Airline Pilot Central Forums - Quest Diagnostics 2018

Updates for 2018. Some previous info is old in the other thread.

Pay is negotiable. Starting 70K plus 10% night shift differential. Phenom typed or PC12 trained pilots can earn more.

Vacation

Date of hire - 15 days
1st anniversary - 20 days
4th - 24 days
8th - 27 days
11th - 30 days
15th - 32 days
20th - 34 days

Health plans as of 2018- 4 Plans to choose from- Here is the Basic with 2K deductible.
EE Only - $59.23
EE+Spouse - $164.80
EE+Child(ren) - $119.46
EE+Family - $181.85

Full pay starts day 1 of training.

Yearly bonus on base pay depending on how well the company does. 1-5%

401k match. 100% up to 5% base pay. Vested right away.

15% discount on company stock.

Every pilot receives iPad minis on verizon network.

Typically will get yearly COLA raises.

4 day work weeks, can be less depending on staffing.

Home daily.

Weekends/major holidays off.

Duty days 6-10 hours.

Flying 4-6 hours/night.

Ability to swap work days with other employees.

Paperless cockpits for charts. Flight logs soon to follow.

XM weather and radio in all cockpits.

24/7 dispatch

$400 working on a day off.

Training baron - sim com
PC-12 and phenom Flight Safety.

Typical run has a show time between 1900 and 2000, they finish between 0200 and 0400EST.

Downsides for some pilots looking in:

Back side of the clock flying.

Single pilot (could be good for some), But we do have an FO program in place now.

Flying in all types of weather, however, you are the PIC, you can deviate and take delays as you need them.

You load and unload the plane, other pilots and drivers help. Multiple legs 5-9 a night.

Multi-piston and single engine turbine time. No timeline to upgrade to phenom.

Pay won't reach major airline levels.

A couple runs are longer, reaching 10 hour duty 6-7 hours flying (pilots get rotated daily through runs in the base)

Bags weigh on average 10 lbs. but can vary from ounces to 28lbs. Some runs can have 120 bags, stretching and proper lifting technique is important.

1 RDG run has a one day layover, pilots in the base get rotated on that run. (phenom pilots only)

There is one Saturday night run, pilots in that base get rotated on that run.

A few runs are operated Part 135. A little extra paperwork vs 91. We have in house check airmen.

Company drivers bring in the cargo, they can be affected by weather or traffic,this will cause delays. Communication is relayed to the pilot on these matters, sometimes another flight will be be stopping in later to pick up delayed bags, and you can stay on schedule.

If a base is low on pilots, a crew member from another base may be asked to fill in. Management does fly the line and float to other bases to help the pilots when staffing becomes an issue.

It is a very large company and with that, raises, answers, hiring, and other business related things take awhile. Except safety, they are very quick to get an immediate answer on those subjects.

Some pilots might see these as all downsides or none of them. Just depends on your background. Some of these can be very small and some are bigger, just trying to be honest.

Q and A

Q. Is the pay negotiable?
A. Yes, if you have a similar background to what Quest does. Freight, turbine, aircraft type. This will be negotiated with H.R.

Q. Who are they looking for?
A. Pilots who live near base. Have a similar background. Easy to get along with and personable.

Q. When would I get to fly the phenom?
A. Currently the phenom jet is only in Reading, PA. Upgrade is based on need and utilization of the aircraft. No real timeline.

Q. How do they handle vacation?
A. Vacation is bid for in November of each year for each base. Bases can handle 2-3 pilots off per day for vacation. It is based on seniority. You can bid all your vacation during the process, or pick days as your go throughout the year.

Q. What is your sleep schedule.
A. Typically go home after work 1am-4am depending on the run, relax for 30 min before bed. Sleep until noon, then take an hour nap before work.

Q. Do you ever see your family?
A. Yes, some days it's just a quick dinner; other days it's dinner and a few tv shows. Plus the 1-2 weekdays off and weekends off.

Q. How do you handle weekends with sleep?
A. I try to maintain the same weekday schedule, it's harder, but the family does their best to respect it.

Q. Does the specimen bag ever leak?
A. The bags are triple bagged. There has never been a contamination issues however specimens have been broken inside the bags, but the absorption pads and safety measures have prevented any issues.

Q. Does a sick day count as one of your vacation days?
A. Yes, but you may be asked to pick up a standby day to get that lost day back.

Q. Will I know what my schedule is for the month?
A. Yes, schedules are done 4 weeks at a time. This will allow you to swap schedules down the road if you need to. You can also work with the scheduler to be on secondary standby on a day you might have plans so you don't burn a vacation day.

Q. If I'm not scheduled on a weekday, am I off?
A. There is a primary standby pilot who is scheduled each day. All other pilots are considered as available to work in case the need arises.

Q. How often have you been called on your day off?
A. Typically once a year.

Q. Does the standby pilot have to be at the airport?
A. No.

Q. How do I know where all the bags go?
A. You have a daily run sheet with instructions. The drivers know what to expect. And dispatch is always available to answer your questions.

Q. Where are the pilots going?
A. There is lots of hiring in our industry. Majors, LCC, part 91 corporate, FAA.

Q. What plane will I start in?
A. Typically the baron. The pay is the same and the workload with paperwork is easier to understand. Once you have a good understanding of the paperwork and runs, you will transition to the PC-12.