higney85

i was just going to stay out of this post but I will just put in my 2 cents worth. I have posted numerous times about my experience at PNCL- my first year gets wrapped up today- I hold what I need off and fly with some great people. It is an all-jet fleet and the flying is fun. I will not sugarcoat the fact that there is a good bit of tension between mgmt and the pilot group. The pay is low, almost rediculous, but that is something you know when you apply here. I came through at $200/wk and was given the 1099 tax bill in feb. The only positive is I was almost able to write off more than I made being a contractor- all you luggage, headset, moving exp.,insurance- look into the IRS rules. If the company is going to play games by being a "contractor" you can write things off as being a contractor. I do think you should be an employee from day 1 though. As far as losing planes- the deal we have is 2 a month. We have -900's showing up at about the same rate so its business as usual. We are understaffed anyway so don't expect a furlough over a few planes leaving. We are staffed 3:1, the delta flying alone requires 5:1 staffing. WE NEED PILOTS! It will be interesting come november and december around here with guys timing out. I am well on my way to being done by early DEC and I was on rsv for the first 2 months of the year! The contract will remain to be a dark cloud over the company but -in my opinion- once the -900s show up and we run out of those bidding it for convenience (live in atl or commute through atl) the company will be forced to come to the table. I wish you the best and you need to make a decision for yourself of where you are, where you want to be, and how fast you want to be there. If you live in MSP and want to stay somewhere I am sure XJ would be better in the long run (at least looking at the current contract) but if you want to get in/get out with 1000 hrs of jet time a year and upgrade as fast as possible PNCL may be hard to beat. Either way I wish you luck and if you have any questions PM me and I will give you my phone number so I can answer any questions you may want to ask.

dondk

good post higney85...

The first year with no or little reserve is definitely a plus in PNCL's cap. That is the only plus though. For those who read the above post, let me explain the unwritten word. Higney85 is due to time out this year, so that means he is flying close to 90 hours a month, therefore he cannot be extended or junior assigned. Probably many 30/7 or 100 in a month, if you know how to play the game they don't touch you. In my 6 years I have been JM'd once and extended twice, then again I play the game where they can't do anything with me.

The contractor deal, read up.. .you need to do that, you should be doing that anyway regardless.

As for the contract, when was the last time we were at the table? when is the next time? I would be surprised if we go to the table more than 2-3 days between now and January. The contract will be riding on some top grievances that will be heard between now and January. Depending on how they fall out, they may not come back to the table for a while. There is no chance of us being released for self help with the current administration. I was always a big believer of a contract by Xmas, but with the current state of things going on... there is no incentive of a contract anytime soon...

my final comment and one that I find funny that I hear by many FO's (no disrespect to Higney85) is the 1000 hours and getting out. Look at the CA's on the Seniority list, how many of those guys have 1000 hours and are still here. Not everyone is here by choice, not everyone is here because they are waiting for that ONE special company to hire them (purple). Some are here because they can't get hired anywhere else. Thinks of how many RJ drivers there are right now with 1000 PIC or better... thousands...
Right now PNCL is losing many of the newer CA's (1000 PIC types) to contract flying, Cathay, Emeriates, some LCC's, fractionals, and corporate. The lucky few that are getting a legacy carrier have some serious connections or fall within a specific group of pilots that are targeted by the legacy carriers.

Getting out is not guaranteed.. in some cases it is by pure luck.

gbntpilot

Thanks! That post was worth more than 2 cents. You too dondk.

Andrew_VT

XJ new hires are sitting little to no reserve as well, so I don't see how thats a plus for Pinnacle.

SabreDriver

There is NO WAY that would pass the IRS contractor/employee "stink" sanity check, No Way, No How. The tax man cometh Been there, done that, got the T-shirt, don't wanna go to club Fed or risk losing the Ticket over a couple hundred bucks.

Silver02ex

Can XJ give me the left seat after being there a year?

AV8R

yes.........

dogpilot

Don't go to either there are much better contracts and quick upgrades at Skywest, Expressjet . If things slow in the next year and upgrade is three years away or four, then your life will suck. Just my point of view.

higney85

Keep in mind- to add more fuel to the fire- that the latest and greatest from PNCL is that the NH training pay is going back to $200/wk and NO BONUSES. This includes referral bonuses that other pilots are getting for recruiting new pilots. This has been a rumor for about a week, evidently there is now a bulletin up in the training building validating it. I have not PERSONALLY seen anything along these lines but have been hearing (firsthand) from people who are now having to fight for the referral and longevity bonuses. This ticks me off a bit- not because it effects me in any way- but because it just amplifies the company's thoughts and feelings toward its workforce. The company uses its employees, and therefore as an employee (if you decide to show up at 9E) you need to learn to use the company to your advantage. This company has never been branded "labor friendly" but I only see labor relations getting more tensioned before they get better. In response to an earlier post- I have been flying close to 95 scheduled hours since I can remember, some months have been just shy of 100 once its all said and done. I have not been extended or JM'd the last 4 months. FWIW- you will make about 24K first year if you hold a line for 10 out of the 12 months. Hope it all helps and i am sure you will make your decision accordingly....

cschmidt88

If you value your life, your professonalism, and your career.. take Mesaba.