bkey79

I'm copying/paste from a reply on another G7 topic, just don't want it to get lost in the mess and figured it should be on top with it's own thread. I have added a few things as I think of them. Go ahead and bash me for starting a new thread!

So I was a street captain hired almost 1 year ago today. When I applied, I had heard all the bad talk about G7 and was very skeptical about coming here. I have no training failures, in good standing with all previous employers, I'm prior military (non-flying) and had a great med-evac job with amazing benefits. When I applied, G7 sent a recruiter to my hometown to interview me. Honestly, I thought that was really cool. That recruiter and I sat down and officially interviewed for about 30 minutes when he then offered me a street captain job. We then BS'ed for about another hour, as I had my doubts about leaving my job for G7. I accepted the offer, kinda hesitantly but hopeful.

Fast forward to training. On day 2 we got our company IDs, and by the first weekend we were in CASS. Half the class went jump-seated home that first weekend. First couple paychecks come in for of written check, in a training folder. 2 weeks of indoc, then on to systems training. All systems training is done at Flight Safety in STL. The instructors were excellent. I've been through a couple different flight safetys, and these guys were def some of the best I've had. Simulator training can be done by either G7 staff or flight safety. I had flight safety instructors, who again were excellent. The check ride was intense, but if I can do it with no CRJ experience, anyone can. The training overall was really no different than the training experience I had when I was at RAH.

Hotels, well overall are amazing! The extended stay in STL sucks, but that is only for training. And it is nice to have a full kitchen. After training though, I've never had a bad hotel while here. Typically we stay at Crown Plaza, Hilton, Marriott, Double Tree, Cambria Suites etc. Every place we go usually has an great gym and good restaurants close by (thanks hotel committee!)

Reserve life at any regional blows, especially if you are a commuter, but it is manageable here. Every one that doesn't get a line is assigned long call reserve (LCR) which is a 12 hour call out. Scheduling can then change two of the LCR sits to short call reserve (SCR). Scheduling can change just 1 day or a stretch of days, but those days have to be together. So you'll basically get 2 stretches of LCR and 2 of SCR. Because I'm a commuter, I average about 15 days at home per month. So far this month I have a minimum of 13 days off on reserve with another LCR stretch coming up. We do have Airport Reserve, but because it counts as one of the 2 conversions, scheduling rarely uses it. I've only sat Airport reserve one time in the year and that was middle of the summer during holiday peak.

We have the typical commuter policy, 2 different listing that have to be at least 1 hour apart to use the commuter clause. Also, the company pays for 4 hotels per month. I've actually gotten more, usually by joking and bargaining with scheduling. They've asked me to take an extension and I jokingly say with an extra commuter hotel, sure! During inclement weather, when the mainline approves it, you can and will be positive spaced from home to work. I'm sure this is something that all regionals can do, however RAH didn't do it while I was there.

Open time can be picked up by anyone and traded if you are holding a line. All open time is 150% on top of guarantee. Typically open time credits for 200% and up to 300% during peak season. I made nearly $4500 for a four day trip last year, all on top of guarantee. My first year pay is over $75k with only 1 open time trip picked up, 1 month above guarantee and no bonuses. I've picked up about 270 hours in the left (300ish if you count IOE)seat and about 25 hours in the right. I held a line over the summer last year in STL and I just bid DTW where I'll hold a line there at 1 year seniority.

Health insurance is through United Health Care. I've never used it, but seems to be ok. I pay about $150/month for the middle tier plan which includes dental. I asked a buddy who has a couple kids, think his was about $325/mo if I remember right.

My complaints are small really. Our scheduling dept seems to be a revolving door of new hires. It is almost impossible to get an answer from any scheduler without them asking the manager on duty. Then of course the manager usually says no. There are however a few that will made a decision and help you out. All of our hotels are scheduled through iCrew Hotel Connections, which seem to never update my name. There have been more than a few times where I didn't have my hotel scheduled (because of being on reserve). Usually I'll just sign in under whoever was supposed to be on the trip. Our dispatchers are pretty good, but overworked. Lufthansa seems to have a button for "most efficient route" which might take you through mod-turbulence, weather etc. A quick call to dispatch and they are usually happy to change it, just sometimes wish I didn't have to call. On the over-worked theme, most everyone at headquarters. If you try to call, you might not ever get anything but an answering machine. It is better to just email your question and wait. Pay discrepancies do happen here. I've never had an issue, but some have. Usually a call or email and it's fixed within a couple days. And Lufthansa is an overall complaint. It's tenticals are dug into everything. Pay, scheduling, dispatch, approach charts. It does have some amazing features, I actually got use to the LIDO charts and releases, but it seems to still have too many bugs. Hopefully time will fix it more.

Does G7 have it's problems, sure. However this place has treated me really well. I've been treated with respect, only asked to do my job and nothing that was against the contract, illegal or unsafe. Moral here is actually really good, believe it or not. I also know that G7 has a checkered past, but I honestly haven't seen any of it in my time here.

