Asa
 

Besides the fact that people think they may shut down, why not go to asa? The work rules seem to be alright. They pay is competetive. I am trying to decide between a few regionals, and would like some help. Thanks in advance for the info

I work at ASA, I like it! The first year pay is not that great but hey its only a year! If your thinking of coming here get your app in now so you can have a ton of people below you in senority real quick! There hiring 40 a month right now! Classes start every two weeks. PM me if you have any questions!

I have jsut talked w them in the last week. I am just shy of 500TT, but have over 100ME, they are hard on that 500TT,if you ve got it great, their 1st FO pay sucks. But after that they are right up there with the top ones. I dont think that they are gonna go anywhere, but who knows. ATL is fun city. Whats your flight time??? Good luck!

ASA is up and down. Basically find an airline that fits you. ALL regionals suck. I dont care who you talk to ALL regionals suck. Some suck more then others (Mesa, GoJet). So find a regional that is stable and you will have a good QOL. I am at Comair and like it, it fits me some will tell you Comair is bad. What is good for one person is bad for another.

I have 650TT and 60ME, I have received an interview invite from comair. I don't think that would work for me though. ASA would be a really easy commute from florida!

Would it be a good idea to put your app in even if you cant take the job just to get seniority?? I am going to school right now and wont be done until Jan. Should I put an app in anyway?

I have a friend that left Pen for there and he seems to be very happy there.

Usally, you don't get your senority number until you start class. So if you're thinking about interviewing and seeing if they'll let you have a class date after you graduate, it wouldn't affect your senority. However, I don't think it to soon to start submitting your applications. Just make sure they know you can't start until January and why. Good Luck.

As far as the 500TT regionals go I think ASA is probably near the top. They do have a somewhat uncertain future so if PIC time is your goal you might be wise to either wait another 100 hours and try for XJT or switch to another regional once you get the time. Who knows, they could be the next hot upgrade but it doesn't look like it IMHO

You have to be hired and have a class date in order to get a senority number. Your date of hire is your first day of class.

How long is the trainging at ASA? What about reserve time? What are the lines like?

I wouldn't be to quick to jump on Xjet right now. I have a few friends that have worked there since it was owned by continental and they actually told me not to go there just because of the unstability of there company right now. They are kind of in a weird place with the branding thing and having rumers of Cal pulling more flying from them. If the branding thing dosent work or if Cal pulls more planes they will unload pilots. Just my 2 cents.

Training is about 2 months. A little longer if your on the 700. Which some new hires are getting during training. Right now reserve time is next to nothing. 1-2 months maybe if that on the 200. Havent heard about reserve on the 700 or the ATR.

Sorry Kit, but there is no such thing as an "easy" commute. :(

Onfinal

Commuting from Florida is the worst! Last time I jump seated to MIA on Airtran the guys were saying over 100 airtran pilots commute out of south florida! I've heard Orlando is even worse.

What about RSW, would that be pretty tough?

Probably better. But then I don't know how many people commute out of Fort Meyers?

Commuting from anywhere is tough. I have been commuting over two years to ATL and it can be very draining. You do not get paid to do it. I have to get up at 0330 to catch a 0540 flight in order to duty in at 1300. That of course fluctuates but it has been more common these days. The trend right now is no mainline only SKW/ASA. Those fill up quick; especially with senior Delta flight attendants. I like ASA. It has room for improvement but so does anywhere else. Best of luck.

I work at ASA. Actually just finished BI on Friday. They are giving me a weeks paid vacation because sims are backed up so I wont be back till a week from Monday to start systems. After that it is pretty much training till you get to your PC where there is a little lag in the system. I am guessing early August I will be on IOE and I started June 4.

ASA so far seems great, I think they will be around longer then people give them credit. Everyone is very optimistic and the only reason we don't have new planes or routes is because we are trying to get the contract finished. As for that I can tell you there are only three objectives left but I don't have an idea as to when it will be finished. I can tell you though that after it is signed pay will go up all across the board.

The pilot group at ASA is AMAZING! My class has 18 in it and they are probably some of the most fun people I have met! I came to ASA with 830/80 because I applied at xjet, RAH, Horizon, and Piedmont; ASA was the only place that called me back! I have been enjoying my time so far, I was awarded the 200 so I am very excited.

If you have any questions shoot, I will tell you all I know (which isn't much :-) )

~Mike

I was over there for 10 years before making the move across the street. It is a great group of pilots. There are some major issues with the current leadership, but they do take their orders from someone much higher up then they.
That said, they are readjusting the ASA footprint in ATL. DAL has no desire to put ASA out of business. DAL needs them for the feed. They are the first ones to admit that with out the feed DAL is dead in the water. ASA will be around in some way shape or form for a long time. Maybe a different name, or something with closer ties to SKW, but the flying and certificate need to survive for many reasons.
On the contract front. I would be careful about this with the line guys. They have been fighting for almost five years for what many other companies have had for a lot longer. Are there things that they would give up, yes, but we know why they are still asking for them. (Shoot for the stars and if you hit the moon it is OK) The sides are are less than 10 Mil apart. That is nothing in Airline speak. It will happen someday.
Just know that for now your career is on an elevator and upgrades will be near two years in the near future. Best of luck. ASA was very good for my career.
On a side note. The training that you will receive there is second to none. ASA really knows how to standardize their flight decks. You will realize this when you leave there. It truly is a class act.

