Originally Posted by CasualSax
Thanks for the information, I am a new"hire" in the Dec 12 class, and this is all very relavent stuff. I turned down several other opportunities to take Pinnacle, which would be my first pure-jet job, and I very much hope it works out. My family and I want to live/be based in MEM, and if that's possible, I'll be willing to be flexible about some things. I commuted to work for a *commuter for a while and pretty much got treated like an otherwise useless cog in the wheel. Except for the flying I generally hated it. If this job doesn't work out I will very seriously consider flushing this whole pipe dream and never looking back. But for now I'm going to do my best in training, and I'm not changing anything until I've had my turn at the helm. I deserve it for all the work and money it's taken to get here. Oh, and PNCL is continuing their token "sign-on bonus" through Feb 1; I'm at least staying on to get $that$ before I split 7^)
One of the previous posts said something about a "Failure rate in training as high as 53%" Why would they allow that many fails if they needed warm bodies to fill the right seats? What have you heard about Pinnacle's training department. Is it at least quality training?
btw, I almost went to Mesaba back when I was taking the commuter job, how do you like it there Saab340? Upcoming furlough notwithstanding.
Actually, one of my buddies at Pinnacle also told me at that time that the failure rate for F.O.s was 50%. It all goes back to the training department. He failed his sim ride the first time. He said he was getting yelled at during the checkride and his examiner's phone kept ringing and he kept answering it during the middle of his V1 cuts. I could't believe it and neither could he. He called me that morning and didn't know he failed. They are actually supposed to tell you right away if anything was unsatisfactory, but they waited about an hour after the ride was over. He said the whole experience of the training and the training department was "hell on earth."
Mesaba on the other hand was a good experince. Excellent training department with great facilities. Paid training and benefits from day1. Paid hotel in training with your own kitchen. All in all I like the company and the job. Hopefully everything works out.