Great Lakes
 

I am currently a flight Instructor. I have done some reserch about Great Lakes Airlines. Overall I like what I hear. I do want some Objective input about the Airline. I want the Good the Bad and the Ugly from current or former Pilots. Again I would really like the input to be Objective and any gouges on the interview (hopefully I will have one in the near future) would be much appreciated.

From what I've seen. They hire with low time 550TT is the lowest I've seen.
They have a 15 month training contract. Which is pretty standard. Upgrade time is fairly quick 15 months to a year and a half. Depending on age and merit.

They fly old b1900s with an old stack and no autopilot through some pretty turbulent, icey, mountainous areas. sounds like a pretty exciting flying job- unlike mine flying back and forth from FL to the Bahamas.

The drawl back is pay- $15per hour. Ouch- pretty low expecially for Denver.
I would add up all your current bills and make sure you can afford it.

I also suggest going into the search part of the forum and PM current pilots for further details.

Good Luck.

You lucky dog :D. Do you ever get to stay in the Bahamas?

Yeah,
I probably stay their (Abaco) (Nassua) a few times per month. I go over there about 3 per week. I been doing this over 2 years. i don't think I'll plan my next vacation to the bahamas thought.

loudgarrettdriver who do you fly for? I just joined the forum and i am not sure how to PM a current Great Lakes Pilot

does anyone know the average amount of flying a starting FO at Great Lakes does in a given month?

PM means Personal Message. You can go the the search section- type in great lakes and find a current pilot. Then click on the name- click send ---- a personal message.

But it looks like you need more posts (25) to PM. Anyway- keep post'n.

Lakes is what it is.

Cons:
- you will make $14,000-$15,000 as an F.O., $24,000-$25,000 as a captain,
- you will be junior manned,
- you will sit some 14-hour hot reserve, at the airport, in uniform, ready to fly,
- you will likely not have a contract (it's been 5 years now without one, and very little progress has been made),
- the company can work you up to 16 hours a day,
- you will not be paid for flying that the company takes off of your schedule,
- you will have to make it through one of the toughest 121 training programs in the industry...without pay (3 in my class of 8 couldn't cut it),
- you will work your a$$ off, sometimes flying 8 or more legs a day without enough time to grab a sandwich or take a dump,
- no flight attendent...which means you're the flight attendent,
- you will fly into and overnight in mostly small towns that you have probably never heard of, and there's a reason for that.

Pros:
- fastest upgrade around, sometimes in less than a year,
- you will build time fast (you can fly up to 34 hrs/7 days, 120 hrs/mo, and 1,200 hrs/yr),
- you will fly with a lot of great people,
- your flying skills will be better than they will ever be in your life, and you will develop balls of steel because you will HAND fly in some intense T-storms, snow storms, winds, turbulence, and icing,
- you will actually get to FLY an airplane into some airports with awe inspiring mountain views,
- the Beech is a tank, and it is very forgiving (nice characteristics to have for a relatively green Captain),
- any job you take after you get your time at Lakes will seem like a dream.

If you can tough it out for about 3 years to get your 1,000 PIC, you can move on to the next level in a hurry. Pilots who have left Lakes recently have gone on to Alaska, Frontier, AirTran, NetJets, FedEx, Kalitta, Pace, Ryan, Champion, and USA3000 just to name a few. If you want to get your time and get out, Lakes is a good place to do it. If you are looking for QOL, think twice.

how long is training? what can I do to prepare for it and what is the cause for the wash-out rate? also what is a typical schedule like...do you do 4 on 3 off or something like that?