He is Trolling old man

Isn't what every Regional pilot does? The E190 is still a Regional Jet.

No, not every regional pilot does that.

Tell us, wise ole troll. What's considered a "regional jet?" I see management in your future.

Is there an honest recruiter I can talk to? Or maybe I can ask pilots here....I'm starting to think the immediate upgrades I'm told of at PSA is not capable? I'm also hearing Charlotte line holder out of training is false and not true. Also the more I research the more I find I won't flow as a new hire in three years. Is PSA a place to consider or is endeavour/Skywest/compass the new golden egg? Don't respond if you are a recruiter please.

There are no more "immediate upgrades" at PSA.

You definitely won't hold CLT right out of training and you most definitely won't hold a line in CLT very soon. As of June, the junior round 1 line holders in CLT are January 2015 hires. That fluctuates a bit based on how many lines are available to bid each month, but as of now that is what it is.

I'm not sure who told you that you would flow to AA in 3 years. I would honestly find it hard to believe even a recruiter would have told you that. To be honest, I wouldn't really consider one of the 3 AAG wholly owneds for a flow. You'll probably never flow to be honest. There will be furlough recalls and AA is shrinking the overall size of its fleet over the next few years. All of that will likely add up to less flows than what management and recruiters are projecting. The flows will create some movement off the top of the list over time, but I think there will be plenty of movement everywhere in the next couple years.

As for which airline is the "golden egg"? That's impossible to say. PSA was a golden egg a couple years ago when I got here. Now, not so much. This industry is a Ferris wheel. Those at the top will come down, and those at the bottom inevitably come up. It's a safe bet that if you aren't already on property at a regional when they get their "good news" and turn into that "golden egg" you speak of, then your window for benefitting from that good news is small if not already closed if you aren't already on property.

Upgrade will take several years for a new hire (even those with the 1000 sic). Plenty of FOs on property have the time and won't be by passing future classes. The recruiters are either completely out of touch with reality or straight up lying. Both are kind of scary to consider.

Very true. PSA has very little potential for a new hire and I wound consider endeavor or Skywest. Go where the money is and try to avoid commuting. I have been here over a year and won't be able to hold round 1 in CLT. Lines seems to fluctuate for some reason we have less lines even though we have more planes.

AA is practically scoped out. With a reduction in narrow body fleet, the total and large RJ count will have to shrink, not expand. It won't be a large number of RJ's, but the regionals are at their max size and will only shrink from here on out.

Still competitive... For now
 

PSA is still a very competitive place to go, and has a good outlook for new hires. You just need to write down what's important to you, and compare the different airline offers. If you're looking for flexible schedules, decent quality of life, career opportunities, and a sure job at AA, PSA is the place to go. If you're looking for decent first year pay and possibility* of a job at Delta (*if they hire you via SSP), Endeavor is the place to go. If you want to chase pay or slightly better work rules, but don't mind risking having the airline fold or downsize and you don't mind starting all over again, go to a 'contract carrier'. Regional consolidation is a certainty, and the big question mark is where the 'contract carriers' will end up, if anywhere.

If I were a new pilot entering the industry these would be my top choices in order: PSA, Endeavor, Envoy, Piedmont, Horizon. <<(Notice they're all wholly-owned carriers). Places I would avoid would be: AirWisc, GoJet, TransStates, CommutAir. The other contract carriers are still risky, but may or may not find the right path for survival.

At PSA:
Time on reserve is approximately 2-12 months depending on domicile you bid/are assigned, based on your seniority. Time to upgrade is currently 2.5-3 years. (Most new pilots at a regional won't have their required 121 hours to upgrade for 1.5-2 years anyway). Flow to AA currently for a new hire is just under 8 years, many factors included.

I don't see time to flow beyond 5 years as relevant. I don't see regional airlines being around in the current form in 5 years. There are approx 18,000 regional pilots with approx 20,000 pilots needed at the majors within 5 years. Even with regional consolidation and reduction in flying throughout the industry, there still won't be enough pilots to staff regionals. 70+ seat flying will return to the majors and 50 seat jets will be a thing of the past. Before the shortage plucks out every regional pilot to the majors, you'll see the majors offer seniority numbers and mainline pay rates to keep pilots in place flying the larger RJs. Seniority numbers are key. Solely increases in pay will not solve this problem. Also, bonuses and incentives will eventually become so expensive for the regionals, that it'll make more sense just to pay a negotiated mainline pay rate, and give the pilot a seniority slot. These same incentives will cause some contract carriers to go bankrupt or be sold off.

Retirements haven't even really kicked in, and the regionals are already feeling the pinch. 2017 is when the big retirement numbers start happening. Without seniority numbers, the bleeding of pilots from the regionals will continue.

