TimingANDluck

CommutAir is downgrading captains. Do not be fooled, this airline is and will always be the worst regional in the industry. While other airlines are offering better and better pay and quality of life, CommutAir continues to scrape the bottom of the barrel and is currently downgrading captains on property. They say that the upgrade time is short, but that is a thing of the past. More than 35 percent of the seniority list has left in less than 12 months. They are losing more than 3 pilots to each person hired, and now they are downgrading. Do not be fooled into coming to this airline as I was last year. CommutAir will never receive even a fraction of the aircraft expected and it is likely the CPP program will be rescinded at any moment. Stay far, far away.

MaxQ

Upgrading F.O.s that are senior to some who are being displaced by the parking of the Dash 8s.Not a good thing for those who are very junior dash captains,but do you think seniority should be ignored as an alternative course of action?
However the retirement of the dash's is handled, it will be a lousy deal for some.Until this all balances out with additional ERJs it will be a paradox of downgrades coupled with ongoing Captain upgrades.
I have not come up with a better answer than how it is being done, unless we agree to just through the contract out the window.

PotatoChip

^^^This.
It sucks people are being downgraded. However, it is being done in seniority order. The MEC is handling this as fairly as possible and have had LOTS of discussions with the company over this. Ultimately, it SHOULD be a small blip as the new ERJs come online. That being said, we'll need to actually get those aircraft and staff them. And unless the company provides some serious means to attract pilots, that part is very uncertain.

Saucy Dingo

The problem is a lot of people came here expecting to upgrade quickly and hold their captain status as the fleet grew. After all, there wasn't much appeal to this airline other than fast progression. They were promised an upgrade and a fleet plan that led them to believe they would continue to be captains. The company's last-minute decision to change the fleet plan and park the entire dash fleet almost a year early really screwed up our junior captains' ability to stay in the left seat.

And because of this decision; hiring has stopped, the seniority list is shrinking, the fleet is shrinking, and we are downgrading at a "growing" airline. The handling of the dash pull-down itself has been fair enough, but how do you turn growth into such a recruiting and retention nightmare? Very poor execution so far by management, in my opinion.

Saucy Dingo

It's going to be very hard to attract pilots when we are the only airline downgrading.

v1valarob

What would morale be like if the company had decided to keep captains out of seniority?

Im assuming those that were instant upgrades made a lateral move from another regional. Take the advice from a guy who has already made too many lateral moves and destroyed his resume, it wouldnt be worth the long term cost of another lateral move on the resume to leave C5 now. Just suck it up and take the short term cost, and wait out upgrade again. Its not worth it to the resume to make another lateral move.

PotatoChip

Not disagreeing, however....
I spoke with Emerald Coast about this exact thing. They 100% endorsed the lateral move for TPIC. There is a LOT of uncertainty at C5 right now. I'm not one to speculate, but most people are at least concerned. And rightfully so. If someone has a chance to leave here for Envoy, Endeavor, Piedmont, PSA, and upgrade quickly, have a real flow, and better working conditions, I would take it.

v1valarob

I got on with C5 back in early 2014. I bailed in early 2015 because of the uncertainty and the want to get TPIC. Jets coming to C5 was just crew room rumors. Now Im speaking with class mates who are still at C5, holding captain, have their 1000 TPIC and at least one has been successful in the CPP and is just hanging out until United runs classes again. 3.5 years from being hired, to in the pool with United.

In the grand scheme of things, the 6 - 8 month wait for upgrade again isn't all that much. I don't know of any other regional that is hiring directly to the left seat. Sure they have ridiculously low upgrade times, but not instant. It'll still take a few months to actually hold it, plus the process of actually getting started with a new carrier takes some time.

Just my .02c. In the end I don't really care what people do. I just don't want to see others make the same mistakes I made. When I was at OBAP in August every single carrier that I spoke with asked the question, with the same raised eye brow, "why did you leave commutair after such a short period of time?"

PotatoChip

Totally understood.
Going through this same thought process myself. And I received similar questions at OBAP about a previous job.
Everyone has to make their own best decision. And hindsight is 20-20.

Saucy Dingo

Please read my whole post... The problems arose with the decision to accelerate the dash pull-down, especially without increasing jet deliveries (hence, shrinking fleet and pilot list). I see nothing wrong with following the contract and seniority now that it has already begun.
Is it your honest opinion that the junior people that have been grossly misled and mistreated by this company, on both the ERJ and the dash, should stay and deal with the same management, training dept, and scheduling practices for the next __ years? There is no need to suck it up here with so many better opportunities elsewhere. I don't think moving from a bottom feeder to a better company looks bad on a resume.