Thanks acl65pilot and mohaupt for the encouraging words. Sometimes it seems like we're all stuck in a rut with no growth, no contract, etc. It's nice to get a positive perspective from a new guy and one who used to work there.

Thanks you guys so much for all the info! It has been very helpful! I just put in my app a couple days ago, so hopefully I will be called for an interview soon! How are the lines at ASA?

GOod to hear about ASA...hopefully they get new contract and up that firstyear pay. ASA, AWAC, PSA, and EAgle are on my list of ones that i am intersted in.. ASA was great though. They called me about an hour after I applied. I have 460 TT 110ME, and they tld me to "hit 500 and come for an interview". We ll see. Anyone commute ASA . I live in BOS, but dont think that will work out, esp first year???

The commute from BOS would be tough, but do able. Just don't expect too many days at home while off.

Best case, one leg commute. Worse case, a 3 or 4 leg commute.

The lines are.. So so right now from what I understand. I took a look at what everyones bidding and it seems to be a lot of 4 day lines. We just don't have enough pilots for the 3 day lines that everyone loves. We also have a few CDO "naps." Those are the last in, first out. People like bidding those lines if they have a family because our current contract says you cant work more then three naps with out three days off. Plus your home every morning. So lines are.. Ok for now, when we have a larger pilot group I think it will be better.

Let me tell you something that is slowly coming to a realization for me. Nobody can really tell you what the current state of ANY airline is. Its something you have to decided for your self. And when you work at a certain airline that will only give you insite on the airline you work at, not some other. So as hard as it sounds, find out for your self if it will work for you. :-) I did and I love it.

Mike

This is my first month bidding for a line at ASA. I was awarded a line. I have never had to sit reserve. If you want to get into 121 flying, now is the time and ASA is the place.

I just PMed you Stick.

I live between Shenandoah Valley Airport in Virginia(SHD) and Charlottesville VA (CHO). Any idea how hard it would be to commute to ATL for ASA? CHO has 3 flights a day to ATL on ASA. They also have 3 COMAIR flights to Cinici. SHD is served by Colgan to Dulles (IAD). Just curious your thoughts on this type of commute.

Am I understanding the commute/regional logic correctly. The main consideration is how easy/reliable it is to get from your home airport to your domicile ?????? For example, Pinnacle out of Memphis would be pretty good because of the many flights in & out ????

Most of the posters who work at ASA are new. I've been here for a long time, and I can tell you that morale is the lowest I've ever seen it. You see people on the bus after a grueling 4 day trip where you had to do everyone's job plus your own just to get home on time, and they look like whipped dogs.

ASA is not the picnic it used to be, and that's why the minimums have gotten so low. But if you've got 500 hours, it beats Great Lakes, I guess.

Just be prepared to be treated like crap and worked to death with no gratitude and little pay. The planes carry tons of deferrals (because management is running this place on a shoestring budget and won't splurge on maintenance) and the ground workers still don't want to do their jobs. The trips and lines are ridiculous, with the average line almost 90 hours on 4 day trips. Oh and we may strike or be stapled to the bottom of the Skywest list when they pull the plug on us someday soon. Good times!

:( just keeps getting worse. Not too sure what to think.

As a local, I'd love to be at ASA for the lack of a commute. . . but I'm not too sure if I'm willing to deal with a strike, or to be stapled to the bottom of Skywest's seniority list. . . but - the later of the two would require SKW to become union, at least I think.

Everything above is true....

but if your local. ASA could still be a good place to get experiance. Upgrades are coming down. And i suppose it's possible things could turn around aftrer awhile. It will probably take you several months to realize it sucks as bad as it does.

Here are some specifics from an e-mail from the General Office:

• We are planning to run new hire classes of 40 for the remainder of this year.
• Upgrades are planned at 20 per month from now until the first week in December.
• Overall pilot attrition is planned at 6 per week or 26 per month. In April attrition was 28, May was 17 and June is so far 30.

That's all I have one that besides that we are still really short on staffing for the CRJ 200 while the 700 is actually set. We seem to also have a shortage on the ATR, but definitely not like the 200.

The National Mediation Board (NMB) this week set two new negotiating dates for ASA and the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA). The two parties will meet Thursday, June 28 and Friday, June 29, in Atlanta to try to come to agreement on the remaining open sections in ASA’s pilot labor contract.

I have my fingers crossed but this one but my hopes are definitely not any higher than they are now. We'll see though!?

Skywest, Freedom (Mesa), Shuttle America (Republic), and soon Pinnacle all have an ATL base. Why hang your hat on ASA just to be in ATL?

Skywest won't go union. It will fail by a narrow margin again. They look at what's happening to us and believe management that it's the union's fault.

Here's another one for you as a sign of the times at ASA. The chief pilots are advising everyone they see to get their apps out ASAP because "ASA is going down the tubes". Just food for thought.

Does any one know how many people have been assigned to the ATR in recent classes? Also, does it look like they will be looking to assign people to the ATR in the next few classes? Thanks for your help.

I would also like to know as they are one of the several regionals I plan to interview with.

Based on what a jumpseat IOE guy told me yesterday, almost everyone in the new hire classes are going to the CRJ200. About 2 out of 20 are going to the ATR. Staffing (at present) is directed mostly at the CRJ200.