you have to be kidding me, are you trying to defend your horrible work environment, the place that got kicks out of taking you TV away in the crew lounge. Come on guys. Get a job at expressjet the second you have the time to bail, greatlakes is not worth anything.

 

Not to bash on lakes, or say another regional is better than other because i am staring at stagnation and an uncertain future at Eagle! Lakes is a place where you go do your time get T-Pic and get out to bigger and better things, but with that said let's say you upgrade with around 2,000 hrs and then get your self 1,000 T-Pic... Now what? There are a lot of RJ captains out there who has 1,000s of T-Pic and a lot of these guys who were hired in the late 90's or early 2000's are young enough to make a move, they too have time in smaller turbo props like an SF340 but also have time in sophisticated aircraft! Must of these guys needed 1,000s of hours to be hired at their regionals so they have a better resume. With that in mind, US Airways has done limited hiring this year and the average new hire has 5K T-Pic! Not to bash you guys but in this competitive environment what does 1000 hrs on aircraft that is a transport category do for me?

You guys have to become good sticks or you die, plain and simple... But with the aircraft you fly now in days there is more to it than just stick and rudder! Pushing buttons it's easy once you know what you are doing and the reasoning behind the system! Most at Lakes will be captain before most of us at other regionals but one has to ponder what do 3K TT & 1K T-Pic in a 1900 get you these days. I agree wingtips is being a little over the top, I am not sure what she gets by acting like this (I normally agree with her).

 

I have to agree with this. Ask Commute Air pilots how many of their guys were picked up by JetBlue, Virgin, ect when the short hiring window opened... Most of these guys were told they needed FMS/glass time and re-apply. The dash 2-300 hold a lot more pax than a 1900. Now, at Colgan on the Q400 which has glass and FMS, there have been numerous guys picked up by these airlines. Something to think about. The 1900 is commuter category not transport. Just my .02

 

I hear what you guys are saying and it is true for the most part. We all know that right now 1000pic in a 1900 doesn't mean your getting a job or even make you competitive. Although it does make you more competitive than an r j f/o w/ 4-5000 sic. What is the point in being a 7 year f/o w/ no upgrade in sight when the majors start hiring. Of course we know the guys with 5000pic in a jet will get the first calls but, i would think that when it makes it way down to lower time pilots the 2 year lakes captain with 1200 pic would get a call before a 8 year f/o w/ 5500 sic. People bash on lakes for a lot of reasons. Lakes is a means to a better end, and that's all that anyone here looks at it as. There is no such thing as a lifer at lakes. Its a good pilot group that gets treated like dirt, but we have fun doing what we do and hope that pays off down the road.

 

Um, I think you're mistaken. I personally know 6 good friends from ExpressJet and SkyWest that were hired recently by Virgin, Blue and Spirit all were FOs with 0 121 PIC time. I think 5000hrs of jet time is worth a lot more than BE1900 PIC time.

 

FWIW
Great Lakes Airlines pilots ask mediation release

BTW, I am a lowly laker and i just got hired by a major.

 

Congrats Lopez. I didn't say that 5000 sic jet was worthless. But Pic time is much more valuable than sic time overall. Just this month we had at least 6 lakers go to majors, 4 of them to Alaska. Which I would take over jet blue, virgin, or spirit. Not to bash those places at all just saying lakers do get hired at majors with just 1900 pic time.

 

Never said it wasn't impossible. But personally, I would choose JetBlue over Alaska. Just my .02

 

It will be interesting what happens with Alaska as they have ties with AMR and Delta out west with the current contract being negotiated at Delta and whatever happens with AMR. Jetblue's cost are starting to rise and is a very junior group, Alaska has been around for a while and seem to doing relatively well. It's a crap shoot. Congrats to who just got hired by a major, it's good to hear guys are moving forward.

 

I'm a regional f/o about to be furloughed and have considered Great Lakes for the quick upgrade. My concern is with the 1500 hr rule they will have a tough time getting pilots with the low pay. I fear if I were to go there I might get stuck in the right seat with no one coming in behind me. Thoughts?