The flying is fun. I love it. But there's a lot of issues I wish I knew about before signing the $16,000 contract:

1) the company is extremely disorganized and shady. The left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing. Everything is done on a whim or they completely forget about you. It can takes days for replies from the Chief Pilot or HR of you get a reply at all. I knew a pilot from a foreign country that they threatened his work visa if he left. He was from another company that they bought and they tried dicking him around and he wasn't having it. So they threatened to get his work visa pulled. Also, the first thing everyone asked was where the bases were day 1 of ground school. They were very aloof of that and didn't tell us until the next to last day 2 weeks later.

2) the $16,000 contract isn't for a year of service like they make it sound. It's a year of service AFTER you become PIC. So for an FO like me tbag got hired with 700 hours, that's 5 months of FO flying at $18/$21 an hour (assuming I actually get to upgrade at 1200 hours)

3) pay is crap. I knew it would be, but it's much worse than I was led to believe. I get guaranteed 65 hours of pay a month. 32.5/paycheck. Problem is, I haven't been flying as much as I would like to. So I am making less than $1000/mo after Joe Biden gets his cut for Ukraine. I am on food stamps and I am literally going bankrupt. I was told my base would have crew housing, and that hasn't happened and won't happen. So now I have to pay for an apartment in my base and one at home with my wife. I don't make enough money to move my wife here.😢 Also, if you TDY, you're supposed to get $35/day for it. The problem is, the only way to get paid is to fill out an expense report and submit it which waits for approval from the Regional Chief Pilot. I have $450 I haven't been paid from February.

4) the planes are always broken. Sure they have you train on G1000 equipped EXs. But if you're mainland, prepare for 6-packs and lots of MEL stickers with no autopilot. The FAA has been snooping around our MX departments at several locations recently.

5) they will pressure you into flying into unsafe weather. But they won't call you from their recorded lines from the company. They'll call you on their personal cell phone so the conversation isn't recorded. WATCH OUT FOR THIS!

6) schedule is hectic. I was told 4 on and 4 off. Ive never had that so far. There is a lot of turnover here and I suppose that is why the schedule is so disjointed.

7) its not all bad. The other pilots have been awesome. Ramp agents range from awesome to having an attitude. Corporate has been nice albeit a bit shady.

Anyway, if you're young and just want to build time and don't have a family to take care of, this is a decent alternative to CFIing. I'm married and it has been a nightmare for me personally. I can't say either way if it's a good company or bad company. There's some good here but a lot of bad too. I am looking for work at another company that pays a livable wage because I am literally going bankrupt working here.