GoJet Interview
 

Let me premise what i'm about to say with the fact that I am certainly not anti-ALPA or any union really.

But i've got an interview with GoJet on thursday in St. Louis. If i happen to get a job offer i don't know what to do, is GoJet really all that bad? do people hate them all that much? and why? they're unioned now, albeit not with ALPA.
I'm a 21 year old flight instructor with 400 hours and the idea of flying a crj-700 is really appealing to me. But i know that i'm young and have all the time in the world to get where i want to.

I guess my real question is this:

Would a job at GoJet be a bad move for my future career?

Thanks, Alex.

Working for any company that has so much negativity surrounding it will dampen and diminish your love of flying. The crap that is thrown at each other amongst pilot groups who are pitted against each other is just pathetic.

The thing that gets me is that guys are fighting over such meager paying jobs and benes in the regional pilot world.

It is JUST NOT WORTH IT.

You will make more money as a CFI

And MORE IMPORTANTLY, you will enjoy the job much more as a CFI. As you have a BETTER QUALITY OF LIFE.

Build your time and then find a GOOD regional such as Air Wisconsin, Sky West or Horizon.

Stay away from the low ball operators such as GoJet. You will be happier if you do.

Alex, let me cut through all the BS this thread will create with one post.

Likely not...but you will be reviled by your peers in the industry for accepting employment at an alter-ego carrier. GoJet caused the furlough of 10 of my friends and many other folks who worked at Trans States. A simple search on this board for "GoJet" will explain more to you why folks have disdain toward them.

Don't fall for the allure of a shiny new 700...even with your low time you can probably find a better carrier to work for in short order.

get 200 more hours and go to expressjet. the erj is better than the crj 700 anyways. and your life will be better at expressjet.... or skywest.... or republic.... or awac.

The problem with gojet is not really about the union, it's about why and how the company was set up as an "alter-ego" carrier. Lot's of reading on this subject on the various forums...also look up Freedom Airlines (specifically Freedom A).

The gojet boyz are so despised that when they walk around the airport, they turn their airline badges around so you can't tell who they work for (but we all know :rolleyes: ). They are afraid to visit pilot crew rooms, so you see them hanging out in small groups in unused gate areas like lepers. Is that the airline dream job you're looking for? You can tell your friends and family that you fly a nice big jet and they will eat it up...but they won't know what YOU know: that the majority of airline professionals actually hold you in contempt.

As for your career, you might well slip by...or maybe some some ex-TSA or ex-mesa pilot will be conducting your job interview or simulator training and be in the position to subjectively fail you. I certainly would, and Southwest Airlines posts a list of all prospective new hires in their crew room...if somebody doesn't like your name on that list they can create a real problem for you. I can assure that there are ex-TSA pilots at SWA...

If you can't wait until you get another couple hundred hours, then go to mesa instead (I would go back to CFI before mesa though).

http://www.airlinepilotforums.com/sh...ighlight=gojet

Someone asked a similar question last month (see link), and I stand by my response there.

Thanks
 

Thanks all for the input.

I kind of figured it wouldn't be the place to go, i've got a piedmont interview next week and i'm hoping for that position.

Hopefully someday the climate of regional airlines will change and pilots will be appreciated for the highly skilled professionals that they are.

The best thing that interview will do is prepare you for future interviews. Please don't work there. Wait for a company you actually want to work at. If you're going to go there just use it as a learning experience. You don't want to walk into the company you want and ruin the interview because you didn't have the experience under your belt.

That being said it's your choice.

New guys with wet commercial tickets are hardly highly skilled...no more so than a surgeon candidate fresh out of med school...it takes time. If the industry(labor) as a whole made it more difficult to obtain that position(ATP mins for hire?) you'd see salaries not only go up but more importantly stay up. Not knocking you but when your replacement can be trained from 0 hours to regional FO in a few months to pass a canned checkride, there will always be someone with SJS willing to give it a shot for equal to less than what you were making.

You're still young! It's not to late to back out of this airline industry. Start your own business or something. There is no real future in this industry. Can't believe pilot groups are fighting over such petty low paying regional flying jobs. You think you are all cool with your pilot uniform and shiny jet but just look at your bank account and then tell me if you still feel the same way.

