Cape Air
01-26-2022, 06:36 PM
#2461
EJET Driver
Joined APC: Apr 2020
Posts: 31
Warning
Cape Air is under new leadership and they are short staffed. They have currently shut down PVC and PWM (next week) due to lack of crew. PVC is also construction/Covid, but they didn’t have the crew for it pre construction. People are leaving in waves and they are hiring international street captains. This can be challenging for FOs. Use caution going to this place. The 402s are dying and the tecnam is trash. Literally a hazard for your certificate to fly here because of aircraft age. The MX do the best they can, but between 40+ year old aircraft that want to retire and a baby airplane that will break if you look at it wrong more often then not you will face insane issues that danger yourself and your passengers. I left and don’t plan to look back.
01-27-2022, 02:36 AM
#2462
New Hire
Joined APC: Jan 2022
Posts: 5
Originally Posted by FlightLife2020
Cape Air is under new leadership and they are short staffed. They have currently shut down PVC and PWM (next week) due to lack of crew. PVC is also construction/Covid, but they didn’t have the crew for it pre construction. People are leaving in waves and they are hiring international street captains. This can be challenging for FOs. Use caution going to this place. The 402s are dying and the tecnam is trash. Literally a hazard for your certificate to fly here because of aircraft age. The MX do the best they can, but between 40+ year old aircraft that want to retire and a baby airplane that will break if you look at it wrong more often then not you will face insane issues that danger yourself and your passengers. I left and don’t plan to look back.
It was a pretty nice place to work a few years ago and I was planning to stay long term, but things have changed with the new CEO and I would advise anyone to look elsewhere. They pay is horrible and you’re forced to live in expensive places because commuting is basically impossible. some senior pilots sleep in their cars 3 hours from home. family healthcare is about 65% of your paycheck for a new hire captain, more for an FO. You used to be able to pick up incentives for $500/day because they’re so desperate for staff but they changed the lines to be 50hrs a week by adding a “spare” day and going from 4 on/4 off to 4/3. That spare day will push you close to 34hr/7 days so guess what? No more picking up shifts. 8-12 hrs of mandatory overtime once a week is nice I guess, but 26hrs+$600-1000 incentive a week was keeping pilots here. And now everyone is leaving. Nice job management. Didn’t you brag about a $10m “profit” last year?? Pilots each got a $100 bill in a Christmas card and that was about it.
There are currently around 80 bidding captains on a seniority list of 275 pilots because everyone is leaving or has left. The writing is on the wall, they treat their pilots like garbage, the new lines have ruined a lot of people’s lives.
The new equipment is a joke. When you write up a tecnam they say “it’s a project” but the thing is on the flight line… experiment phase should have been completed years ago. Saw a plane the other day that had TWELVE PAGES of engine write ups in a single inspection period and was still on the line. There were 8 tecnams grounded in the Midwest yesterday. This “FADEC” on a piston twin is not meant for commercial use. Everything inside feels cheap and plasticky. The P212 itself is a minivan with wings, and it flies like a minivan without wings when you go to idle. The narrow wheelbase and high wings makes it sketchy in crosswind. The wheel struts sometimes don’t compress on landing leaving you taxiing 10 degrees wing-low on one side. This is “normal,” lol. The 402 was legendary, but they are very old and late on being replaced. The new plane is probably going to bury this company.
Despite all this they’re still trying to open new bases ::slaps forehead::
01-27-2022, 08:57 PM
#2464
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Jun 2011
Posts: 517
Anyone who has a few hours in a Tecnam P2006T could have told them relying on anything from that company for commercial airline service was going to be a disaster.
The Tecnam Twins are a reliability nightmare and the factory support is bad.
The Tecnam Twins are a reliability nightmare and the factory support is bad.
01-29-2022, 12:54 PM
#2466
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: May 2014
Posts: 186
Originally Posted by LadyAvee8r
I hate to say it but I agree with this 100%.
It was a pretty nice place to work a few years ago and I was planning to stay long term, but things have changed with the new CEO and I would advise anyone to look elsewhere. They pay is horrible and you’re forced to live in expensive places because commuting is basically impossible. some senior pilots sleep in their cars 3 hours from home. family healthcare is about 65% of your paycheck for a new hire captain, more for an FO. You used to be able to pick up incentives for $500/day because they’re so desperate for staff but they changed the lines to be 50hrs a week by adding a “spare” day and going from 4 on/4 off to 4/3. That spare day will push you close to 34hr/7 days so guess what? No more picking up shifts. 8-12 hrs of mandatory overtime once a week is nice I guess, but 26hrs+$600-1000 incentive a week was keeping pilots here. And now everyone is leaving. Nice job management. Didn’t you brag about a $10m “profit” last year?? Pilots each got a $100 bill in a Christmas card and that was about it.
