Help with transition to 121
 

Hey guys I'm looking to make the switch from aerial application to the airline world. I have been lurking on this sight for a few weeks now and have been reading numerous threads. I'm personally looking to work for Piedmont due to the proximity to home and being a WO. Frankly they are the only regional airline that I could see myself flying for at the moment. I currently have only put in an application to piedmont which I am waiting to hear back from. Any tips and/or help with getting prepared for 121 would be much appreciated.

You're gonna need to learn how to make soup out of hot sauce packets from tomato soup. It creates a hearty base, then you can add free veggies from the hotel breakfast buffet to the stock.

start reading up on the interview gouges. other than that, its kind of a learn as you go kind of process

You guys are getting free veggies? Which airline? Are you hiring?

Haha I was at an overnight recently and saw that my airline didn't get free breakfast.

I also saw that PSA got free breakfast but mainline AA didn't get free breakfast at the same hotel... what's up with that? Lol

Im a recent hire at PDT. Happy to answer questions you may have. I PM'd you some info and a general interview gouge.

What base at PDT are you close to? Because if it's MDT or SBY... We need to have a talk.

Thanks for all the responses. Sby is the closest base to me but from what I have been reading, that might not be around much longer. I'm also close to phl which is where it sounds like I'll end up if I get hired. How important is the internal recommendation from someone currently working st piedmont?

Very important! If only because you don't want to let the company have a new pilot for any cheaper than you can.
You can probably get hired without it, but if you can help a fellow pilot for just 13¢ a day, I can cancel this Sarah McLaughlin commercial I'm making.

Honest answer...

Our FA's make very little and free breakfast is very important to them. The FA Union rep in charge of hotels for them makes a free breakfast one of the things that we look for. FOs used to be in the same boat, but if you can't afford $5 for breakfast when you are making over $60,000, then something is wrong.

It is all in what you can negotiate when signing the contract with the hotel. Southwest gets the $1-$2-$3 deal, and we get free powdered eggs at all but a couple of hotels.

About the letter or recommendation...

In talking to a recruiter at PDT at a job fair last month, an internal recommendation is pretty important right now. PDT is only hiring 10 per class (unless it is a double class once a month), and the preferred qualifications for those spots are fairly selective. PDT is able to get lots of applicants right now from other regionals, and the company knows they will be successful in ground school and make it to the line. When hiring someone that has not been flying 121 or at least 91/135 IFR, the success rate in training is lower. That letter of recommendation will get your application looked at much more closely.

I know at PSA, the number that I last heard is that less than 50% of applicants get an interview. PDT's is likely a much smaller percentage than that.

PDT is a good company and selective in their hiring. Use whatever you can to get your application pulled.