Need some opinions, maybe a reality check...
 

just about to get my multi-engine comm rating. Ive got about 250/50. Im really looking at just sending a resume to PDT for the heck of it. I live in Philly and Harrisburg would be a good base for me if I could get it for financial reasons (mainly living off of mommy and daddy for a few haha) I was just wondering what the chances are of getting a job there and any suggestions some of you might have. I am sure most of you are going to say to get my CFI which is also something I have been thinking about. I have just spent a lot of money at my university and I want to start making some now. I have heard from some people that students are going straight the PDT right after they get their multi. I just think that would be a nice thing to do......

Finish your degree if you haven't already. When, not if, the **** hits the fan again you'll need it to be competitive.

oh well yea, I have already graduated, I am just finishing up my flying. I have always been told before I even went to college to get a degree....

Good deal, just sounded like you were jumping out of school with the comm/multi. At UND we had to get our CFI/CFII to graduate, just a different program. If you think you can handle the training program then go for it. From what I understand though Piedmont does their training a bit different from the rest of the airlines, it's much more accelerated, as if airline training isn't fast enough. Do a search and you'll find a thread around here with details about it. On the other hand if you get your CFI and teach for 6 months to a year you will be in a much better position to go to a more desirable regional. The hiring will still be going on a year from now as long as we don't have another event like 9/11...

I agree.

I disagree. I would think that if you're trying to get on with a "good" regional, then previous airline flying would be best on your reusme. That is certainly true where I am, as of the new hires, CFIs are probably the least well-regarded. Plus I'd say the guys with previous 121 time tend to become the natural leaders of the new hire group.

As soon as you meet the mins I'd recommend applying. You can't get the job if you don't apply, and even if you get an interview but not the job you will have invaluable interview experience.

You say Haha about mooching off your folks, but an old professor at Riddle told a story about a CFI who was working in DAB a while and realized he could save money by moving home and teaching at the local FBO. Just so happened that his home town airport had a GV operator, chief pilot got to know him over hangar talk, and he got hired without even looking.

Moral of the story, if you go out on a limb you may land on your head but you may fall into a pool of success.

sounds like a Joe Clark story to me...

It is infact a Joe Clark story from "Fundamentals of Instruction."

True statement. The conundrum here is that if you work at a crap regional first, you are undercutting the industry, and making it harder for the good regionals to be good. You are building experience for a better job while at the same time chipping away at the foundations of that good job.

If you stay a CFI until you can get hired at a reasonable company, you send a clear message to the mesa's of the world.

If you fly smaller turboprops, you are not undercutting the jet industry.

Another option would be to work for a bad regional for 6 months or so and then bail for a better company...that way you cost them more in training costs than they saved on your bottom-feeder salary. If you stay for a year they probably broke even on you.

PDT isn't necessarily a "bad" regional. In fact their first year pay is better than most. However the lack of upward movement (long upgrade) and bleak future, as well as outdated equipment, means that PDT is having difficulty recruiting.

PDT is definately not a crap regional (and I'm not sure that you were saying that or not), and we're a wholly owned subsidiary of mainline, so we're definately not undercutting anyone, but are being undercut ourselves by contract carriers. our first year pay is great and we have a good labor contract, great pilot group, and fly some bad-@ss airplanes. I would agree though that the upgrade times are so long that it is effecting our recruiting, which is leading to reduced minimums, and this gives the illusion that we;re a crap regional because of our low minimums...but if you do your homework, you'll find that PDT was actually THE place to be a while back, and would be an awesome place to work now if we had an upgrade...

come on over. it's a fun job and a fun airplane. just be ready for the training...it'll be a gamble with the kind of time you have I think, becuase the Dash can be a handful, and the training is intense; but I guess people with your times are making it through, so I'd say go for it

i think it is something that i need to seriously think about. i am worried about my knowledge as it probably isnt up to the standard it should be. but at the same time the pilots getting hired at PDT with low time are/were probably in the same boat. i think its just a matter of studying really hard for the interview and training. thanks for all ur guys help, any other suggestions are greatly appreciated....

Certainly was ... so was ALG, PCA, Pocono, Ransom ... and many others ! ;)

Its a never ending cycle of lowering the bar ... :mad:

My take on this hiring spree is that "crappy" reginals are looking for warm bodies to fill empty right seats (because everybody is jumping ship), while good regionals are looking for Captains.
The crappie outfits know the 250/50 folks will bail as soon as they get the so called 121 experience. I heard of a guy that had to rent a c152 to build PIC because he didn't have enough to upgrade. Is that good captain material?
Sharkair, you can't tell me that some Mesa gear swinger is going to get hired over somone with a CFII/MEI and plenty of PIC at a "good" regional.
No offense. If thats the case, then we have hit bottom.:eek:

It will be interesting a few years down the road to see if the jumpship method is really shorter to a "good" Major or Frac.

If you live in PHL then Piedmont or AWAC are your two best choices.

I can't make a judgement between the two. The Piedmont folks we run across seem like professionals and just get about their business. Rarely much drama. Some other airlines have drama on the frequency. Not Piedmont. That means to me that they select good people and train them well.

But if I were you in PHL I would go for AWAC or Piedmont.

I didn't say (or imply) anything about PDT, it was a general statement. Also since you fly turboprops you're not undercutting anyone in any event.

i guess i dont want to be undercutting anything, i just want to pay the bills. in the end, it all comes down to financials. if that means flying turboprops instead of jets, thats fine with me. at least ill be doing what i love. im just worried about washing out and how bad that will affect my ability to get another job....

I'm in the sims at Pinnacle right now. I interviewed with about 1000tt after instructing a year. It was great experience, fun, and paid better (where I worked) than starting FO. The downside -- seniority is everything.

I'd say study for and take the ATP written. Get Everything Explained for the Professional Pilot by Richie Lengel. Apply wherever you're interested and keep flying as much as you can.

Good luck, study hard, and get your CFI unless they hire you without it.

I am in the same position as WMUFLYBOY with about the same amount of time. I am definitely getting the regional "get there itis". Im almost done with my CFI though and I'm graduating from college this December. PDT seems like a good company to me as well. I also feel the same way about flying the TPs first rather than the RJ's first, ( fastest thing I've flown is the Seminole). Here is a question, with my time being so low, would it be wise to go somewhere where I can fly a TP first, or does it not even matter? I do plan on doing some instructing....or at least I think so.....

Yes, I can. I can, and I am.

That said, nobody really needs to make that decision anymore. If they're both qualified, they'll both get the job.