Eagle or Colgan?
 

Just wondering what some of your insights are. Kind of stuck on which one to choose. Eagle is a great company but the fact they may be sold in 2 years kind of worries me. Also, what are the chances that Eagle will get rid of the rest of their erj-135 fleet? Not to mention you seem to be on reserve forever and it's always taken forever and a day to upgrade.
Colgan's TA seems pretty good and the upgrade there has always been rather quick, but that could all go away when they complete the merger and ax the 26 Saabs for delta. But who knows, they could find homes for those planes. Anyone who can chime in with any advice would be appreciated! Especially those who fly for colgan or eagle.

Feel free to add/modify this list

Pro Colgan:
-In the past the upgrades have been relatively quick
-13(?) Q400s still to deliver
-New TA looks like a step in the right direction as far as pay/work rules

Con Colgan:
-Seniority list integration could reduce staffing needs and increase upgrade time
-Bases seem to open/close pretty frequently


Pro Eagle:
-Upgrade time is dropping quickly (Currently Aug 05 for ATR and CRJ CA)
-Actively taking deliveries of CRJ700s (approx 10 to go)
-Over 150 AE CAs to transfer to AA by June 2011
-Several hundred AE CAs with the option to transfer to AA after that
-Hiring 50+/mo into all bases/equip
-Solid payscale and work rules, relative to the other regional carriers
-Great training academy and instructors
-Freakin awesome group of pilots (can you tell I am biased?? ;))

Con Eagle:
-Possible divestiture means uncertainty for future
-Contract becomes amendable end of 2012
-Obsolete aircraft and the majority of the fleet needs to be replaced


In the end it is all a crapshoot, and without a reliable Magic 8-ball its impossible to know what the "right" decision is.

I will love to see where this goes, as I think a few people might end up with this choice.

That's kind of how I feel. A crapshoot. It's nice to have a choice, but tsucks at the same time!

hahahaha!!!!

Colgan. Eagle is a career regional airline, while Colgan will give you the opportunities to fly similar equipment (props or jets, now) with relatively quicker upgrade times.

Depending on what happens with those 26 Saabs in 2011!

Why not Air Wisconsin? They're hiring 16 a month till June

Pros:
-Privately owned airline (IMO it's a pro, others may disagree)
-First year pay is better than AE, second year pay is higher than what you could ever make as an FO at colgen or T-prop FO at AE (on the jet, you would have to wait 4 years to make the same amount)
-Good training and instructors
-Good 401K, health, and life insurance
-Overall good pilot group

Cons:
-Contract with US Airways is up in 2015
-Bases can suck if not from the east coast area (most of the pilot group commutes I believe)
-Aircraft are getting older, although MX is doing a good job keeping them running
-Pilot contract expires next october

There are other options out there. Skywest has also begun to hire as well. Unless you've been offered a job at both, I would keep applying. But.... If I had to pick between the two, I would choose AE. It might be a "career regional", but that means you could make a career out of being there and still make ok money. I'd rather do that than go to colgen and not make a lot and then move to another "career regional" when I got sick of being payed nothing (no offense to colgen guys, too each his own). Just don't chase the upgrade cause it probably won't happen when it's "suppose to", which means you'll be stuck at FO pay. My advice, go where you can afford to go!

Come to Colgan. My senority # will go up by 1 then :)

Really the question is AE vs Pinnacle corp. You will only work for Colgan for a short time and then you will be a Mesaba employee with a chance to work at pinnacle.