Bigherc916

Hey everyone, I’m a new hire that will be starting class next month. I’m looking for any insight/guidance on how to achieve my goals at PSA. It looks like DCA and Dayton are the most junior FO bases as of now. I’m single and plan to live in-base. My top priorities are:
1). Reach upgrade minimums ASAP
2). Begin building a resume to attain a LCA/pilot recruitment position
3). Keep COL as low as possible (100k+ student debt)

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

Lovemywife

Well, if COL is a concern definitely choose DAY. Many would say southwest Ohio is a bore, but if your focused on your career & paying off debt you can’t go wrong. You could easily rent an apartment in Vandalia for say $500.

To build time quickly you may need to pick up flying on “days off”.
Not a problem if living in Vandalia focusing on career & debt!

If you want to become LCA, instructor, recruiter. Study hard, fly standard (always), ask lots of questions when flying with experienced Captains.

Good luck!

ZeroTT

The CVG base is closing at the end of February. That has created a (probably temporary) run on Dayton. It's currently inaccessible to new hires and may stay that way for awhile. Low COL for sure, but will be a very slow progression to holding a line and reserves aren't very busy there.

I'd advise Charlotte as the best place to hit priority #1. There's plenty of cheap housing available and you'll be somewhere the reserves fly a lot. Might not hold Charlotte immediately, but should be within a few months if current patterns hold.

FL001

New hires are going to ORF, once you upgrade who knows everything changes so fast. If you upgraded today as a really junior captain you would go to ORF or DCA. You have to have over 2.5 years at the company to hold a round 1 line as a captain.

FL001

LCA you have to have 1 year at the company as a CPT. Realistically I don't see anyone becoming an LCA prior to 3 years at the company.

Swakid8

JR captains are going to DCA mainly. Most of the Senior ORF FOs who live in live in base are starting to upgrade there in ORF.

captande

ORF has been full for months. New hires are going to DC. Then upgrades are PHL then DC.

ZeroTT

ORF is not full. Just got 16 new hires this week and a early 2018 hire upgrading

Throwitaway

Yeah, I think the best classification is that it is "transient". When they're senior assigned (or CLT based because regardless of seniority, Charlotte is so senior there's plenty of reserve to go around for new Captains. Fair warning, ORF is a headache for reserve commuters), a noticeable amount of guys will commute to ORF for a line until they can hold a line in CLT. It effectively makes CLT look more junior and ORF look more senior to some extent. Also, the holidays skew numbers due to the base jumpers who changed based to avoid reserve or hold a more lucrative holiday line. We're seeing everything go "back to normal" seniority wise. The numbers you guys will see here for bases will be accurate over the next ~9 months.

New guys should know that reserve at PSA, much like the rest of the regional industry, can be incredibly draining if you commute. I wouldn't wish it on to my worst enemy. Best advice is to avoid commuting. Pick a base that works for you (but don't pick CVG... and probably TYS, cause some people heard it'sclosing for the past 12 years). I believe all PSA pilots will agree that being a lean mean round 1 SAPing machine vs. a hot reservist (as sexually appealing as that sounds) are like living two totally different lives, working for two totally different companies.

Thedude86

Personally, unless you’re ok with moving in a short period of time, I would avoid moving to any of the outstation bases (DAY, TYS, ORF) as there are strong rumors that any or all of them could be eventually on the chopping block. I think the chances of all of them disappearing are slim, but not impossible. I wouldn’t be surprised to see at least one more close in the next year or so though.