I truly like PSA. I've seen the lowest of lows here, but I can honestly say it's come a long way and things are much better. Two topics which need to be addressed are: accuracy of paychecks and contract compliance. The recent $20,000 bonus for current/active FOs was wonderful - a great incentive to keep them around a little longer, and will enable them to drop flying while maintaining or even gaining a little pay. They can even delay upgrade for a year or so and be paid about the same as if they had upgraded.

Realistically it will never be cheaper to fly RJs at mainline pay vs any B scale and we will never see seniority numbers, it shows how little people know about business. I can see average pay for RJs to be closer to first year pay at mainline eventually but they will never give us seniority numbers. It's cheaper for a company to reset your longevity by having you fly for a seperate company first.

This. Im skeptical that the flows will even realistically last any longer than it takes to remove the highest paid CAs at the wholly owneds.

Welcome to the forum Devil Dog. I thought you took another job with an ACMI? If so, good luck. I hope you enjoy it there.

Anyway, I occasionally like PSA. Usually it is just after a good overnight, with a good crew, on a nice sunny morning. Then, something "PSA" happens and it ruins everything. Sometimes it is payroll screwing up my paycheck and short paying me AGAIN. Other times, it is our D.O. calling and threatening pilots into working when they are not legal to do so. Another time it is seeing an FO get displaced off of a line that they hold and put back on reserve. Or, even better, it is our union caving to the company and screwing the pilots again...and again...and again.

Operationally, PSA is a very dysfunctional place. Dispatchers don't take things such as weather and MELs into account when dispatching airplanes. Scheduling is inept at best. It takes 3 write-ups to get maintenance to actually fix anything (op's check good?). The safety department does not share important information that may be important until well after the fact and prefers to hide issues (just read about the single engine landing in ATL a month after it happened).

Or how about this new crap with LCA's being considered CQFO's and flying in the right seat to help the company? The LCAs are directly stealing money from the FO's, the days are not going critical, and the pilot group seems cool with it.

PSA is going to have some serious staffing issues pretty soon. There were less round one lines this month, and many captains who held round 1 lines are back on reserve. Most of these were street captains and came to PSA with 6-9 years of experience at other regionals. There are pilots with 10,000 hours of flight time and good records that will be on reserve as captains for at least another 2 years. Many are planning on jumping ship at the first chance. I saw dozens of PSA pilots at job fairs recently, and I wish them all luck.

If you think that we are having a very hard time hiring pilots now, imagine how bad it is going to be once the PSA MEC starts informational picketing at job fairs. Our new hires will drop from an average of 9 per class to 3 per class, and the relationship between our company and pilots is going to get even worse. And they despise us already. It will soon be even worse.

The growth has stopped at PSA. There may be another couple 900's coming in, but no one expects the 700's to ever come over and the 200's will likely leave soon. That means that you had better be in the base and seat that you want to be in now, because upgrades are done. We don't have FO's to replace the FO's that we are losing, never mind the captains that are leaving, and we will just park airplanes every time we lose enough captains. New hires may never see a round 1 line, and the benefits of the SAP.

PSA had a great chance to succeed. It was poised to be a good place. The schedule flexibility is great, the contract really isn't that bad, the growth was amazing. Sure, we had a 12/4, but with the growth and flow, no one would ever hit those points. But, as tends to happen, American Airlines management completely screwed everything up. Dion and his crew came in and treat the pilots like crap every chance that they get. It is now a terrible place to be. It probably isn't quite as bad as Envoy, I will admit, but we will be soon.

What the management does not realize is that every time they treat the pilots like crap, they make more trouble for themselves. I know guys that had purposefully waited until the outstation to call in sick just to screw the company. Or write up the airplane and cancelling a flight. Or sit back and laugh when scheduling is calling for a junior man assignment. Or save their sick time for days that have the fewest number of reserves on the reserve grid.

I am waiting for the critical pay arbitration to come back in a few weeks and see how much we are screwed over by that. And the new flow negotiations in June. I will bet that neither of these things go the pilots way.

Well, here I sit, in one of the worst hotels in our system. It is going to start raining soon. The inbound flight is delayed. My FO went to riddle. My FA's were working at fast food restaurants just a few weeks ago. Today is NOT going to be a good day. Today is going to be what I call a "PSA DAY".

"I didn't even have to use my A.K. , I gotta say it was a good day."

There is really nothing exciting here right now. If you live in or near a base, that would be a big plus for your lifestyle. Other than that, 2014 and 2015 were the years to be hired here. It's ran its course and now there are other better choices out there you should consider. These things come in cycles.

As far as golden eggs are concerned, you are not going to find many of those no matter where you go, just be realistic.

Hahahahah excellent post!! You were never the one to be negative. This is all the truth and straight from the heart. Love it.

Mostly our problems can all be tied back to the union. They are too eager to please the company. Why? Nobody here is too certain just what is going on with this union. They have no back bone.