:confused: That's the biggest joke I've heard in a while; yes it's better than the 200 but no way the CR7 or CR9! Less restrictions, more power, better performance, more Pax, 2 LAVs, etc.

Regardless, the type of a/c you fly is not the reason to choose an employee!

?
 

wow that's optimistic..................

SWEET - another "my airplane is better than yours" post...:rolleyes:

I hope you don't plan on commuting if you plan on working there. I suggest that you do not work there. People have good memories.

Ummm...why would you post this on a pilot forum??

I'd rather be dirt-poor doing something I love than rich and hating going to work every day.

skywalkerta
skyhigh

Could this just be a case of irony?

I wonder why you hang around airline pilot forums? Bored?

I just interviewed with gojet a few weeks back. the interview is very laid back. You will have a few questions like why do you want to fly and why with us. You will have to go through a couple of jep approach plates, explain a system that one of your more current aircraft was equiped with and how it works, and also how a jet engine works (a good explaination here is better than suck squeeze bang blow). Other than that I thinks that's about it. I can't say anything about the work environment cus I start sep 17, you may too if you interview soon.

Wonderful. So glad I took the time to explain to you why you should go anywhere else. Seriously, why ask if you aren't going to listen anyway? :mad:

Ooh, ooh! Can I? Wow, a jet!? You are going to fly a jet!? Oh my god I'm so freaking jealous! You're possibly the coolest pilot ever.

Just hide your id.

Not to worry, a buddy of mine at TSA is compiling an updated list with all the recent new hires...as soon as I get I'll let ya'll know.

The audacity. Give me one reason why you think that place is good. Just one that's all I want. Explain to me what GoJets can do for you that no other regional can. Do you know anything about their contract? Do you know anything about their work rules? Do they pay block or better? How many hrs till you get a hotel room? Any pay guarantee when called out on reserve?

If you can't answer all of these questions right now without having to ask then you certainly have no business accepting any job at any regional let alone gojets. Don't make that mistake. Too many places are hiring for you to go there. That's like someone offering you a Mercedes and you just chose the Pinto.

Just remember to not wear your hat, turn your ID backwards, and tell people you work for Trans States Holdings. :rolleyes:

It doesn't matter, when they hand over their credentials the first thing we look for is that CRJ type......

Good man.
I laughed pretty hard when I first heard that GoJetters were putting "TS Holdings" on their resume instead of "GoJet." As if that would throw people off.

You have made a serious mistake, you may not see it now, but you sure will in the future. Remember, it's not too late to get out.

Tool.

Advise is what people ask for and ignore when the know the answer to the question they ask.

Have a great time.

I flew a Continental Airlines FO in the jumpseat about two weeks ago. He was ex-trans states. We talked about Go-jets, he pretty much told me that if he is ever on a hiring/interview board for Continental, anyone that worked for Go-jets can forget about it. I could tell that he was serious! Take it for what it's worth.


Onfinal

I fly for GoJet and I enjoy my job. We just signed a CBA on July 19th and will be opening a Chicago base in November. We have CASS, block or better, line guarantee, commuter clause, etc. If you can put up with occasional childish behavior from purportedly mature pilots, while walking through the terminal, then you'll be just fine.

No one here is having any more difficulty finding employment at other airlines than any other qualified pilot out there. There is no list of all the pilots who fly here and even if one existed, it would not hinder your career. The people who care about this kind of thing are the kind of people who come to work, do as little as possible, and go home. There isn't anything wrong with that kind of motivation except that they won't likely be the ones in a position to interview you in the future. Most of the information on this forum is ignorant rhetoric that has very little grounding in fact. Take this information as you will but remember; when you make decisions in this industry, make sure you research the facts, and read very much against the grain when participating in a forum such as this.

Regards

"Most of the information on this forum is ignorant rhetoric that has very little grounding in fact."

I don't know. Seems pretty consistantly anti-GoJet everywhere you look. APC, JC, Flightinfo, maybe I'll check PPW later.

I think this site is a good cross-section of the industry. That there is so much hatred for GJ on the internet has to mean something. I know there's a Gojetter at UPS, so it's not like these guys can't get hired. In fact, I doubt hiring departments give much of a crap where a guy got his time. At the same time, it seems Gojet is only slightly above Gulfstream on the internet and a fair amount behind Mesa. Just my observation.

