Another thing for those who are interested in ever flying overseas, and being rich contract pilots with hot foreign flight attendants:

You can get really phat paychecks flying ATRs overseas...no joke.

Kingfisher in India will hire you as an ATR FO or Capt with 100 in your seat position on type, and 1000 TT.

Aer Arann in Ireland will hire you if you're a capt with I believe 500-1000 on type as a capt. That includes an Irish work permit, and you can get Irish (thus EU) dual citizenship after your 3 year contract. Then you'd be golden to get hired flying 73s for Ryanair, Easyjet, or possibly even one of the euro legacies...esp since they have lower time reqs there.

That is awesome, now it makes me really excited to be flying the ATR!!

yup:

http://www.flykingfisher.com/expatpilots.html

http://www.aerarann.ie/about_us/jobs.htm

and other opps are abundant out there

I was going to ask for the 700 if I get on, and hopefully I might get the 200. But because im so young (21) would it be better to just ask for the ATR to get the flying experience? Or would getting on the CRJ be better?

You wont get the 700, they are only hiring into the 200 and ATR, 4 people get the ATR each month either 2 from each class or all 4 from 1 class ( like they did w mine in AUg.)......take the CRJ if you get it becuase there are a lot more lines, RSV is only a couple months and upgrade is 2.5 -3 yrs, aybe even less in the near future....

I would love to fly the CRJ. If I were to get the ATR though how long do I have to wait before I can convert to the RJ.

good question i think you can have your bid in , but i believe you get seatlocked for the first year then you can switch over....however the ATR gets 70 seat oay ii believe......

Isn't ASA going to stop flying the ATR. I though I was told this by someone but I may be wrong.

no they are going to continue flying it,. its a money maker, they have said they were gonna phase em out, but i dont think so anytime soon

I have 3 42 hour layovers on Hilton Head this month...
It is hard, but I guess somebody has to stay in a 4-star resort hotel right on the beach, so I guess it is me.

bradeku...it seems you're pretty concerned about getting the 700 or 200, and you're only 21 (note the posts above about seniority within each class based on age). Maybe you should go to Pinnacle or something. You won't get near as good pay, benefits, or lifestyle at Pinnacle as you would at ASA, and you might even have to strike in the near future, but at least you'll get the shiny jet you obviously want. Go where you can get your jet, and open up a slot for someone who wants to fly for ASA and doesn't care what kind of equipment it's on.

Hope I'm not sounding like a d-bag...it's just that I think places like Pinnacle and Mesa have been able to keep their pay as low as it is and still get pilots to work for them instead of other regionals because of the exact sentiments you're kinda expressing in this thread about wanting to get into a jet as soon as possible. Seems like people go to Mesa and Pinnacle because they're offered the jet straight up, when they could go elsewhere but "risk" getting placed into a tprop.

But I guess it is a good question--is there a seat lock at ASA?

Four guys in the last class got put into the 700 and four others on the ATR out of a class of 21. They are doing all the 200 initial training and then doing the differences stuff afterwards.

There is a one year seat lock, but I've been here a year and 9 months on the ATR. I'll be going to the 700 in a couple months.

Another to reason not to bid the 700 as initial. Senior people are always coming over.

Thanks for the reality check Nicholasblonde, I think I loose sight of what a great company I may be getting to work for in the hype of wanting to fly a jet. But now I think the ATR would be a great aircraft to fly and make me a better pilot so that when I do get to fly the jet I will be more disiplined.

One more number I will move up :D

Ehaeckercfi, do you know how long it is to get off reserve for the ATR? A friend of mine told me he heard they are gonna keep the ATR. Have you heard anything to confirm that?


Thanks

I think the reserve time now is about 6 months or so. Last thing they said is that they were keeoing the ATR until the end of next year, but I'm sure they will be around longer than that.

All the big wigs that came into my Indoc class the last two weeks have stated that the ATR will be gone by Sept '08, but then again they have been saying that the last 4 years. I think it is Delta who is pressuring them to get rid of the ATR, and maybe get 900s instead.

Thats what I heard as well, but then recently I thought they changed it again. Thanks for the info guys.

Me personally i would love to see Q400's. Great airplane, great money maker/saver, and it would look amazing in the new livery.:cool:

That thing burns way too much fuel for a turboprop. New ATR's would be perfect.

It burns 30% less fuel than the closest competitor in the 70-seat market. Thats a buttload of fuel every day:cool:

If they keep the ATR until Sept 08 or beyond I hope they do some real maintenance on them/get some 500s sometime between now and then...

As far as I'm aware of, Delta actually leases the ATRs to ASA. If they wanted them gone, Im sure they would be. I think it is the other way around and ASA would like to run something different but Delta has control over that. I have no hard evidence of that. Just the impression that I have been given from people of credibility.

How about new ATR's? They burn far less fuel than the Q. The training program is already in place for ATR. It makes much more sense. The Q would be a good replacement for a jet, but not for a tprop.

The 200 is a dog compared to the 700. The 700 is the nicest all-around airplane that I've ever flown. It handles well and has the power that the 50 lacks.

I hope you didnt think i meant get rid of the current ATR's. What Im thinking is instead of getting 900's, get the Q, that way Delta has an option of putting in the First Class seats on a prop.

Yea, I agree that's a great idea.

The ATRs burn way less fuel than a Q400. ASA owns four of the ATRS and Delta leases the rest.

It really does not matter what any of us think. :rolleyes:

anyone mind telling me who you guys have your health/prescription insurance through? Is it just catastrophic/accident, or is it from a decent company (which one???)? Just wondering if they'll cover my acid reflux pills so I can keep drinking loads of coffee while going through ground school.

United Health Care

How long are the reserve times running at ASA

And how long did it take people to get a call after sending in their resume? I had a friend walk mine in, and he told me that they are interested, but still waiting for a call.

it took me like 4 business days....i submitted it Tueesday night, and they called me Monday morning