I see G7 is seeking captains again.. has anyone done that?
I'm at a different regional, YV.. so the equipment would be the same; initial pay would certainly be better what with signing bonuses and keeping your longevity.

Has anyone here gone from YV to G7 (PM me if you want) and can describe your experience?
I really don't want to switch regionals; would rather stay put and upgrade, but always am exploring options.
On paper, the pay (after bonuses) appears very similar; but I know things like health insurance make a big difference.
Also, at YV, captain reserve is running very long these days and most junior captions spend ~50% of their time flying right-seat;
At G7, are you nearly always captain or does that happen there, too?
And are you on reserve for awhile or getting lines pretty quick?

 

You're a FO wanting to apply for direct entry captain?

I personally know 1 ex mesa that went as a DEC at G7. He's been there for about 4 years I believe and is just starting to hold a line.

At G7 you will most likely be on reserve for a very long while if you come in as a street captain. Most or at least half of your flying will be in the right seat and IMO it really is only worth it if you absolutely NEED to leave Mesa and come to G7 and live in base and don't mind the reserve rules.

Regardless of longevity pay, I would stick it out at Mesa or look towards Endeavor. Endeavor not only just changed their pay-scale drastically they are ALSO starting to hire direct entry captains and/or at least award upgrade to FO's who have the required hours to upgrade.

If not, Envoy and PSA will upgrade you as soon as you finish training and you can have the flow in your back pocket.

SkyWest offers longevity pay as well and they're much more stable.

The list continues...

Why come to GoJet when others are offering so much more?

 

Thanks - good thoughts and advice and it's appreciated.
I'm looking around, weighing my options.. G7 being one of them, but 9E certainly attractive, too.
Will post in that threat w/ questions regarding them.
Thx again

 

I’m a direct entry captain, been here just under 2 years. I’m a line holder in ORD, this month is 89hrs credit with 14 days off. Most junior captain line holder in Chicago was a Oct 2016 hire date.

most junior ca line holders:

STL 11/2015
ORD 10/2016
DTW 12/2016
DEN 8/2015
RDU 3/2016

I had a YV captain that left YV for DEC at G7 in my class. Feel free to PM me if ya have questions.

 

I think most junior line holder in O'Hare this month was a January 16th hire DEC.

I've gone from bottom of the seniority list to 77% of the list in 10 months. The movement is crazy fast.

I've enjoyed my time here far more than my previous regional, movement is great.

Guy junior to me went to southwest last month, another junior to me got the invite to take the hogan this week. It's a great place to come get your left seat time and move on. The large majority of my time here as a DEC has been left seat flying, I haven't sat right seat since early September.

 

G7 is seeking direct entry captains as an alternative to increasing pay or bonuses.
The longevity pay is nice if it benefits you, and it allowed us to get a 4hr min day
I was a direct hire captain just over a year ago and am still not holding a line. Part of that reason is the junior lines are in ORD and the company is not allowing pilots to move to ORD. They are however allowing senior pilots to move to DTW which keeps pushing the direct hires down. DTW has kind of become a reserve stockpile for the Delta flying.

I have flown ~330hrs in a year and approximately ⅓ of that has been right seat. Some are getting more and some are getting less.

For planning purposes if you come to G7 as a direct hire captain you will be either STL or DTW based and on reserve for at least a year. The airline is currently fully and even a little over staffed so don’t plan on quick movement.

The reserve rules aren’t terrible, all reserve is initially 12hr call out and then scheduling can (will) convert 2 blocks to 2hr call out. That block can be up to 6 days long depending on how you bid.

Basically the same rules apply as always; base, money, quality of life. If G7 pays more and the commute to STL or DTW is about the same as your current commute it may be worth it.

If your primary goal is to log PIC then I would suggest Endeavor, PSA, Envoy, or Skywest. You will still be on reserve and probably fly about the same amount, but none of that flying will be in the right seat.

 

Captain junior line holders based on Dec award and Nov seniority list

DTW 2/16
There are 3 line holders below him, but they have recurrent or vacation so didn’t need as much credit to build a line. I and 3 guys I know are all senior to the junior guy and stil got reserve. (Everything waived)

STL 11/15

ORD 10/16
As previously mentioned they aren’t letting pilots bid to ORD and if they ever do I know myself and a few pilots senior to me already have our bids in for ORD

DEN 8/15
Just bidding into DEN as a captain takes about 10-12 months.

Also keep in mind as a direct hire captain there will be FOs senior to you that will upgrade and push you down. There are 2 FOs upgrading to DTW in Dec that will be able to bid lines in Feb so the time to hold a line may actually increase. Plus there are approximately 20+ FOs on property that are eligible but haven’t upgraded yet. The Jan award should be posted soon.

 

I think every AA WO and Endeavor are basically hiring DECs at this point.

 

GJ is now giving longevity to new hires from other airlines. Are they giving it to current employees too? For example, if a comair pilot with 15 years at comair went to GJ 2 years ago, would he go up to 17th year pay?

Were are the details of the program?

 

What a career
Sounds like great decisions to me...sure what’s 17th yr pay...79$
We will give you 80$ but we are not going to match 1% 401 k anymore. Deal!