ekollat

Didn't happen to see much information on this forum about the cadet program so figured I would ask about it from those of you who have applied for the program and/or been through it.

The Envoy website's page with information on the program says "Benefits will include travel privileges for you and your immediate family on American Airlines flights; comprehensive health, dental and vision coverage; 401(k) retirement with company match contributions; American Airlines Group profit sharing; and paid vacation and sick time accrual"

Do these benefits, such as travel privileges begin as soon as you enter the program, and where do cadets stand in terms of boarding priority with those privileges?

What is the transition like between CFI at a flight school to onboarding with Envoy at 1500 hours?

Do Envoy cadets have any special advantages in indoc as compared to any other new hire?

Thanks for all the help.

Varsity

If you enter the program and choose not to join Envoy upon reaching 1500 hours, you will owe Envoy $5,000 plus whatever they have paid you. It's the 'value' they place on the travel. Also, the money that they are paying you comes out of your new hire bonus, so it's actually just fronted money, not a salary.

I would recommend air Wisconsin's program. They give you travel on United and there is no commitment.

jake cutter

Sick time, vacation time, company seniority (but not pilot), medical, dental, etc all accrue from day 1. So do your flight benefits. These are first come first serve and it’s an even playing field. 20 year 777 CA plays by same rules. Anywhere AA flies. Not sure if you get zed access as a cadet.
Transitioning to indoc is no big deal. As you approach 1400 hrs or so let your recruiter know and they will pencil you in for ATP/CTP and a class date. I think there may be an additional drug test and PRIA before on boarding. You will get some credit for sim time so you can start just short of 1500.
As a cadet you currently get first dibs on base and equip. As varsity said, there is a price to pay if you bolt before indoc.

BigZ

I wouldn't. Unless something changed, ZW has SA5 on UAL, which is basically like AAC priority on AA. Close to useless.

inevitableneb

Cadets do get better in class seniority which might help.
I wasn't a cadet, but from what I've seen doesn't seem like a bad deal. I'd strongly recommend you have a long chat with an envoy pilot before making your decision. There is a lot of 'don't know what you don't know' when it comes to various airlines.

Rich421

Cadets do get ZED benefits after a waiting period. I believe it’s 6 months.

Varsity

It's also close to free. If/When you decided Air Wisky isn't for you, you don't owe them anything. Envoy will expect a check for $5,000. I wouldn't commit to anything in this hiring environment.

BigZ

Not sure about free. There was some commotion about $400 or $600 bills when you quit, from one of my friends included, but that was after my time there so I don't have a first hand experience on it.

Varsity

Still sounds like a lot less than $5,000-$10,000.

BigZ

There is a big difference between the MQ and ZW cadet programs. One is much more involved than the other - Envoy can pick you up much sooner and handhold you much further. Air Whiskey was more of a get paid $100/mo (or whatever it was) to do a 30 min CBT (first few were sort of an "intro to indoc and stuff", then CRJ200 systems) and spend 15 mins a month on a phone with a recruiter, letting them keep tabs on when they might give you an offer you cannot refuse, and counting positively for their pipeline statistics. Different costs if you quit, different payout if you don't.