PSA Recruiter

In the civilian world, most pilots know to look at the "gouge sites" for information on the interviews. I think the most popular one for PSA is AviationInterviews.com. There are usually 1-2 interview experiences a week published, so the info is usually up to date.

With the technical interview portion of the interview, we (the Interview Team) are looking for you have the knowledge and experience to be successful in training at PSA. You hold a commercial multiengine rating and an instrument rating, and we expect you to be knowledgable and a proficient pilot. We will teach someone how to fly our jets with our rules, but we will not teach someone how to be a pilot.

The biggest thing that we look at is instrument currency and proficiency, as that is one of the biggest problems that the training department sees. The interview team works closely with the training department and Check Airmen to make sure that we give them the best students that will be successful in training.

Moxie

How's does it work for getting your domicile after you have completed training? And how difficult is it to hang onto that domicile after you get there?

In other words can you lose your domicile for any reason?

PSA Recruiter

You will place your bid for domicile usually your first week of class. There are no seat or base locks of any sort, so it really doesn't matter what base you are initially awarded. You could change bases several times before you even complete training.

Once you are on the line, you can theoretically change bases every month. Since we only have one aircraft fleet and no base locks, you can bid what works best for you.

We have several people that will move bases depending on where they can hold a line the fastest.

If we open a new base or close a base, it is possible to lose your domicile (if your base closes, you would obviously have to go somewhere else). Possible, but not likely. There were a few very junior captains that were given DCA as a base when it opened because not enough senior people bid for that base. They were free to bid back to any other base the next open bid, though.

I have a hard time believing that it will happen again, but it is theoretically possible.

As an FO, you will likely have 100 people junior to you by the time to finish training, so it really isn't something I would worry about.

Moxie

Not sure if this is the best place to pose this question, but here goes. How is life as an airline pilot when you are family guy? Here is my scenario I am transitioning out of the military, (non retiree) and have 4 kids, and trying to get the perspective on how family life is being away 3-5 days at a time. I am very involved with the kiddos and want it to remain that way the best I can. PSA has the domicile locations I want, being close to CLT and D.C. Helps, SE Va is where I want to be geographically due to family. If anyone else has a similar situation please weigh in and let me know.
Thanks

texinc

If you have read these posts and seen the charts that some of our pilots compile, you can get an idea of what domiciles are getting you off reserve and into a Round 1 line the quickest. Right now between DCA and CLT, your best chance of a shorter time on reserve and getting to a Round 1 line is to get DCA. But that could change. As long as there are lots of flights per day between ORF and DCA, that would make commuting workable. One downside to being based in DCA is that the $250 commuter hotel allowance is used up pretty quickly especially if you have to use it during the week. Weekend rates at nearby hotels are usually a little more reasonable.

Swakid8

Hey man see that you are in ORF as well. I am there too and actually looking into PSA, definitely should hit me up.


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BOS 80

As you already know, being a pilot usually means nights away from home. An advantage on the airline side is that there is a schedule and you know it in advance. A PSA advantage is the SAP- Schedule Adjustment Period where Round 1 lineholders can adjust their schedules to get the days off they really need and want. And you will get to Round 1 pretty quickly.

If you can live in base, that will help immensely on the family front. Except for hot reserve, you can be home on reserve days.

One other tip, while being an airline pilot does take you away from home, it is the kind of job you set aside while you are home. Other jobs I've had are pretty hard to get away from on evenings and weekends. I enjoy focusing on my pilot job for 4 days, then being able to focus on family when I'm home without distraction.

chrisreedrules

Worth noting that if you live in ORF, once you hold a Round 1 line you can SAP into trips with overnights there (of which we seem to have a fair amount). I used to do that a lot where I live. I would get as many as 3-5 extra nights home /month and it was nice.

sflpilot

One of the others factors with this is it tends to be easier if you were already in the airlines before getting married and having kids. Your schedule and lifestyle is a known quantity and usually accepted when you get married. Your situation is where there can be problems. You are throwing in major changes to the family's every day life that may not be taken kindly by them. Simply put, you will be gone a lot. Most places do have 1 day trips, but they usually go very senior. Unfortunately it's a gamble. Any honest 121 pilot will tell you all the stories of infidelity and divorce that resulted from this situation. I know these boards tend to be negative, but I am trying to give a very honest response.

tattooguy21

Has PSA partnered with any additional flight schools than Skywarrior for their transition training? I've looked on the PSA website and still only seer them listed.

I don't ask to disparage SW, only to see if there are multiple schools available to reduce chances of delay due to massive amounts of applicants.