For anyone that is thinking of applying to SAI, or has an interview coming up, do not be overly discouraged by some of the negative posts. Many of the disgruntled pilots either never worked here or never flew either of the two current fleets. However, it is a Supplemental Carrier and is not Delta or FDX. And yes...you can get stuck flying back to back if you fail bidding 101 and do not protect yourself or bid for open time. That kind of scenario is the exception not the rule.
Take Gringo as an example of a negative, previous Southern pilot. He worked here for six years but never flew the 777 which can easily be argued as the shiney side of SAI. He flew both 747 types and was sexually abused over and over. I don't blame him for finally waking up one morning with sore, unmentionable body parts and finally realizing he did not like the aftertaste and leaving for his "dream job" at Spirit. However, some weird fetish part of him still feels a need to keep posting about his previous experience here and up until a couple of days ago also posting on our internal web board. For someone that hates SAI he apparently still misses some of it. He also thinks everyone here is at the end of the employment road and has a "DUI, felony arrest record, or skeleton hanging in their closet". If that were true you need to ask him which of those he has or acquired while he was at SAI. Lol.
Some of the current hiring is for expansion and some is to replace pilots who have left for UAL, Delta, AA, etc. Legacy carriers like guys that have the broad experience that a company like SAI, Kalitta, or Atlas can provide you.
The flying has changed and the company has changed with it. We are still stuck under a crappy contract and until we can vote in another some things are what they are. We don't fly ad-hoc charters in old, worn out B747's anymore. The schedules don't change hourly, the hotels and travel are booked well in advance, and most importantly the pay checks always arrive on time. Other than some MX delays on the B737 due to DHL buying older B737's, the fleets run pretty much on time all the time.
The sky is not falling yet due to the creation of Worldwide and the acquisition of Florida West. Fleets can not just be swapped out. OPSPECs can not be transferred. Could there be a whipsaw action taken by management in the future? Of course. Is that the path we are on? Nobody that's dumb enough to be a pilot, myself included, can predict that. Only the future will tell.
Many working at SAI, or pondering working here, would consider UPS a dream job compared to SAI. However, spend a little time looking at the UPS hiring threads here on APC and you will see negativity that makes SAI look wonderful. The only difference is they get paid better....but money isn't everything. And...just like this thread the negativity comes from the few....not the many.
Last edited by Birdstrikes; 02-20-2015 at 06:57 PM.