Questions for Regional Captains and F/Os
 

Hey guys,

Using the list of regionals below, please feel free to answer as many questions as you can.

AWAC
PSA
Pinnacle
Republic
Horizon
ASA
Comair
Colgan

1.) Which airline(s) would have the fastest upgrades(approximate times would be greatly appreciated)?

2.) Which airlines would allow for new hires to be based at domiciles on the East Coast(e.g. MA, MD, NY, NNJ, PA, FL, VA etc) either due to lack of competition for those bases or a general tendency for new hires to be placed there.

3.) Which of those airlines are performing poorly and are likely to go under?

4.) Which major airlines give preferential hiring for those airlines?

5.) What is a typical avg schedule for a new hire F/O for each airline?(e.g. 4ON, 2OFF etc)

6.) What is a typical avg schedule for a recent upgrade junior capt for each airline?(e.g 4ON, 2OFF etc)

7.) Which of those airlines have a sound reputation for(relatively speaking:) ) treating their pilots reasonably well and having trade unions?

8.) How many of you guys have been trained and/or instructed at Ari-Ben Aviator Inc?.....if any...plz PM...I would like to hear your experiences.

Your feedback would be appreciated.

Regards

V1_Rotate

everyone always leaves out mesaba....sniffel

No offense, but there are MANY, MANY posts very similar to this one.

RAH is upgrading very fast today (folks holding a training slot after only a year!) and Republic has bases in PHL/DCA with CHQ in LGA/BUF/GSO, but their pilot group is already upwards of 2000 pilots now so they'll have to have a bunch of attrition and continue their rapid growth for you to upgrade. Remember those E-Trade and T Rowe Price financial services commercials: "Past performance is not indicative of future results."

Don't believe in any preferential hiring or flowthrough to mainline BS...the most preferred thing is 1. knowing somebody where you ultimately want to be, and 2. PIC time. A college degree ranks right up there, too.

A new FO will likely sit reserve for a few months, with 4 on/2 off or 5 on/3 off kind of sequences. As a junior lineholder you'll get whatever you can hold...which will be whatever is left over (will depend on where you work and if most pilots commute there or not). Same can be said for a junior CA, but you'll likely spend more time on reserve than as an FO...especially these days.

AWAC, PSA, Pinnacle, ASA & Comair are represented by ALPA. Republic and Horizon are represented by Teamsters IBT747. Colgan has no union.

Reputation? Depends on who you ask and how you phrase the question.

Horizon is left coast only, and commuting from the NE to the NW would SUCK, especially commuting to reserve. If you want to work on the east coast (ORF/DCA/PHL) and make decent coin for flying a 50 seat jet AWAC is likely the best place for you. Upgrades are around 3 years, pilot group is excellent, company isn't going anywhere for at least 7 years as we own a piece of US Airways. Downside is we're not growing and the pilot group is getting more bitter (see the website in my signature line for more info).

Hope this helps some...

V1 what are your times?!

Comair
 

1.) Which airline(s) would have the fastest upgrades(approximate times would be greatly appreciated)? 5-7 years depending on base and equipment

2.) Which airlines would allow for new hires to be based at domiciles on the East Coast(e.g. MA, MD, NY, NNJ, PA, FL, VA etc) either due to lack of competition for those bases or a general tendency for new hires to be placed there. JFK and CVG are available to new hires

3.) Which of those airlines are performing poorly and are likely to go under?
I have no clue...

4.) Which major airlines give preferential hiring for those airlines?
I really dont think it necessarily matters, as long as you have your 1,000-1,500 TPIC, you've got a fair shot.

5.) What is a typical avg schedule for a new hire F/O for each airline?(e.g. 4ON, 2OFF etc) Up to 4 day trips, I have heard some people have flown longer in the past, but usually a couple of days off in between trips. Reserve is a different topic though.

6.) What is a typical avg schedule for a recent upgrade junior capt for each airline?(e.g 4ON, 2OFF etc) Not sure

7.) Which of those airlines have a sound reputation for(relatively speaking:) ) treating their pilots reasonably well and having trade unions? Comair has a great training program and puts you up in apartments or hotels for training. We are ALPA, it is both good and bad in different ways, but I'm sure glad we have their representation.

8.) How many of you guys have been trained and/or instructed at Ari-Ben Aviator Inc?.....if any...plz PM...I would like to hear your experiences.
I built 50 hours of ME time there a while back, was a busy place, seemed like solid training though. Hope this helps.

V1,

What are your priorities? Fast upgrade? Ability to live in base? An easy commute? Good schedules? Financially stable regional? Good work rules and working conditions?

If you dive through this board and flightinfo.com, you'll probably find the answers you're looking for.

They left MESA out.

SKW? Haaaaaa the Dazed and Confused!

I would guess that because he mentioned preferential hiring, his (or her) priorities are to upgrade as quickly as possible and get that guaranteed job with a major that everybody's been talking about.

Don't worry, I don't think it's a slight against you, he/she asked about new hires being based on the east coast, so I'd assume that he wants to live there, which disqualifies all airlines who don't have domiciles there. :)