What would you do?
 

Here is my situation. I was offered a class date with Colgan on March 9th which I'm really looking forward to. I also have a friend at Pinnacle who is walking my resume in and said he guarantees I'll get an interview because he knows one of the captains on the interview committee. Life at Colgan means that I would have to commute from MSP to who knows where because that is where my fiancee lives. One the other hand Pinnacle would allow me to live in base eventually but I dont have an interview or a class date there yet. What would you do? Take the guaranteed class date, or hold off for Pinnacle and have a better QOL if I get offered the job. Just looking for some insight from those who have had to make this decision in the past.

Does Colgan have a training contract? If so, find out when it takes effect. Here at GLA, we have a 15 month contract that doesn't begin until the day you pass your checkride. We had a guy leave class for SkyWest...no hard feelings from me for doing that, good for him. If Colgan is similar, I would head to class, and be prepared to leave for a better opportunity at Pinnacle if it came up...especially if that opportunity happens to be an actual job offer, not just an interview. Tough call, though...I'd say a big factor is how much you want to live in base. If living in base is priority one, I wouldn't even go to Colgan.

i would also factor in that colgan doesnt seem like a very commuter friendly company. i dont know from first hand experience thats just the impression ive gotten from others on these boards.

Go where you really want to go. I made the mistake of jumping at the first job I was offered because I was tired of instructing. If Pinnacle is where you really want to be, wait. If not, you'll be miserable at Colgan. Commuting to reserve sucks.

Colgan = mostly outstation basing = local trips = commuter nightmare = stay away or your life will be hell...and they will come after you for breaking the training contract

Colgan is going to be running Dash8-Q400's out of Newark, 15 I think I heard. Not sure where they will base them. If they get more aircraft upgrade will come pretty quick. If nothing else seniority and base choice should be quick.

They are going to base them in EWR ( I think) I know CAL doesnt stand for that outstation basing bull****, go to the airline that is close to where you live, and good work rules, of which COLGAN has neither. Going to an airline for upgrade isnt the smartest thing, this industry is wacky. I live in BASE and it is a completely different job when you dont have to commute, and it is a completely different job when you are pay protected, and fly nice new equiptment, and the list goes on and on..............COLGAN IS MISERABLE

Saab, my lovely company found a way to get around that. We are going to have a base in Corpis Cristi(sp?) for CAL. I wish they would force that rule on us.

yeah think Tyler is one for COlgan and SDF for CHQ flyinf for CAL. Let me say CAL "prefers" not to have outstation basing hahaha, How is CRP, to live in anyway I have only done a turn there

Nice town, good overnight but definitely "northern Mexico"...if you catch my drift... Not as bad as Laredo or Harlingen though.

And to answer the question of the guy who started the thread, consider this:
Pilot A and Pilot B both work for the same flight school. Pilot A jumps at the first thing to come along, in this case Colgan. Pilot B on the other hand, waits an additional 6 months until he can go where he wants, in this case Pinnacle. Fast forward a year. Pilot A is two-legging it, flying older, broken down airplanes to the same 6 airports day in and day out and generally hating life. After a year of that Pilot A is fed up and decides to jump to an airline with a base in his hometown, better pay and better equipment (in this case Pinnacle). Pilot B on the other hand has been at Pinnacle for 6 mos, building seniority, living in base and generally having a better regional airline experience. Now, Pilot A gets hired at Pinnacle 6 months and 200 pilots later than Pilot B. Who did the smarter thing? Some people will tell you "take the first thing, get on the seniority list, seniority means everything!" Thats a load of BS. It's meaningless if you jump ship after a year, you don't take your seniority with you from airline to airline. So unless you are at an airline you want to stay at for 5-10 years, enough time to upgrade and build a few thousand hours TPIC, then you are wasting your time.

haha I was in Harligen the other night.............Mi FA went to this place called "Boys Town" in Mexico with a FED that was on our plane from IAH, Apparently its like a strip club where for like under 20 bucks you can sleep with them I dunno I was gonna go but.............I figured I woulda got myself into trouble.

