Don’t Come To PDT
 

Interviewed in January. I still have not started sims. I won’t be on the line till mid to late November (hopefully!!!). Upgrade is realistically 3 years total because you don’t fly your first year, you sit on min pay at home the whole time. Make less money your second year than you do the first... wish I would have went somewhere else...

What’s keeping you from leaving then?

Prob already spent the bonus money and can’t pay it back😂

I think I’ll be going to sims soon hopefully. I’m saying if I could go back to January I wouldn’t have interviewed here. At most other airlines I would have been flying for 4-6 months by now, accruing flight time. Prolly better pay and more days off as well..

You have to when your only making minimums for 11 months...

Don't fall prey to the 'sunk cost fallacy'. That past is written in stone, but from the present point forward, the best course of action is the best course of action, regardless of what you've invested to get to this point.

So, from here forward, are you better off staying with Piedmont, or going somewhere else?

I'm not saying you should or shouldn't leave, but don't let sunk cost taint your decision.

FWIW, it took three months to get from the start of my first sim session to completion of OE and (finally) a line pilot. That was all training delays. My sim partner and I passed every lesson and ride on the first try, and completed OE at the minimum required hours.

So, even though you've been on the Piedmont payroll for half a year, your quickest route to being a line pilot is probably still not Piedmont. Pathetic, isn't it?

Your interview date doesn’t mean a whole lot... back in Jan PDT had folks waiting 3-5 months to start indoc after interviewing with the company.

Things are far from perfect at PDT, but laying out a vague timeline to imply that new hires will be sitting around for 11 months as a paid employee before they even start sims and won’t see a plane for over a year after indoc is a bit disingenuous.

Upgrade eligibility for new hires is forecast to be 27-30 months using 9-12 months from indoc to OE completion and averaging 55hrs a month until 1000hrs with the company. Actual upgrade times are quicker or slower in some cases depending on background and amount of flight time at PDT.

As far as not interviewing back in January... it wasn’t a secret that there were training delays and folks were taking 4-5 months to get from Indic to ground school back then. Sorry you didn’t do your research on the company beforehand, but I doubt you’d have found another company giving you 30 days off for several months with pay and your probation clock running as a new hire.

If you’re miserable at PDT, no one would fault you for leaving. Definitely recommend finishing OE and completing your probation period first so it doesn’t look like you couldn’t hack it/ resigned in leu of termination. If you decide to stay, make sure to vote no on any TAs that you don’t find acceptable.

I don't fault people for making the decisions they do. Remember the recruiting department is responsible for getting people in the door. They know the buzz words to convince people to come here.

Remember... we have immediate upgrade.. 2.5 year to 3 years if your a zero time guy or gal..

No longer we have the quickest flow..

We have the lowest pay of the regionals now..

We have the worst, least inefficient schedules that credit the the lowest in the industry.

You will give 4 days of your life to make 16 hours credit... for first officers that is less than 640 dollars a trip. For captains that is approximately 1000 dollars a trip.

You will work 20 days a month and get 75 hours credit a month.

That is 3000 dollars a month. As an fo.. after deductions that's about 2000 dollars a month. Yes there are bonuses and bonuses can be taken away at any time... ask people here at year 3 at min fo pay trying to upgrade.. they will make approximately 30k the year they upgrade as there is no more bonus to help them supplement min pay.

I'm not trying to be negative about this company but just honest.

As little as 5 years ago people survived just fine without the bonuses and in even lower hourly rates. BTW I think Trans States or GOJet will buy out your contract if you want to go.

Sitting at home getting paid; not ideal for advancing your aviation credentials but what an opportunity! I hope you’ve been making money on the side and using your AA travel benefits to the max.
Having said this I do understand your frustration.