Originally Posted by
FlannelDaddy
Hey y'all. I'm considering making a switch to charter flying. Currently a furloughed RJ driver awaiting recall training. I have a turbo-prop back ground flying large turbo-props, never flew a KA before though. I currently live in a hub in PHL and drive to work, but there's a lot of uncertainty at my current carrier. And I don't really like where I live. My airline is very overstaffed and I'm on the verge of making the cut or not making the cut. Somehow we did just announce that we're hiring again which doesn't make any sense. So this is a gamble for me. Sadly I don't really know a lot of folks at WU and I apologize if these questions have been answered before. I just want to get a more up to date info on the company.
I'm a young guy, that's looking to start a family next few years and home basing is becoming important to me. Ideally I'd want to move closer to family in BOS or in DEN.
Recently interviewed for a KA FO position.
How is life in the King Air?
How many legs a day do you do?
How much rest do you usually get on the road?
Is there a day off in the middle of your 8 day stretch to account for 135 24 in 7?
Is the DH time counted in your duty time?
Is it easy to get vacation time?
Is the company overall good to you?
Is open time available or is it limited to a few bases?
I didn't quite understand the pay system either. If you're a 2 yr KA FO and upgrade do you go to year 2 KA CA pay or do you go to year 1 CA pay? And if you're a year 5 KA CA and go to the citation X FO do you restart at year 1 FO/CA pay?
Thanks y'all.
Great questions...and EMAW was kind enough to give you some recent info.
A couple of items from your post I’d like to touch on:
1) Home basing is a huge perk. I’ve had to move around the country a couple of times for my wife’s job and it is nice being able to change my base (Gama calls the gateways) with minimal effort.
2) Regional pilot moving over to the charter world...This one is kind of a doozy and you will get many different opinions. What Wheels UP wants to see is that you are customer service driven and have no desire to go back to your regional carrier. Why are they going to spend the money training you when you are just going to leave?
I’m a formal regional pilot as well and can tell you that the 8 days on is a bit much when you are used to doing 3-4 day trips.
If your long term goal is a major airline flying for the big guys then my suggestion would be to stay at the regional. Every job has it’s pluses and minuses, it’s your choice to make. I had to make the same hard choice when I got hired several years ago and I’m mad that I didn’t move over even earlier! Good luck!