MinFuel

I've heard fellow regional pilots leaving to go to fractionals lately. I could care less what I fly. I do care about job security, pay, benefits and most important days off + vacation. I was wondering what former regional RJ drivers think about the switch. Is it better? I came from charter before regionals so I'm not new to kissing ass and throwing bags. Only pulling down 57K in the left seat of an RJ is embarrasing and it just sux. I would like to get back to Dallas and of course get back to the left seat ASAP if I left the airline.

Opinions?

Options?

Suggestions?

jtf560

I was an RJ CA before NJA and my QOL has been so vastly much better that there is no question in my mind or any of the other regional guys I talked to here that this is our career job. This exact forum should have at least one or two fairly long threads on this if you search back for the last year and flighinfo.com has a bunch also if you search back the last year (I think there is a current thread on it there right now also). I got used and abused as a reserve RJ CA, but I made about 75K in 2005. I came to NJA in the begining of 2006 and made over 60K with all the soft money, including the company 401K match (all my salary dumped into the 401k for a couple of months to pump that up). I also saved almost 5K on insurance that I would have had to spend for much, much less coverage at the regional I was at. I got 6 free airline tickets on points and about 2 weeks of free hotel rooms on points. I got $250 in savings bonds and about another $180 in fuel bonus plans just for fueling the airplanes where the company told us to fuel. I also worked about a month less days than I did at the airline, even doing the reserve schedule here for 7 months. We have tons of furloughed major airline guys that have refused recall to stay at NJA for the rest of their careers. I highly suggest going for it here, but be prepared to wait a while to get hired into the DAL base.

MinFuel

Sounds pretty sweet. Sign me up...
How long would you guess for DAL? If I was based at another base how does that commute work for the first bit of reserve months?

XtremeF150

When i turned in my app, i only put DAL as my choice of domicile. I was not offered an interview and as I stated before had all the mins. and no skeletons...at least that I know of ...Have you heard of someone not getting the interview because of only placing one domicile on the list. Also, if this is the case how long should I wait before I reapply and put other domiciles on the list. Thanks again as always.

widespreadpanic

MinFuel and XtremeF150,

DAL might be closed as of today. They seem to hire into certain bases for a while then open others for a bit. Depends on staffing levels.

You could put all the domiciles down and get whatever they are hiring into right now.

There is a provision in the contract that allows you to switch domiciles. How long that process takes, I have no idea.


The thing I hear most from airline types is losing non-rev privileges.
And for some, not knowing what you are doing for the month.
Other than that, a no brainer!!!
More Money, Stability and Growth (rich keep getting richer), great benefits, more time off (than where I was at).

Take Care
WP

mooneymite

I didn't come from the regionals, I came from a major. I can agree with most of the responses above, but there is one huge change that a prospective NetJets' pilot should seriously consider: the 7 day trip.

If you are single, or have grown kids, no problem. The 7 on goes by in a flash because you're really busy and the brief is always changing and you're going to different/new places all the time. However, for a family guy with wife and small kids at home...7 days is a loooooong time. NetJets has only one way to get a day off for graduations, birthdays, weddings, and other "life events"...you must lie and call in sick. There is a procedure for a leave of absence, but it is not easy, quick or guaranteed.

Before you jump on the fracs, consider the impact on your family life. You wil be GONE for 7 days. Every other week of your life for the foreseeable future you will be totally away from hearth and home. The 7 days home are great, but "life events" seem to always migrate to your 7 days gone.

Incidentally, I'm interested in how the previous poster made 60K. Not my experience at all. As a new FO, My W-2 for 2006 was 46K (I worked almost all the extended days allowed and a bunch of holidays). Yes, I got paid per diem too, but the reason you are paid per diem is that it costs to live on the road. Guys hired before the new contract got paid "bypass captain pay", but that has gone by the wayside.

Do I like NetJets? Yes. Great flying and fun. However, get used to standing by for 10 hours at an FBO on Saturdays when no one seems to be needing their jet to go anywhere. Comparing NJ to a 121 career is tough...it's apples and oranges. At NJ there are definitely some GREAT pluses, but there are also some negatives. Just be aware. If you evaluate and can accept the negatives, you'll have a great time at NJ's.

Hootie9750

He made 75k as an rj cappy.

jtf560

My W-2 was 50K (reserve for 7 months, 6 or 7 extended days, 5 holdidays, a ton of OT, and differences pay for the XLS). On top of that I got a little over $500 in tips (super lucky there), about $6,500 in perdiem (paid for maybe 2 meals per tour so almost all into pocket), and almost $5,500 in company match to 401K (15% until November when I did 2 months of 90% into the 401k). I ended up doing a lot better than I thought I would, but I would have still been happier than at my old job even if I made a lot less. I personally love the 7 and 7 schedule (my wife is OK with it), but I don't have any kids and I'm sure that would make it a lot harder. I miss being able to jumpseat and I'm not happy with the domicile system, but I'm sure I'll have more choices at some point whether I have to wait for a new contract or the company is forced to cave in and do something different. NJA pilots are simply treated much better than regional pilots due to better work rules, better hotels, catered food, good insurence, etc...... Management and scheduling will still screw with us from time to time, but the union here is very good at enforcing the contract and we can call in fatigued NO QUESTIONS ASKED per the contract if we are tired. I would recommend the job to almost any regional pilot, CA or FO, and I think it's one of the best jobs out there overall- at least at this point in time (this is aviation and things do change- I'm sure none of the the guys who came here from the majors ever expected to be here).

mooneymite

That reserve schedule explains some of the difference in our W-2's. I've been on the 7/7 almost from IOE. But maybe they just pay the good looking pilots more than us ugly pilots

I did not intend my post to be negative about NJA. I just want prospective new hires to think about how that 7/7 life will fit with their families. If one can accept it, the 7/7 is really the best deal since day one is usually mostly spent getting mated up with an aircraft and another pilot and day 7 is usually mostly travel home. Generally, the pilots like the 7/7...it's the wives that don't.

lpcunity

It seems that most of the people in my class were from the regionals, and they all seem to like the change. Sorry to not answer your question directly. My base is LA and I live about 70 miles south. My last tour I came back to the LA area every night and got to stay with my chica in nice hotel rooms so it was a vacation for her. This most likely will not happen a lot, but it does. NJA is still hiring so at least get your paper work started it took me about 3 months to seal the deal.