Originally Posted by
randomroute
So if I went back to say,my former company, could I be hired on as a captain?
This is among the nonsense has to stop. I dont care about seniority, I care about the cost of living. This company doesnt need street captains. Why reward people that left? I understand there are some that were day rate (still attached to the company)-but for those that have left, to come back and jump the upgrade line is beyond foul.
Swift doesnt have AQP, doesnt have FOQA, doesnt have a CFM or true flight standards department, but we have DEC’s and ‘spur of the moment/0 time in type’ captain upgrades. How is this acceptable?
I don’t agree with them upgrading people right away, the problem again and again is they’re always short handed and it’s easier for them to upgrade a qualified candidate with aircraft experience or similar Boeing acft. They won’t stick an new qualified RJ guy in the left seat because this is a higher leap in acft type and do not want to risk the unknown especially with the VIP customers. They can’t afford to pull a stack of FOs offline to upgrade. When they get into the mode of they need to cover left seat flying they seek those with previous experience. Of course one used to be a swift captain years ago and that was an easy choice for them for someone who already knows the operation. Obviously there is no regain in seniority they’re at the bottom.
This last upgrade class of FOs was a mess a lot of captain on captain flying and even the chief pilot flying to keep trips covered. If they pulled everyone that was eligible to upgrade offline they would have to park planes which in all becomes a nasty chain reaction. In that regard they see it as keeping the business afloat, if the business stays afloat then we can all afford to pay our mortgages and feed the family. It doesn’t look ideal and it’s not right, but it’s the nature of the beast.
The unfortunate trend is you think the airline is finally staffed and all of a sudden you’re behind about 50 pilots because they’ve added a new contract. Especially in this hot charter market demand is high. Just a good example was the early Prague flying to help our customer in Europe cover their max flying, they’re pulling pilots from one of the busiest months to cover Europe. It’s going to be ugly.
They are trying to upgrade within, FOs that have been here less than a year are upgrading, so good pilots that have done really well here are moving up. I call them the gojet group, those guys were on property 7 months and upgraded quick, they are all sharp and got the chance! I hear we might be losing some to big airlines soon from the looks of it.
You have to take it with a grain of salt and worry about you, do good, get recognized. If you’re that guy fighting the system the whole time you’re going to tire yourself out quick. Especially if you’re just getting out of consolidation, you’re still considered green here. Get the experience in the different flying we do. Be that guy!
This place has grown aggressively in the last 4 years. We’re at almost 30 acft. When I started they were getting #8. So the airline has almost quadrupled in size. I would like them to take a break and stabilize but they just keep shooting forward. We have 165 pilots and they want to hire 35 more by summer. The word from up top is we will probably not slow down hiring even reaching 200. Not sure what they have coming down the pipe but it will require more FOs and CAs.
I hear ya and I see you get impatient, but don’t try to fight the system. You’ll drive yourself nuts. It’s easy to get upset and make b@tchfest about it, but you’re not helping yourself. You will have your chance. Don’t worry about some dudes you’re going to have more seniority over anyway and push down anyway. We’ve lost 2 CAs this month to bigger and better so already you’ve moved up. The deck here will always be shuffling, just be the guy holding the ace in the hole.