koala98g

I’d take Stang’s approach. If you can get into a November class here, and you have no other conflicting prospects, come to CP. That’s low risk/high reward; an investor’s dream.

If you’ve got other prospects in like January, maybe consider them.

FollowMe

It’s a gamble pure and simple. From the sounds of things none of the management types have anything definitive, but they all seem to believe that something possible is on the horizon (no pun intended). Upgrades are continuing so if (and here’s the gamble) something is coming being one of the few to lock your seniority in now may be a huge advantage. Of course, if nothing happens you will be the first on the chopping block.

I agree with the approach others have suggested. If you have other offers within the same time range probably best to look elsewhere, but if not I think it’s worth a gamble, worst case you can take a later class date elsewhere.

Just my opinion, and worth as much as the paper it’s written on.

stang

Wow only 3 out of 7. It’s definitely a culture fit type of interview.

As others have said collect the cjo’s and take what makes sense for you. On a side note I didn’t collect cjos as I was too lazy to interview after I got my first choice


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Excargodog

Everything Slowhawk tells you is perfectly true, but it is HIS experience. Your mileage may (and likely will) differ. In the three years he’s been here he HAS spent two and a half years on reserve. In the year and a half I have been here I’ve spent slightly less than 2 weeks on reserve, and almost half of that was REC, that is days I had scheduled flying originally that were purchased back from me to support someone else’s IOE. Those are long call, except I wasn’t ever called, making them paid days off.

But that doesn’t mean Slowhawk isn’t telling you the truth. Regionals are unpredictable. Sometimes it’s feast, sometimes famine. Sometimes management is junior manning you and sometimes they aren’t flying you at all. If you have any friends at Horizon, ask them about the latter.

Everything is a roll of the dice, but you also gotta consider what you are betting vs what you are assured of. Slowhawk got screwed by the fickle finger of fate. He REALLY UNEQUIVOCALLY DID, through no fault of his own. He did nothing wrong and couldn’t have predicted that he was going to spend three years of his life and possibly still NOT get the TPIC he needs to take the next step and I’d be as frustrated as him if it happened to me. Nor does the fact that my first 18 months at Compass has been about as good as I could have hoped for reflect that I was somehow better or brighter than Slowhawk. I was luckier, and that’s all.But you aren’t Slowhawk and you aren’t me, although your crystal ball is no less cloudy than ours. So what are YOU risking?

Well, that depends on your alternatives. If, for example, you have a CJO somewhere else you’d like ALMOST as much as you’d like Compass with a class date three days after your Compass class date, that’s a no brainer - take three days off and start there. On the other hand if you’re CJO/class date somewhere else is 6 months out and it isn’t your preference, that’s a no-brainer in the other direction.

A newbie isn’t like Slowhawk or even like me, your ante isn’t that much. You get a job, you get an ATP, and you get a type rating. Once you are done with IOE you get a bonus. Once you have your type-rating consolidated, do you really care if they furlough you? Well, yes, but probably not as much because your investment is less.

As a furloughed guy, already with an ATP and type rating? And with bonus already in hand? You go from being one of a sea of 1500 hour CFIs to a hot commodity that any regional out there knows for sure can hack it - someone who already has his/her ATP which will save them some money. They’ll be happy to slip you into the first vacancy that comes up in their next class. So yeah, you have to endure another init and you lose maybe six whole months seniority, but so what? You just been there, done that, still got the t-shirt. You can do it again and it’ll be easier the second time, Besides, you get ANOTHER signing bonus.

Slowhawk has a right to be ****ed if - with three years invested - he doesn’t get his payoff. A newbie has a far smaller investment. Heck, even if you are furloughed the first day of indoc you get your ATP and the Sim time that went with it. And those things have value.

The right answer is different for everyone and the airline industry is ALWAYS unpredictable. Just ask the Delta pilots who lost their “guaranteed” company pensions way back in 2005.

https://www.aviationpros.com/home/ne...exdelta-pilots

The airline industry is one big gamble. It will never be anything else. If you aren’t willing to weigh the risks and place your bets, you probably need to think about some other career. That’s just reality.

speedbrakearmed

I think what everyone has said so far is pretty spot on. I've heard nothing but good things at Compass and I like your low risk/high reward logic as well. What I will say however is that in the unfortunate event that things go south at Compass, going through indoc again, learning a companies new quirks and procedures again, having to make a lateral move, none of it would be fun. Depending on where you live it may be worth looking into a AA WO. With Envoy having over 170 FO spots on this vacancy they're gearing up for some type of expansion.