I am currently a CFI in Atlanta and I would love to fly for a regional that has a base in Atlanta. I know that if I fly for ASA I am guaranteed ATL and at Skywest I can bid for it. I would like some opinions on both of these airlines... contracts, QOL, pay, upgades, average hours flown per month, etc. Any information would be greatly appreciated.

 

This is a can of worms...you will get a lot of debate related to this subject.

But regardless of what people think about why and how it got that way, everyone should agree that SKW is by far the better place to be for the forseeable future.

 

Yeah, I don't want to come off as one of those guys who just started and is obsessed with his company, but I really can't see any advantages to ASA right now.

Unless you live in Atlanta and you want to have Atlanta 100% for sure, but you'd probably get it at SkyWest anyway.

 

I'd pick ASA if you are closer to their minimums, otherwise go to SKW.

 

I work for ASA so take this with a grain of salt.

Why not interview at both places if you have the time. Talk to the pilots at both places get a feel for the company while you are there. From there make your decisions, either way you will be flying an aircraft for a 121 carrier making ABOUT the same amount of money IN THE LONG RUN.

What a lot of people on this forum fail to realize is that not everyones choice A company will be that for everyone else. Choice B might work better for you and your needs. Just because XXXX on APC Forum says that SKY or RAH or XJT is the best company to work for doesn't mean that it is the best company for YOU to work at.

hope this helps
~m

 

Don't forget that you don't really know how long it would take to get ATL at SKW. You could be stuck some place you don't want to be for a while.

 

The bottom half (9 of 18) FO's in ATL have hire dates between 8/21/06 and 1/22/07

 

Well put!

As for SKW, it wouldn't take you that long to get ATL. You'll probably get it before you finish IOE. Currently the ATL domicile has 18 FO's and 16 lines; but SKW actually has 48 lines of flying (and increasing) out of ATL. They’re having a hard time staffing ATL, for no other reason than SKW is a west coast airline. 99% of the pilots are west coasters themselves so as more people choose to go ATL then they’ll slowly bring the lines up to speed. Don’t listen to any BS about our ATL domicile being temporary, that’s just BS. Mark my words; by next year we’ll have over 200+ crew members there and a chief pilot (currently we have an assistant chief). If ATL is temporary then why would SKW be spending all that money on our new crew lounge. I was touring our new lounge two days ago, which should open up in the next 2 weeks, it’s large and EXTREMELY nice.

Until more crew members choose to be based in ATL then the outstanding ATL flying will be flown by SLC crews.

BTW, I am ATL based and am one of the most senior FO's there. I should be upgrading soon and I'll be able to hold ATL CA.

 

Well, if they are spending ALL THAT MONEY in a crew lounge, then it must become the next worldwide headquarter for SKW

Just kidding, JetJock. I just thought it was funny that you are basing your predictions on the size of the crew lounge. I'm sure you'll agree that the costs associated with setting up and furnishing a crew lounge are trivial when compared to other airline operating expenses/expenses when setting up a new base.
Either way, I hope it grows to be a large base. I heard rumors about SKW applying for international service out of ATL to several caribbean locations... have you heard that too?

 

Any chance of SKW lowering their mins below 1000 tt? I think there's a checkbox on their online app that asks if you meet the 1000 min. If not, it classifies your app as "Not qualified"