There are currently around 80 bidding captains on a seniority list of 275 pilots because everyone is leaving or has left. The writing is on the wall, they treat their pilots like garbage, the new lines have ruined a lot of people’s lives.
The new equipment is a joke. When you write up a tecnam they say “it’s a project” but the thing is on the flight line… experiment phase should have been completed years ago. Saw a plane the other day that had TWELVE PAGES of engine write ups in a single inspection period and was still on the line. There were 8 tecnams grounded in the Midwest yesterday. This “FADEC” on a piston twin is not meant for commercial use. Everything inside feels cheap and plasticky. The P212 itself is a minivan with wings, and it flies like a minivan without wings when you go to idle. The narrow wheelbase and high wings makes it sketchy in crosswind. The wheel struts sometimes don’t compress on landing leaving you taxiing 10 degrees wing-low on one side. This is “normal,” lol. The 402 was legendary, but they are very old and late on being replaced. The new plane is probably going to bury this company.
Despite all this they’re still trying to open new bases ::slaps forehead::
It was a pretty nice place to work a few years ago and I was planning to stay long term, but things have changed with the new CEO and I would advise anyone to look elsewhere. They pay is horrible and you’re forced to live in expensive places because commuting is basically impossible. some senior pilots sleep in their cars 3 hours from home. family healthcare is about 65% of your paycheck for a new hire captain, more for an FO. You used to be able to pick up incentives for $500/day because they’re so desperate for staff but they changed the lines to be 50hrs a week by adding a “spare” day and going from 4 on/4 off to 4/3. That spare day will push you close to 34hr/7 days so guess what? No more picking up shifts. 8-12 hrs of mandatory overtime once a week is nice I guess, but 26hrs+$600-1000 incentive a week was keeping pilots here. And now everyone is leaving. Nice job management. Didn’t you brag about a $10m “profit” last year?? Pilots each got a $100 bill in a Christmas card and that was about it.
There are currently around 80 bidding captains on a seniority list of 275 pilots because everyone is leaving or has left. The writing is on the wall, they treat their pilots like garbage, the new lines have ruined a lot of people’s lives.
The new equipment is a joke. When you write up a tecnam they say “it’s a project” but the thing is on the flight line… experiment phase should have been completed years ago. Saw a plane the other day that had TWELVE PAGES of engine write ups in a single inspection period and was still on the line. There were 8 tecnams grounded in the Midwest yesterday. This “FADEC” on a piston twin is not meant for commercial use. Everything inside feels cheap and plasticky. The P212 itself is a minivan with wings, and it flies like a minivan without wings when you go to idle. The narrow wheelbase and high wings makes it sketchy in crosswind. The wheel struts sometimes don’t compress on landing leaving you taxiing 10 degrees wing-low on one side. This is “normal,” lol. The 402 was legendary, but they are very old and late on being replaced. The new plane is probably going to bury this company.
Despite all this they’re still trying to open new bases ::slaps forehead::
Finally someone wants to speak up. This place sucks. Over promise and under deliver. It’s not the Cape Air it used to be. Nothing legendary about it anymore. It’s just another EAS 135. I am happy I moved on. They were toxic and some people really drink the kool aid.
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01-29-2022, 02:35 PM
#2467
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Feb 2006
Position: B-737NG preferably in first class with a glass of champagne and caviar
Posts: 5,912
Originally Posted by dapuckstopper15
Finally someone wants to speak up. This place sucks. Over promise and under deliver. It’s not the Cape Air it used to be. Nothing legendary about it anymore. It’s just another EAS 135. I am happy I moved on. They were toxic and some people really drink the kool aid.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
01-30-2022, 10:32 AM
#2469
On Reserve
Joined APC: Apr 2021
Posts: 19
I am also apart of the team that was so excited to come here and the things I had heard were all positive and Capes reputation was excellent in the industry...However, I am also apart of the side that has recently left and do not regret it. This is a pilots market and between the basing, 13 hour duty days, and compensation I do not think twice about my decision.
I encourage anyone looking into Cape to talk to someone who is there or has worked there to truly 100% know what they are getting into and what the expectations will be.
I encourage anyone looking into Cape to talk to someone who is there or has worked there to truly 100% know what they are getting into and what the expectations will be.
01-30-2022, 10:33 AM
#2470
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: May 2014
Posts: 186
Originally Posted by Mandalorian
I am also apart of the team that was so excited to come here and the things I had heard...However, I also am apart of the side that has recently left and do not regret it. This is a pilots market and between the basing, 13 hour duty days, and compensation I do not think twice about my decision.
I encourage anyone looking into Cape to talk to someone who is there or has worked there to truly 100% know what they are getting into.
I encourage anyone looking into Cape to talk to someone who is there or has worked there to truly 100% know what they are getting into.
You left? Nice!
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