snell

I'm not a pilot but my grandson is just finishing up his PPL at a local college and I'm trying to help keep him focused and on track. His plans are to get his instrument, commercial, multi and CFI over the next year. The college offers a modest sum to graduates to instruct once they graduate. Grinding the hours is clearly in his future.

I came across the new Piedmont Cadet program and it seems almost too good to be true.

Apply at 400 hrs
Sign at 500 hrs ($7,500 signing bonus)
Build to ATP/R-ATP minimums where and how you choose(receive up to $5,000 of your new hire pilot bonus paid out for every 100 hrs earned)
Upon achieving minimum ATP/R-ATP hours Piedmont pays for cost of ATP course as well as travel to and lodging at training facility up to $5,000.
After one year at Piedmont receive a $8,000 anniversary award
Upgrade to CA in about 18-24 months
Transition to American (place in line starts when pilot first becomes a Piedmont FO).

The bonus payments alone seem significant. The guarantee to flow to American is an added incentive.
Is there an
angle here I'm not seeing? Is Piedmont so short that they need to offer such a sweetheart deal? Is there a problem with this airline that is causing it?

Thanks from an old retired Grandpop trying to do right by his Kid.

iceman21

It's not really a sweetheart deal. Somewhere in the fine print there's an commitment of some sort. More than likely 24 months of employment to get out of paying the "Bonus" back.

Flow to American is at approximately 7-9 years at the moment.

TOGALOCK

The problem with this any program like this is that it is full of empty promises that have no guarantee of being fulfilled.

I’ll start with the bonus payments:
Most regional airlines are offering new hire bonuses these days. Many are more lucrative than what Piedmont is offering.

Paying for the ATP/CTP course plus lodging:
This is not unique to Piedmont. Any airline that will hire your grandson in the future will pay for the ATP/CTP and lodging as well as paying him his full pay as part of new hire training.

Captain upgrade at 18-24 months:
Captain upgrade at any airline is a constantly moving target. What the upgrade is today is not what the upgrade will be for a new hire. When an airline says that the “upgrade time is xxx”, it means that the newest captain on property has been at the airline for that number of years. It is not predictive of someone hired today. Now, one can ATTEMPT to predict what it may be based on assumed movement and/or growth, but no one will know their upgrade time until they strap into the left seat for the first time. But if the music stops at an airline, so does movement and resulting captain upgrades.

Transition to American:
This is honestly the only benefit of going to Piedmont... but again, not something unique to Piedmont. Envoy, PSA and Piedmont all have a flow to mainline American. The flow time is also a moving target and can only be predicted. The flow can be metered and slowed or even stopped by American as they see fit. Complete stoppage and cancellation of the flow program has happened in the past and has been a “back and forth” for several decades. I once had a “guaranteed” job at American many years ago. Guess what airline I fly for now... *hint* it’s not American. With all that said, going to Envoy, PSA or Piedmont in order to have the flow in your back pocket is not a bad idea at all. Just don’t rely on it as gospel and understand the volatility of such a program.

One last thing to mention is that if he applies to one of these cadet programs, he will be committed to that company. If his life circumstances change and decide that a different regional may be a better fit for him he will likely be locked at Piedmont.

In today’s hiring environment, a rising pilot doesn’t need cadet programs or “guaranteed interviews”. They can have their pick of where they want to go. As I mention in another thread a little while ago: Pick your regional, apply and get interview, don’t show up naked to interview, get job offer, enjoy time at chosen regional.

My opinion is not meant to discourage your grandson from an American wholly owned regional with a flow. As I said, it’s not a bad thing to have in your back pocket. But with a clean training record, he will be able to get on to any regional of his choice, likely with a signing bonus, without the help of an over marketed (almost scam) program.

Best of luck to him! It’s an incredible time to get into the industry.

VegasChris

I am on my way to R-ATP minimums (700tt by the end of the year) and I have looked at all of the "cadet" programs from every regional.

The AA wholly owned (envoy, piedmont) give some money before atp minimums for the guarantee that you will work for them. That money comes out of the hiring bonus you would get anyways. I think Mesa does the same

AirWis gives UA flight benefits with no signature forcing you to work for them. Just a phone call and some computer training every month.

Skywest and most of the others let company seniority start the day you sign into their program which is good for benefits and non-rev flying, but it doesn't help the pilot seniority for schedule and base

If you don't need the money as a broke CFI I would just sign with the regional you plan on working for to let the seniority start. Defer the money and that way when hitting ATP minimums you can have the flexibility to go wherever you want. Everything is changing so fast right now it is best to keep the options open

Nemack85

Anyone knows if they are still interviewing for the cadet program?

ive just submitted my application