Originally Posted by
HighFlight
I chose EDV over Envoy or XJet because I wanted to fly. The money was a nice bonus feature, for sure. Now, Envoy pays more first year, but less second year, than EDV. And FOs spend a LOT more time on reserve, so that went against my desire to fly. Hopefully for Envoy newhires, the RSV time will come down. In February, one could expect 18-24 months. IDK what it is now.
The other thing that made me choose EDV, even though they have the worst bases IMHO, was the "water cooler" attitudes. When I went to my interviews, I paid more attention to the demeanor of the folks standing around and talking than I did to the recruiters. EDV folks seemed overall to be happier, smiling more, and positive about the future. As an older person, that meant a lot more to me. Happy fellow pilots usually makes for a better working environment.
Flow makes for a good recruiting tool, but just like the EDV DGI, it can disappear at any time. Bear in mind that no matter WHERE you start, you will have an opportunity to move pretty much anywhere you want in 2-3 years. The legacies, LCCs, cargo, etc. will ALL be needing pilots. Considering the great need for pilots as retirees leave, a flow may actually slow you down some.
Yeah, definitely here and everywhere else I look, more Endeavor pilots seem like they're happy and those for Envoy aren't generally too excited about working there, except for when it's time for them to flow. Not to mention Envoy only pays more first year if you already have ATP written, your sign on bonus is 20K rather than 15K without, which then makes Endeavor 1st year pay equivalent to Envoy, more 2nd year, and drastically more 3rd year since you'll be looking at a promotion most likely. Only Piedmont offers something comparable, but in my mind their bases are cruddy. Ocean City, Harrisburg, Roanoake? Kinda in the middle of nowhere. I'm not really a "people person," but I do love the hustle-and-bustle of city life; none of those would give me anything near what I want. I don't need it to be on the NYC level (or CoL) but something the size of say Raleigh would be nice. Philly, not a fan of the city, honestly. So definitely in my mind
I was thinking the big advantage to the flow was that AA and UA OTS mandate bachelor's degrees, and flowing via PSA, Envoy, or PDT would exempt you, but out of thoroughness I just checked; on the required qualifications page, it only says preferred for UA and doesn't mention anything for AA, making the main reason I was wanting the flow actually doesn't exist. If I wanted into AA, it might be better to go to Endeavor, get a line and rack up hours almost right away, then apply OTS after 4 years; I'd not doubt that I'd have more hours than most Envoy pilots after 4 years.
So now, as far as I know, the only firm degree requiring airlines out there that I'd be interested in are Delta, FedEx, and JetBlue. I seem to remember saying Endeavor advertising 4 years from new hire to Delta, though I can't see that anywhere anymore, don't know where I saw that actually, maybe I fabricated it myself by adding the estimated 2 year promotion to captain as well as the 2 years required for DGI. I'd assume DGI requires the same as an OTS Delta hire, but what I could do in my 4 years or so before DGI eligibility, I could try and finish the last 2 years online at about half time and wrap it up by the time I'd be talking to Delta.
Originally Posted by
IlikePlaness
For anyone curious about joining Endeavor, the timeline for me (JFK 900 Specifically) was: Hired in June, completed IOE in August, was reserve September & October, Line-holder for November.
Any sign this will keep up until late 2017/early 2018? That's pretty awesome, have fun racking up your hours!