I once had a UPS Capt email me about my opinion on his son going to work for GJ, since I'm a moderator at a popular aviation careers website. I told him I thought it was a bad idea based on what I've heard/read and the reasons why. He angrily wrote back that nothing posted at the internet is worth a grain of salt as there is no truth in what people post. I responded: Then....why ask me in the first place....

All I can say is, popular opinion is vastly against GoJet. Whether that means anything and how that will effect you remains to be seen.

far behind mesa, slightly behind freedom.

glad you guys finally signed a halfway decent contract so management can't use the whipsaw between the two pilot groups. Had a guy say "Well, we all know who won the fight between gojet and transstates" the truth is, management is the ONLY one that won. TSA now had someone else to fight to get improvements from a selfish management team, and GoJet was forced to live with substandard work rules and the same management.

I just hope the finally fixed that little wording that said you could only be on for six days in a row, after which you'd have to be released for 24 hrs without duty...haha, what idiot forgot to say you needed to be released IN DOMICILE! On the road indefinitely, that'd suck.

I agree. I can't refute that there is a lot of anti-GoJet messages on this board. None the less, the information that is out there about the Trans States/GoJet debacle is not very accurate. A century and a half ago many people in this country believed that African Americans were of a lesser form of humanity than the Caucasians. Just because a lot of people mouth off about it, doesn't mean it’s true.

"None the less, the information that is out there about the Trans States/GoJet debacle is not very accurate."

Says who? I'm all ears to what really happened....

What rock are you living under?

He states about having to put up with all us that don't agree with the company. You have the option to take that out of the equation so why not do so?

There are literally thousands of pilots and read these boards. APC, FI, PPrune etc. In all of them they despise alter-ego creations and those that work for them. The company screwed a lot of pilots. To work there is to support them. It means you're willing to stab yourself in the back or walk over anyone you can to get to where you are. At RAH the best thing we have isn't our union. It isn't the best. It's our pilot group. They are united in their standings and that will be what makes things better. The GoJet crowd is a group of people, in general, who would cross a picket and undercut the industry. If you're worried about making $20k as a first officer you can thank companies like GoJets.

Not to mention I had to DH on a plane of theirs and a husband and wife were flying together. Do you REALLY want to work at a place that thinks that is a good idea?

oh, and to the OP, while GoJet isn't going to hurt your chances of getting on at a major airline, i don't know why you'd really volunteer to be ostracized by your co-workers in the industry just to get a CRJ7 spot...back when i was hired @ TSA, i had already made the decision that if they did the "switch-a-roo" on the training class, i was walking right back to my CFI job, it'd have sucked...but would be better than the alternative.

On, and on the Chicago domicile, i'm sure that'll be fun, given that the rampers are putting the "No Alter eGOJET" stickers on the tugs for you, have fun pulling those off @ all the outstations and getting in fist fights with those hardcore union boys who are pushing you back from the gates in chi-town.

I'm gonna have to stop you right there....that is by far the most idiotic analogy I've ever seen...

How dare you compare the suffering of millions of people that were forced into slavery, with that of scabs that backstabbed their brothers for a shot at flying a bigger jet for 50 seater pay?

I'm usually pretty nice to folks on here, but sir you are an idiot for making such statements, and you just reinforced the type of selfish personality that gojets looks for.

haha, the funny part on that is the century and half ago...c'mon kid don't be so naive,that train of thought is still alive and well today...heck, it was almost common practice 60 years ago. doubt it? go talk to your grandfather.

Try the 60's/70's but lets stay on topic. Worst analogy ever and you shouldn't have to have one as to why you took that job when all else are hiring. Last I heard Chicago has more than one airline flying in and out of there.

Hey it's SkyHigh's little brother........ skywalker.:D

I'm sorry for not making my post clear enough but you have taken it far out of context. I am not comparing me or any other GoJet pilot to slaves. If we suffered to the same degree then I certainly would not work here. However, I did compare the outrageously ignorant group of Americans who denied equal rights to African Americans to the outrageously ignorant group of pilots who have no evidence to support the claims that they make concerning GoJet.

This is the very reason that I don't make many posts on this or any forum. People don't understand how to read prose objectively and they end up taking the posts far out of context. Why do you think there is so much bickering on this forum? It’s not just about the GoJet issue. It’s about anything and everything that anybody says.