I made the right choice in coming to PSA. I have been here a little over 2 years ago and have had it pretty good. Almost no time spent on reserve, and now I am able to get 15 days a month off or more. I have never worked a holiday that I wanted to be off for. When I hear about people that have been on reserve as FOs for years at places like Envoy, I can't understand why they didn't come to PSA 3 years ago. They would be line holding captains with the SAP, getting off any time that they want, and even closer to the flow than they are at Envoy.

I do feel bad about people that are being lied to by our recruiters and are coming to PSA now. The people that made the videos should be completely ashamed of themselves. If you come to PSA now, you are going to get screwed.

I have friends at most all of the regionals, and I would not recommend any in particular. They all have major problems and it is anyones guess when the next one will close. My guess is that AWAC will close first, and then something dramatic will have to happen with PDT. Delta will be reducing their regional flying so much that I would not recommend Endeavor right now. Mesa is terrible and will likely not get better. The whole SkyWest thing always confuses me, but they may be the most stable of the non-owned airlines, but that may be their downfall. If Delta and United take flying back to main line, SkyWest has to be more expensive than the others and will likely lose flying first. Again, all of these assumptions are with what we know today. Tomorrow it will all be different. Caveat Emptor.

Envoy 2011-2012 hire is about 3 years from flowing. Said person would be 600-800 seniority on PSA = 13yrs to flow. Even if is on the 400s = 6.6 yr to flow. Take 2 years out of each = 4.6 to 11 yrs to flow right now at PSA.

Would they had been better $ short term, yes. Long term, not a chance. Also a 2011 hire when gets to be CA, probably next year will be in 6yr pay vs 3-4 yr CA pay at PSA.

Also, look at your airline state, envoy being bigger is better positionate to succeed vs PSA. PSA can't keep up with the growth and is the youngest AAG WO pilot group. They will try to keep you guys locked as much as they can, just because of the $$$$ savings.

What saves more money to AAG a 8-10yr ENY CA or a 3-5 yr PSA CA?

2011 hires are no where near 600 on the list.

2011 hires are in the 200s you dingus

I'm talking about the envoy 2011 hires. Not the PsA.

A 2011 envoy guy 2 years ago was on reserve. That's the comparison I'm making. If a 2011 hire jumped ship to PSA in 2014.

Been told that envoy flow will slow down drastically due to some 500-700 AA pilots returning.

Best post on this thread. My issue is that I don't see, not that it isn't being done behind the scenes, anything to fix these issues. Communication is below sub par here. Sure we get fast reads and emails from the company, but it's about quality not quantity. Tell us what is being done to fix this place. If all that is actually being done is what we're told then God help us all. The work force is the companies best recruiting tool. Yall have 1200 recruiters out there everyday. Give them something to work with, unless there just isn't anything.

So with PSA. The $10,000 retention bonus is not for new hires correct? New hires ONLY get the sign on bonus?

Corrrrrrrrrect

That's correct, but wait there's more...!

You also get:

Nearly the lowest pay in the industry
A terrible contract complete with a union that won't enforce it
The opportunity to pay Dayton taxes while in training
A Dayton base for at least 3-4 months and maybe a line in a year.
And don't worry about studying for upgrade, you'll have at least 3 years before that's even a possibility.

So come on over to PSA We make the bottom of the barrel feel like home!

Plus don't forget that it teaches you to be frugal so that you won't waste all the money your going to make way off in the future!

Yeah they are actually doing you a favor by teaching you this lesson. Be thankful they don't charge you.

Dave Ramsey on steroids for free! It's basically a gift they pay us and give us the free lessons for financial success.

So with PSA. If you were home based, would you choose it over Endeavor? Just gathering some opinions. And where I live, there are a ton of direct flights from my home to a couple of Endeavor junior bases.

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Endeavor endeavor endeavor.better hurry. Street captains are coming here soon. Pm me I'll answer any questions you have.

What's the story with Dayton's taxes?

If you live in a PSA base, then it's not a bad place to go. You'll have good QOL.

One of the few cities in the US with city income tax...

Every city in Ohio has municipal income tax. Further, if you work in a different city in Ohio than the one in Ohio you live in, you may pay city income tax twice. For example, you live in Englewood, Ohio but work in Dayton, Ohio.

Your taxes should be deducted from where you live, not where you work. That's the beauty of the airlines. Your permanent address is where your taxes comes out.

There's some kind of weird agreement between PSA and Dayton. Supposedly PSA gets a payment for every new employee they bring in. I don't know the details about that.

I do know that somehow you are required to pay Dayton taxes while in training even though you aren't a resident. Just another benefit of joining the PSA Ponzi scheme.

Stick with the "at home base" thing. If that's with PSA you'll be fine, all these places have a lot of the same "issues" anyway. But living in base is the one thing that can make any carrier, no matter how many of those "issues" they have, a good deal for you. Money isn't going to make a place like Endeavor worth anything when you're commuting. I have to commute so I can't use the home base thing to my benefit, but if I lived in a PSA base I'd be working there without a doubt.

If Endeavor really needs street captains, I'll be gone before you can say P o SA.