Piedmont's reimbursement for time-building
 

http://www.airlineapps.com/home/news...FairFlyer1.jpg

airlines now paying for flight time?

Already been discussed. http://www.airlinepilotforums.com/re...umors-601.html

Yes. Next will probably be bonus's for Dash 8 type rates pilots. Main target will be CommutAir pilots.

ERJ arrives in January and this will be incredible to see them pull this off.

So if someone takes the full 300 hours, they are contractually obligated to stay at Piedmont for 3 years? That is crazy!

Crazy smart!

LIKE A FOX!

but it looks this apply only for actual piedmont employees...

How many rampers, gate agents and flight attendants meet the requirement?

I'm sure it's not too many. But for the few it's a great opportunity.

Not sure why they'd go to all this trouble since very few of their non-pilot employees will have 1200 hours. Unless they hope to attract time-builders willing to work as rampers while they time build :confused:

Sounds like a $13000 "retention bonus" with more strings than the $20000 already at Endeavor.... Yawn... Which major will pony up seniority numbers with the money first? That's the place that's serious.

My bet is that this is an attempt to improve their hiring across the board. So while today there are only a handful of people in the position to take advantage of this program, in a few months there may be many, many more.

And while the pilot puppies might only throw bags for a year, that is probably still longer than their current average retention in places like PHL.

Yes that will be the big game changer for sure. And that will be right around the corner for sure.

They'll do anything other than raise pay across the board for pilots to decent levels. Here is yet another band-aid program to boost the supply of cheap labor another month or two.

And all it would take at this point is a small unified effort from ALPA national to fight the beast, but they are the biggest weenies of all. They are also our biggest enemy.

Majors really, really, really don't want to do that.

Couple of good reasons...

If you hire a recent college grad 1500 hours and some CFI time you don't have a lot of history to go on for a guy you're going to be stuck with for 40+ years.

It would turn the current career progression system upside down, since the military guys would no longer fit in well. Ten years after college that mil guy is not going to want to come to work (even at mainline) with a seniority number behind a bunch of folks at the regional affiliate. The current system has both military and regional pilots reaching the mainline hiring gate at about the same point in life.

So this is not for new hires? Makes absolutely no sense. They assume a ramp agent or an FA has been trying to build 1500 hours on the side?

I am sure you are accurate about that but in counterpoint, we can see that other industries have methods of dumping people even when they are not bad at the job they were hired to do. There is so much industrial psychology in play these days it makes easy work of this- you did a great job on the real work but failed to meet all your self-improvement goals for the last two quarters (all nonsense items)- you get probation etc.

I certainly see the historical significance of this, but I wonder what the future holds. If military pilots are a dwindling number the airlines might consider them a minor loss and allow big changes to occur.

It's called layered recruiting. Start with a smaller sample size of folks, like current employees, then keep adding layers. Next might be CFIs...helpful for some of the CFIs in areas that don't see the international crowd or the ones who are over instructing them....I sure was. Three years is not much to ask for in return, and that should include an upgrade the way things are going.

There have allways been a few ramp and csr people working at airlines who are in the process of working on degrees and ratings. Never too many though!

I would doubt that they would get that many takers, or people who qualify. Most people who are working towards pilot goals don't stay long....schedules.

I emailed the given address asking whether this was available to new hires. This was the reply:

"This program is for current and new hire employees of Piedmont. You could come on board with us say as a gate or ramp agent, and then apply to be a part of the program. All candidates have to be approved by our flight department. I would suggest looking into any career opportunities we may have in your area. Once you get on board with Piedmont you literally could be a part of the program barring approval right away."


Soooooooo....I can be a high-quality, motivated ramp agent who then is a contract-bound pilot for three years! Cool!

"We regret to inform you that we are not looking for candidates with eternally pessimistic or horse arse views at this time." You are welcome to reapply in 6 months. Thank you.

Eternally pessimistic because I don't believe that a company's time-building program is right for my situation? Horse arse because I prefer time-building as a CFI (where I will reach R-ATP mins inside a year anyway) instead of throwing bags? Lighten up a little friend.

If you're in a current Piedmont station it might not be a bad idea to instruct and throw bags, especially if you can throw bags part time (I did not read the letter, might not work). If Space A travel is still seniority based you're helping yourself for non-rev purposes getting on the property sooner in any capacity.

I got a friend that has 1300 total. She's applying to EWN to work the ramp part-time to build the extra 200 hours. She's hoping it works out for her and she's excited about saving a ton of money on flying. Ex-marine Helo Pilot looking to build on her fix wing time. She got her fingers crossed it works for her.

So it is appealing to someone I know actually.

Hey im as easy as they come, just thought your last remark was a little trite. I think its great for someone still trying to get into the industry, and that is my opinion. If it's not for you then just say so, and your opinion will be noted and we can skip the bull fodder. Cheers.

Yes, it's a small offer that will help a hand full of pilots. But I'm sure the ones that can take advantage of it are excited as hell about saving a ton of money on flying.

Sure it won't help many and every regional is hiring so pick your airline and be happy.

Good calls all around. My remarks weren't meant to be trite but may have come across that way - no harm intended. For those whose situations favor this program, it probably is a massive boost.