evh347

Us -200 guys stayed at the Townplace suites (by Marriot) in Minny during our initial 3-week session of ground training and then at the Comfort Suites in Denver for our 2nd 3-week session of SIM.

The Townplace had a nice kitchen and descent service throughout my stay. Don't try and cook bacon though...I turned on the oven fan and all it did was blow it right back in your face. My first Saturday off, I tried to get fancy and cook myself breakfast and I set the fire alarm off in the whole building causing everyone to evacuate at like 8am. The chief fireman had to come inspect my room..."First time cooking here?" LOL...no more bacon for me.

The Comfort Suites in Denver was nice too, no kitchen though. I got a little tired of microwaving all my food. The CAE training center was within walking distance and most restaurants are as well. Not a great mountain view outside the window, but you can see them about 40 miles to the west if you look on a clear day. We frequented Uno's restaurant about every other night...great happy hour from 4-7pm (2-for-1 drinks and 1/2 price appetizers) and then again from 10pm to close. There's also a pizza place (Anthony's) where you flash your badge and you can score two HUGE slices of pizza fro $4 and $1 buds. We went for about a 5 mile walk to a nature center on a couple nice days and saw some nice deer walking through the area. A complementary shuttle is available to cart guests over to Walmart to stock up on groceries. And there was FREE breakfast provided every day (make-your-own waffles, cereal 24/7, juice/coffee, toast/bagels, eggs/sausage, etc...). And to celebrate our checkrides, we all went over to Outback steakhouse...awesome! They had a tiny jacuzzi and a 4ft deep pool that I didn't swim in (too small). The internet was fast enough to satisfy and we got complimentary USA Today papers everyday. The room service staff kept things tidy for me on a daily basis too.

I'm sure not all hotels will be like that, but that wasn't too bad for being holed up for 3-weeks.

seattlepilot

Just got the email saying 'we have determined that the credentials of other candidates may better fit our needs at this time'.

Thanks for all the ones that replied.

Lighteningspeed

Why don't you apply for an FO slot? You will get the upgrade in 30 days while in the ground school. At the worst case scenario you will only get the FO pay during training.

seattlepilot

I did apply for the F/O slot.. I wouldn't like to make an attempt to street captain position without experience in company and aircraft.
May be they don't want to hire a high time guy .. Whatever the reason was , I got very helpful replies from the pilot group.

Being 40 I was chasing the dream of quick upgrade with better wages than Lakes. I guess it's time to look for some jet operators.

Tinpusher007

Well, guys at long last...six months of employment with XJ and Im finally getting IOE tomorrow night. My first flight will be NW3623 MSP-DSM. Wish me luck, its been a loooong time coming! BTW, anyone know anything to do in DSM?

ExperimentalAB

Best of luck Tinpusher...you never forget your first PAX-carrying flight

Mesabah

I have forgotten mine......

jayray2

What have you been doing for 6 months? Is this typical for all 900 FOs? You were getting paid correct? Could you travel international without the worry of getting called in the next day? I am in the Jan. 14 class on the 900, I guess I don't mind not flying if I can travel. However, I'd much rather finish training and start flying right away - 6 months is a long time without any real flying time.

Squawk_5543

After you finish training and are awaiting IOE you don't want to be going on vacation around the world. As more and more 900's are coming online and more OE captians are coming up, the wait for OE should be going down and you could get called at any time so just be ready. I think for a few of us including Tinpusher, we had unusually long waits due to various circumstances.

WIFlyer

Half of IOE is the LCA showing you the good places to go on the overnights! I just passed six months of employment myself but on the Saab I think I have about 350 hours so far. I was just going over the AOM to see how much I have forgotten since groundschool--I guess you could have just upgraded to Captain on the Saab before ever even going through IOE if you wanted to

Have fun on the line, I am flying out of MSP this evening as well, see you in the 30R deice pad!