flying an NDB approach was just something you did every day
And so on, and so forth...
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