Haha!!! I'd be careful where you put little Saab down there:D

Ah Yes, Boys Town. Make sure you clean it with rubbing alcohol. Use a match too just be sure.


I see your Miserable and Raise you a Unimaginably Cruel and Unusual Punishment.

Is Colgan really that bad? Does anyone have an idea when the training contract starts?

I don't even think some of the current pilots there know when it starts. Kilo, did you ever figure that out?

starts the day you are hired, 1st day of class, and its not enforceable, Im living proof. My sis is an Employment lawyer too :)

Great town. Our home port for six years. Low cost of living, exceptional cultural facilities for a city its size. Good university. Boating, fishing and windsurfing mecca. Small but modern airport terminal no more then 30 minute drive from anywhere in city. Outstanding medical facilities. Padre Island has reasonably priced WF townhomes / condos for sale or rent. Two or three CC NAS pilot trainees will rent a WF condo for a year - they keep the market prices within reason. Most folks living on NORTH PI are from midwest; can't find a real Texan on the island. Don't confuse North Padre Island Corpus Christi with South Padre Island Harlingen area.

CC is highly recommended. South Padre island only has thousands of naked screaming drunk female college students during spring break. Take your pick.

I only stopped in CRP for a brief period of time, but it was nice.

Harlingen is horrible (was based there for almost 2 months). We kept driving over to McAllen for their bars.

Laredo is one of those places where I would never want to live. Half the town is in mexico (nuevo laredo), and the first thing the FBO people say when I arrive is "dont go into mexico. Kidnappings have picked up quite a bit this month"

great............

Im pretty much sick of texas in general =)

CRP is nice. Hot/humid in the summer though. Lots of flat, but gas is cheap due to the number of refinerys on the NE side of town.

Be careful about quitting training after you have started. Eagle, for example, will not interview you if drop out of training, checkride failure or not. Pinnacle may or may not be the same.

Eagle is pretty strict with their hiring, probably why they are hurting for pilots

I know a guy that didn't make it in colgan training and went to pinnacle the next week. Saabarooski, you know the guy, he was in your class.

Get out of Here, initials J. S. , awesome awesome guy how is he? Another reason COLGAN is garbage, no class at all, whats they did to him was bull**** He was better off ;) Ask im if he remembers me an "Sherry" hahahhah

Good old southern boy, He was a fun guy that hillbilly hahah

"Little Saab..." that's absolutely classic!:D I'll never look at an SF340 the same way again.

maybe it was a diff dude i was thinking of. His initials were P.S, guy who lived in cali, but was from NJ. You were in the Nov 05 class, right?

ahhhhh nah, Nov 1 or 2 i think

Training contract starts first day of training.

It doesn't matter whether its enforceable or not, its your word. You've signed a promise that you realise that the training they're paying for costs money and that you will stay for at least a year to let them recoup the cost. Leaving before it expires might not cost you financially, but Eagle isn't the only company that looks down on ignoring a contract you've signed. I've been told that southwest frowns strongly on it as well.

A man's only as good as his word.

If I were you, I'd hold out for Pinnacle. QOL is everything, and colgan just doesn't deliver in that department. A union is on its way, but that'll take a couple of years before a contract is actually in place and making things better as far as scheduling, commuter policy, etc.

Yeah I'm really wanting to hold out for Pinnacle or even ExJet as I have friends at both willing to help me out. Its just really hard to turn down your first offered airline job when you've been chasing it for as long as you can remember.

What about upgrade times? I've been told that the upgrade at Colgan is less than a year, and that Colgan even has captains in the FO seat sometimes. With a college degree one could make a b-line for the majors far sooner than if he/she were to start at another regional. Which is the smarter choice in the long run? There is obviously a decision to be made about whether to go to jets and better benefits, or to get aggressive about getting that top spot with the majors. Since it would pay you with a couple of years at the top of the payscale at some major, shouldn't that be a consideration? I only ask because I am now trying to decide myself.

Not necessarily. Someone asked that specifically in our class and they informed us it began "The day we passed our checkride." If you leave before that time, nothing goes on your record, and no hard feelings...Perhaps ZK is an exception to the rule in this case, though.