Ask the captains who you fly with what their dreams were. It is easy to assume that they were born crabby old timers whose dream was to spend their entire career as an abused regional pilot but they were young once too. They held similar aspirations at one time and ended up stuck at a regional.

The bell tolls for thee.

Skyhigh

 

When someone rejects us, they are not always forthright in giving the reason for it. Our human nature therefore selects a theory which is least damaging to our self-esteem, and we declare that to be the reason. This can lead us to additional rejections in the future.

 

Anyone know if Alaska is going to be at the job fair in Vegas this April? They are not on the list that I can see, but there is a rumor they will be there. Alaska would be the only reason for me to go.

 

After you meet the requirements for the competitive market you are correct. Not that much difference in a 4,000 HR pilot and a 5,000 HR pilot in P121 operations I imagine. It becomes much more about recommendation I'd venture.

USMCFLYR

 

If they are there, I would recommend going. It was at a job fair that I was able chat with the HR rep and then shortly after an interview and job. The base chief pilot was there and my buddy had given him my name that week so that helped grease the wheels, but they do choose interviewees at those things so don't think it's a total waste of time and money.

 

You're a 737 Captain and want to switch?

 

Minimums are mainly used as built in reasons for not hiring or even looking at no name nobody's. If an applicant has a strong enough sponsor the minimums do not apply.

Hiring minimums are merely published guidelines for the screaming masses obsess over. They are not regulatory. Companies hire who they want and they want to hire people they know.

If they really were interested in a fair process and in hiring the best then personal information would be hidden from those who are doing the hiring. People would be selected solely on experience, performance and merit.

Skyhigh

 

What first tipped me off was how hiring minimums at the majors began to inflate rapidly in the mid 1990's. Back then most majors wanted around 500 hours and a commercial multi-engine license to apply.

I remember well when the minimums at Alaska Airlines jumped to 1500 total time and 750 multi-engine around 1995. If there really was sufficient demand for pilots at the majors then the minimums would have remained the same.

Had I stayed at my regional I would be making my 72K per year by now. Out of that I would have had to fund my own retirement and support a wife and six kids. As a full time regional airline captain I would still qualify for government assistance in my home state since by their measure 72K means that I would be considered as being poor.

To me that is wrong. Pilots are worth far more. The regionals are a trick to get the same work out of people for less than half of what the mainline guys get. Not fair. A few well connected pilots get the keys to the golden seniority list while the rest of us play out their days as sharecroppers at the regionals.

The truly tragic part is that most do not realize the severity of their discounted career until they are reaching 40 and acknowledge to themselves that they will never make it out of their regional.

Skyhigh

 

Define this.

And then you'd be suck next to that sap on those long trips.

Sorry Sky. Minimums are in place for many reasons.
Not just to give you something more to rant about why you never got hired by Alaska.

$72,000 and you would be considered POOR in your state???
You live in Washington right?
That salary would be higher than ANY median income by county in your entire state. Can you provide a reference that shows that you would be considered below the poverty line at $72,000?
Here is mine:
Median Household Income, Washington State | OFM
http://www.ofm.wa.gov/economy/hhinc/medinc.pdf

This link from 2011 shows that a family of 4 would have to be making below $22,113 to be considered poverty level.
Washington state poverty rate remains unchanged - Seattle News - MyNorthwest.com-

Are you SURE that you aren't stretching the truth again a little on the dramatic side Sky? It is hard for me to imagine that one year and 2 kids makes that much difference between $22k and $72k.
If so - MOVE!

USMCFLYR

PS: Sharecroppers Good one Sky!

 

USMCFLYR,

I can understand that as a career gainfully employed military pilot you have not come in contact with unemployment insurance, food stamps or other forms of government help but I can assure you that regional airline pilots with families to support know a lot about it.

Just do the math: 72k minus taxes, 10% or more into the 401K, company insurance buy in to get your family included, then airport car, crash pad, mortgage, food and clothing for 8, gas, insurance ... ect. Doable but miserable. Where I live now a small 3 bedroom starter house rents for $1350/mo. It is much more in the city. It all adds up fast and lets not forget the biggest expense of all; the opportunity cost of what it took to get there in college, flight training and experience building. When you take it all into account everyone should be earning legacy airline wages starting in their 20's.

You and I have had this discussion before. Since you do not have a family to support you can't understand the costs involved. If you really are interested you could send me a PM and we could discuss it further, but I am not going into it here.

The point is that the wages and benefits of flying for a regional are considerably less than what the guys at the majors get for doing essentially the same job. The results are self evident. Just look at the lifestyle difference. It isn't fair. Companies have learned that they can hold out the carrot of a job at the majors and gain an indentured work force of deluded dreamers. There just is not enough room for most at the better companies and the consequences of falling short are harsh.

In regards to the anonymous interview; pilots could meet and be assessed in person. Their score taken into consideration and included into their evaluation. However I do not think that anyone in back really cares about how socially smooth the pilot is in person. They only care that the best available is flying the plane. Besides I don't think those who do most of the hiring have to sit up front anyway. They just want that annoying captain to stop bugging them about hiring their kid. I am sure that we could figure out a hiring system that is fair, but no one whats that. They want a system that has built in reasons to say no when they want to.

Skyhigh