Piedmont?
 

First post here fellas...

I've been following the regional forums for a while and have noticed some serious mixed revues on PDT. I want to fly the Dash and live outside PHL and MDT looks easy to hold as a new FO, but here are the questions:

Am I shooting myself in the foot here? Should I be shooting for a TJ, or is turbine time turbine time? Times now are 930/40
What have upgrades been running?
What's scheduling like?
What's the future here- Is PDT going to continue parking the fleet, or are Q-400's comming soon?

I'd appreciate any feedback you all have

Get a few more multi and you can go anywhere. Get in a Jet with those times - SKW, XJet, AWAC, or RAH...heck, maybe even ASA now ;-)

EDIT: AWAC added!

If you wanna have a ball flyin turboprops go to Piedmont. Everyone talks about how great the first year pay is but go ahead and look at the second and third year, it won't go above $30 an hour for awhile. A decent regional will pay $25 a year and then put you up over $30 an hour during your second year. AGain its all personal preference, but that was the thought process I went through when I thought about applying there.

how's the kitfox?

If you want to live outside PHL Air Wisconsin would not be a bad bet. Nothing against Piedmont, because I think those guys do a great job just getting on with it, but I have heard some pretty bad things about how the place is run.

Also, I think that in the bigger picture, some turbine time is "More Equal" than other turbine time. And I have to think that eventually turboprop time will not be on equal footing as jet time, even though it could be argued that flying a turboprop is harder. Fact is that in Europe, jet time is king. I used to work there and after I got laid off from SWISS flying SAAB2000s, I was told by a number of places that without jet time they didn't want me. BS answer, but that's the way it is. I think that could come here too.

If you ever want to work for a major international company like Cathay Pacific or Emirates, jet time is what they want. Not saying you would, but it is something to consider.

I also think the flying Piedmont does is cool. Small towns and short fields, etc. Let a Piedmonster answer about them.

But for a PHL base, you could do worse than AWAC.

I'm impressed - you're pretty sharp - that picture isn't really a dead giveaway ;) And to answer your question, she misses me LoL...haven't gotten to fly her much lately being that she's in another part of the country ::sigh::!!

Got a friend flying for them out of LGA, he's still on reserve and he's flying his rear off. I am considering making the jump from medicine to full time flying, and not just as a missionary pilot. Piedmonts my first choice because of the SYR base, but I've heard SYR is a senior base, and would be hard to get right out of training. Any thoughts on that? Commuting would be pretty hard from here in the winter, the wx is horrible. Moving right now isn't an option, so we'll see...

Dr. Jenn,

Stay in medicine

Unless you can find per-diem flying job, which allows you to continue to be a Doctor. Commuting to reserve, and you won't see a scalpel for years--

Trust me, medicine isn't all it's cracked up to be. Look - I've learned a lot over the past year, and that if your not happy with your career...you've gotta do what you love. You only have one life here on earth, make the best of it. Money is not everything...although when your single and living on first year pay, it seems to be. Fortunately I'm not single, and we do have a great income coming in on his side. No career is perfect, and flying is far from it...especially with today industry the way it is. Pay blows, QOL at most places are questionable and pilots are each others worst enemy right now. But - so are medical personnel. I wouldn't be stuck in SYR forever, so for a short term period yeah it would be rough...but it's doable. Especially when you have a spouse who is 100% supportive and wants to see you happy. Unlike most people around here, I can keep a positive outlook on things. I know what it's like to make a horrible pay check, and to never be home. I don't want 40 years to fly by, and always wonder what if I had done this and that...I don't want that to happen. Never regret anything, move on and learn from it.

If you have a passion for something, by all means go for it. I'm finding that I'm getting much more satisfaction from aviation than medicine. I wouldn't leave it completely, I'd still volunteer my time at animal shelters and such...but full time just isn't cutting it. I got into aviation because it's something I love doing. I got into teaching because I wanted to take what I knew, and share it with others - and I have absolutely zero regrets. I enjoy it even more now. I started this hobby with no intentions on going professional, but I'm starting to find that I just can't stay away from the idea of flying full time. Sat my husband down, and we discussed it and what all would be involved...and he told me to go for it. We have trust in one another, have since day one. I think this could be a very good move. It doesn't have to be 121 ops, there's many opportunities out there.

Just weighing around all the options. I'm just wondering how getting SYR right out of training would be. I've heard SBY is pretty easy to get, and that's about my only option to move because I have family down there...