Txflyer:

Did someone in mgmt actually tell you that's what is going to happen or is this just the ridiculous silver rumor mill? Even if someone in the union leadership said it, it is still just hearsay or likely something that was just talked about as a backup option. I believe the problem stems from the fact that the company does not have a Saab upgrade program. They only have an initial training program approved by the FAA. Thus anyone getting their ATP and pic type in the plane (which I believe is the FAA requirement) has to do the WHOLE training program over again. Some articles I have read mentioned that the FAA is working with airlines to approve doing the ATP and type during a regular recurrent training. I don't know the specifics of this, perhaps there is a hang up in getting that approved for us. I'm sure that the company is trying to get something approved, as sending almost all of our FOs to msp for two months before August would cause this place to shut down. I hope that they do the right thing for the pilots and the company but just make sure you are studying NOW. And ATP and type are hard no matter what aircraft, especially for those that are just crossing ATP mins with only a few hundred hours in type.

To the person that said fairmont was "our 3407":
Are you kidding me? The fallout from buffalo changed the whole industry, and more specifically the way colgan and pinnacle's training and safety department operated. There was ZERO effort on the part of silver to educate the pilot group on why fairmont happened and what we should be doing different to prevent a repeat. All they did was fire one crew member and sweep it under the rug.

 

First off I agree "fairmont" was in NO way like 3407. However, correct me if I am wrong. You are trying to say it is the companies responsibility to "educate" the pilot group on how to land at the correct / appropriate airport? The fairmont incident was purely poor airmanship and a complete lack of professionalism. Insinuating the company is some how responsible for "educating" the pilot group on how to accomplish one of the most basic and important aspects of our job is insulting to me as a pilot. This company doesn't handle much in the manor I am accustom, however I would have done the same thing in the fairmont situation. The difference, I would have sent out a company wide email to pilots stating "the pilot was fired and any other bozo who decides to land at the wrong airport will be fired as well".

Stop the excuses and assume some Professional Accountability

Just a thought

 

 

200driver:
I didn't mean to insult you, and I agree with you, it's not the company's responsibility to educate the pilot group on basic airmanship. My point was that it is ridiculous for the training department to think because no one got hurt in fairmont then they dodged a bullet and are doing things fine. This company has MAJOR problems with standardization, mediocre sim training, inconsistent manuals and a group of check airmen that don't even know what's in their books let alone how to teach someone to operate in a 121 environment. I believe that Fairmont was a symptom of these problems. That's my point.

Stay safe.

 

This is what I was trying to say and I think you made my point for me better than I could. By our 3407 I mean that we had our close brush with disaster and if we were serious about safety we would have instituted sweeping reforms. Nicely put.

 

Agreed! There are many phenomenal professionals / pilots with in our ranks. We just need to try and put the right people in the right position to start improving the safety, attitude and over standard of this airline. Fly safe!

 

That is in fact false. It's 14. :-) . EVERYONE is going to YYZ for im training. They're in negotiations right now with a place in Colorado, but they don't know if the deal will be done before we finish systems and our orals, so YYZ it is for now.

 

The question is why? Why 14 new Beech FOs? That's more FOs than the entire CLE system combined. Is the company expecting a mass exodus from the Beech or are we expecting new flying?

 

Pure speculation here but I would say that they must be keeping BIL. Rumor is everyone has interviews in CLE, a few have them in BIL. There is one upgrade class set with rumors of another in the near future. They have been canceling flights in BIL due to lack of captains.

BIL alone lost 3 to the Saab, one other quit, one is a check airman with at best 9 days available to fly the line and one is a union guy that is always gone on union "business." That's 6 just in BIL to get them to "proper" staffing. In reality they could use 8 though. Where are the other 9 going? (there's supposed to be 3 in YYZ right now, 14+3=17)

 

Im willing to bet that there will be a staffing bid in the near future (I use the word "near" loosely). In which case, many of the CLE FO's will either 1-have the time to upgrade into the Saab (the senior ones), 2-go right seat into the Saab (the junior ones), 3-go elsewhere. Any scenario would need more BE1900 FO's up north, also in BIL. Another strong rumor (right out of the CPs mouth) is that they will be hiring DEC again in the fall (I guess they plan on a mass exodus of captains to airlines like Spirit, Blue, etc) but will not bypass eligible upgrades.