ERJ135

Hi

I am CFII and MEI teaching at a local flight school for a year and half and I have read on the interview gouges that they have been taking people with hours equal to and less than what I have. I have 850tt and 110multi I was wondering if anybody had any opinion on which airline might be better? I will be honest that I do not know much Piedmont only what they have on their Web site which is much. Anybody know where their junior base is? I have some questions about Colgan Air? I have heard that that after six months of flying for them you get to choose where you want to be based (I would choose a MHT base because I am from New England and I would like to stay here if I could, though I do understand that I probably will have to move) does that sound reasonable? The other question is I heard they have no reserve? Is this true?? How do you bid your trips?? The reason I would like to know is because I am in an accelerated Bachelor degree program and I have classes on Tues evenings and I was wondering if it would be hard to get Tues evenings off given that I am willing to work all weekend long. Any thoughts on that?? Does that seem possible?? I appologize for all the questions I just want to try to make the right decisions. I turn 21 next week and am taking the ATP written on my B-day. Then I am sending out some applications. My goal would be to put myself in a position so that when I turn 23 I can get my ATP and try to get a good job with CAL. They seem like they are going to need pilots and collective goal for the future would be CAPT on the 777 I know CAL has something like 18 triple sevens. I think CAL seems like they are a good company and they are ALPA represented so maybe I can make a decent paycheck by the end of the month. Hopefully
I appreciate any all questions anyone can answer. Though I want to make it clear that I will not work for free or even worse pay some airline so that I can get some BE 1900 right seat time. i have paid enough for my cert or ratings.

thanks in advance

Chris

Rightseat Ballast

I can give you some info on Colgan, though it may be somewhat old, as I have not worked there since this spring. First off, they are an overall good company that will treat you well if you come in with a good attitude. A little bit of the "give a little, get a little" mentality. There is no union there, but the work rules are pretty much on par with other regionals. People assigned to the beech upgrade pretty quick...those who were started when I did upgraded in 8 months. Saab pilots were offered upgrade in a little less than a year and a half. They have a lot of bases...Colgan uses outstation basing for their US Airways flying. MHT is a base for the Saab. Getting in to the base you want is usually pretty easy, it is just a matter of waiting for FOs in the base you want to upgrade. I got my desired base right away. As for reserve, it depends where you are based as well. If you are Manassas based, you may sit reserve for a while, though you rarely SIT in Manassas. If you get reserve at an outstation (like I did), you may get called very little. I only sat reserve because my base had 2 aircraft (8 lines) when I was assigned, and then one of the aircraft was reassigned to another base. That left me number 7 with only 4 FOs needed. I chose to stay in my base, and management did not force me to leave. Very nice of them, since I was happy to be there. Within 4 months. I was number 2 FO in base and picking my lines and days off.
As for getting certain nights off...in a single airplane base(which is normal in the northeast) there is generally an early shift and a night shift. You just have to get to know the other FO's and talk to them and work out some trip trades or just see if the other pilots would mind bidding the night shift. Most people at Colgan are pretty laid back, so working it out should not be too hard.
I don't know much about how the Continental (Houston) operation, except there is a lot of crew basing at IAH. The old Shuttle America flying is real new, and I can't tell you anything about how that goes either. The Continental and SA flying is all Saab, so if you get the Beech it is no matter. The US airways flying was all day trips, meaning you rarely overnighted, which means no per diem money. But, if you want to live in MHT and can get based there, then it is a good deal.
Colgan will hire you if you present yourself right. Don't tell them they are just a stepping stone. And think about why you would rather fly props for them instead of jets for someone else. As for your hopes of a career at Continental mainline...I know some captains from Colgan who recently got hired at Continental. It took them a few years, but patience paid off for them. With any luck, I'll be there too, soon! Good luck

FuelJetA

That is a great run down on Colgan and an education for me indeed. I work closely with a guy who recently left Piedmont. He did not like Piedmont and felt the management treated the pilots like equipment, not actual people. He came into the job with lots of experience (3000+ and some SIC jet time) and left 3 years later without an upgrade. Upgrades are slow slow slow b/c pilots love to fly the Dash and feel like it is great equipment and the pay gets pretty decent so they don't really move. Also, the aircraft is considered a heavy turboprop (at 30K lbs.) so getting on with the majors is easier than if you were flying the 1900. The pay is better than Colgan last I checked, but don't know for sure. He got a great education going through them though, and I feel that he is probably the safest capt. that I fly with. He knows flying in the northeast, which is somewhat or an art form, so that does speak well for them.
I suppose if you were really curious I could query him with your questions. I had an interview with Piedmont the day after I got the job flying Lear charter...I cancelled, but I am a little curious about the interview and what 'could have been.'
Take care!

FLYBOYMATTHEW

Piedmont is hiring into a pool right now. My buddy was hired into the pool about a month ago...and he's still swimming. They had about 50 or so candidates in the pool, and they only keep you there for 6 months. When 6 months is up, you have to reapply and reinterview. I have 2 other friends who stayed at Piedmont for less than a year before moving on to ExpressJet. They figured upgrade would be well over 3 years. I turned down an interview there twice (they called back about a month after I originally declined) because the recently departed Dash-8 program manager recommended that I avoid going there at all costs. I have nothing personally against the airline, I am just telling you what I have heard from others.