I'm definitely not going to go out and bash any other regional, Mesa, SKW or the lot. No doubt that SKW has a long standing good reputation, and even I had to think about going there or G7. Likewise, right now is a great time to be at a wholly owned. PSA offers SAP and flow. Envoy is expanding at an amazing rate. Endeavor is on par with Envoy with the expansion. They all might have good and bad things about them. However, 90% of the G7 bashing comes from people that have never worked here, and others that just make stuff up. I hate to sound like the G7 cheerleader, because G7 does have it's problems, but it doesn't deserve the bashing it receives on this forum.

DownInPetaluma

I seriously hope you aren't negotiating for a hotel room in exchange for an FDP extension. Either you're fit for duty or you're not, captain.

That being said, I think this must be a wind-up.

yayairplanes

Take it easy, captain, I'm sure a 2 hour extension isn't a big deal, and if he wasn't fit, he wouldn't trade passenger safety for a hotel room.

bkey79

No no, absolutely not. Not meant as I'm not fit for duty. Case in point, Had a long day recently where if I didn't take the extension I would have timed out in ORD. The trip continued on to STL, where I'm based. I was never not fit for duty and either way would have and did take the extension, but joked at "well if I don't take the ext I get a free room in ORD, how about a free room in STL?" Get it? We ended up only 11 min into the extension, the mission was accomplished, passengers got where they needed to be and I got a free hotel in base.

Exactly!

MilesHigh

Bkey79, thanks for sharing.

AceyCandler

It's refreshing to see people use the regional forum like an adult. While this isn't useful information for me, it very well may be for someone else.

Thank you for sharing.

qualified50

Also keep in mind that the director of operation Randy Bratcher and the chief pilot Brad Sargent are extremely racist individuals. Also if you are a member of the U.S. Armed Forces be prepared to be terminated while you are performing your National Guard commitments. bkey79 will try to tell you other wise but I have provided him very specific examples of the racism as well as the discrimination that takes place at GoJet. On the other hand non of his arguments pertain any factual information and he refuses to provide information on his claims.

Gojet also leads the regional airlines in engine failures in flight. In the last 6 months GoJet has had 8 engine failures in flight. Recently an aircraft in the fleet was dispatched with the remarks requesting the crew to fly with the APU on due to known electrical problems with that aircraft.

bkey79

Honestly I'm arguing with myself of even replying to you again, but since this is a new thread, I'll do it one last time. Maybe you can't understand it, but everything I have wrote has been my experience, and some of this is solely my opinion. So, ya a lot of that is factual and some of it is subjective, but again it's my own personal experience. Some people have different experiences, as some have a problem with personal accountability, but I digress....

You haven't given me any "facts" of them being racist. You say that you, or maybe someone that told you, about one of them joking about TSA officials. Got a recording of that? No? How about an email? Fact is, I've had Russian, Jewish, Indian, Black, Female, Male, Gay and Straight FO's and I've asked every one of them if they've experienced any discrimination at G7. I ask them because of what you put up on this forum, and not one has told me they have. Also, calling someone racist without proof can be, and has been proven as libel. So, unless you have a recording, maybe some kind of racist writing or affiliations, then you claim of them being racist is unfounded and silly. G7 sponsors NGPA, OBAP and WIA. Thats a fact!

Claiming that RB hates the military is also foolish. As I've said before and I'll say it here, he is very patriotic and proud of his own and others military service. He, as a retired navy veteran, has thanked me personally for my service. I asked BS about his feelings about prior military, and he loved them to. To quote "Those are the guys that figure out how to get stuff done. and I couldn't be happier with them." For those new to and reading this, about 1 in 5 people at G7 are either Guard/Reserve/Retired or Veterans. There is ongoing litigation that someone was fired while on Guard duty, and I'll be waiting to hear what the court says. I've heard all the rumors, but I personally will accept what the court rules. In my indoc class, there was an FO returning from a long deployment and had to redo much of the training. He was offered do redo all of it, an extra expense to G7 and accepted. I just talked to him last week, and he's never had any issues with military leave, or any kind of discrimination. Thats a fact!

8 engine failures? I've heard of three, 2 being in-flight. Got flight numbers? I talked to one of the maintenance guys about it, mainly because I was curious, and apparently Canadair came out with some new inspection that has since caught some defects. Also, there's no argument that we have some old CRJ700's from the ComAir days. They are old, high time birds that require a lot of maintenance. I didn't hear about the electrical problem requiring the APU, got a flight or tail number? I did however just pt 91 a bird that had both ACSC's written up which required the APU on but no electrical problems. Actually for as old as some of those birds are, I'm surprised how little MEL's we usually have. Mostly seem to see the standard "Duct Mon Fault" missing slat/flap seal, etc...

I'm not gonna bash you qualified, you are prob a good dude. Your experiences at G7, if you truly did work here like you say you did, are and have been MUCH different than mine. That doesn't disqualify my opinion, nor does it yours. But both yours and my opinions are just that, and you know what they say about opinions...

flyingagain

I've flown plenty of aircraft where we had something MEL'd and had to fly with the APU on.

qualified50

This is an aircraft with no MELs. Just a remark on the dispatch paperwork to fly the airplane with he APU on for a history of known electrical problems.