Berry Aviation Info
I'm currently a captain in the EMB120 at Berry aviation and figured I'd shed some light on this thread, since it's pretty inadequate. Currently, the company has 2 bases - HYI (San Marcos, TX) and CGF (Cleveland, OH) with rumors about an ELP base, though I'm not sure about that. We do on-demand cargo - which means we fly car parts 99% of the time. This means we fly nationwide, Canada and Mexico. We do a lot of night flying, which can be rough for some people. The whole company is large, with most of the business revolving around DoD stuff overseas. That stuff is nearly always ex-military and they usually don't hire street guys for it. The cargo op is a separate branch of the company.
The pay is very good for the industry. FO's start out at $32k base salary, $.10/mile, $200 day off pay and $15/hr wait time pay. Captains start at $45k, $.20/mile and $300 day off pay and $30/hr wait time. Yearly raises are $2,000 base and $.02/mile. Per diem is crappy, $24/day, but you make plenty of money so it doesn't hurt too bad.
For perspective, I flew 587 hours in the last year. The Brasilia does 290 kts true, so that's roughly 170,000 NM in a year. We get paid in statute miles, so 195,500 SM at (year 3 captain's pay) $.24/mile that's 46,920 on top of my (year 3) base, $49,000, that's $95k a year, not including day-off pay, per diem or wait time pay. For a year-one captain that would be $84k and for a new FO that same amount of miles would equal roughly $51k/year. Hence a lot of our guys eschewing the regionals to get time and experience and also get paid a living wage.
As for the company... it's an aviation company. Anyone can find a reason to complain, I have worked for a few and it's overall a very good one. They treat us well, the planes get good maintenance, etc. We stay in good hotels - Hamptons and Holiday Inn Express, etc. I have had my issues with the chief pilot, but overall the morale among pilots is very good. Upgrades are based on performance, with time at the company taken into consideration. Captains fill out forms about the FO's to determine who is best to upgrade. If needed, the company will hire street captains. Schedule is the number one complaint, but that really just depends on the person. We are ON - meaning "on call" - Monday though Friday with weekends off. If you are on the road on a Friday they will either re-position the plane or airline you home. Every 3rd weekend you are on call as well, in which case they can opt to leave you on the road. Sometimes they'll still send you home, weekends in this industry are pretty dead. A lot of the time, if it's slow, you'll be home all week, or a good portion of it. You can't really DO anything because you're on a short call out - 30 minutes - but you are home. I have a family, so that works ok for me. I get to see them more than I would at any other job. In looking at my per-diem for last year I was home over half the year. After the first year you get vacation as well. All in all, it's a good company and a good job. Living in Central Texas, right between Austin and San Antonio and flying a great, large, turbo-prop for VERY respectable pay, with weekends off. Thankfully, the Metros are gone too!!