Originally Posted by
BRubble
Serious question - there are 20-25 threads on here with PSA pilots talkling about how much PSA management beats up on pilots, contract sucks, CEO sucks. Has any effort been made to address your complaints or fix the problems? I understand that there's a contest to see who can get the most referrals, but are things really getting better or did $5,000 bonus make all the problems magically disappear?
Eh, it's a regional, and so it will always have its issues, driven by the fact that the only reason any regional exists is to save money and pay its employees less money.
My personal experience thus far has been pretty good, but I've also never sat reserve and have always lived in base, so my life here has been pretty good. The SAP has always had its issues, but I usually get one of my top ten choices for lines and only need 1-3 transactions to get what I want.
For better or worse, PSA ALPA has taken the position that if the company wants to start throwing out a lot of money, that's going to help all pilots because it is more money for pilots, and has the potential to increase our flow numbers. There are those in the pilot group that strongly disagree with that approach.
So, a junior guy coming on now can expect a few things:
- You're going to sit reserve for a while, close to a year and a half in CLT or TYS, less than a year in DAY or CVG. (subject to change)
- Attrition will continue, hopefully shortening the time you're on reserve.
- You're actually going to get paid a decent wage. Not perfect, not what it should be, but decent.
- My own math shows time to flow for a new hire is 7-8 years.
- Upgrade is harder to predict, but two years seems reasonable.
- All of the above can be modified by the arrival (or not) of more airplanes.
In short, it's not all puppy dogs and rainbows. You will have frustrations, you will have disagreements with scheduling (keep it civil!), and you'll spend time wondering what the higher ups in DAY are thinking. I hardly think though that any of that is isolated to PSA, but rather traits shared by plenty of other FFD carriers.
In the end, if the bases and the above works for you, welcome aboard. I personally like my job. YMMV.