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I know that Pinnacle 'spins' that the mentor program will help speed upgrade and thus 'help you out'. I personally feel the real purpose of the mentor program is really to help out management with Captain shortages. I also thought the change in upgrade standards accelerated the resigning of former Chief Pilot. IMO, you got a dead cow' as a gift (dutch saying). From what I recall, there was so much friction about lowering the original upgrade standards that the mentor program was one way to make the lower standards more palatable. In defense of the mentor program, there are a lot of good FOs that don't meet the current requirements that will be good Captains once they get the Mentor program under their belt and the CRJ is an easy airplane to manage. Mentor Captains have A LOT of responsibility AND liability doing what they do. Finally whether the mentors consiously do it or not in light of the managment labor relations there, they are helping management help solve Captain shortages.
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Originally Posted by TheProfessionalPilot
(Post 345832)
Please keep in mind this is just the tip of the ice-berg.
I am going to take a lot of time to write this, because I know there are probably still several people in my shoes who are thinking about doing what I have done, which has ended up becoming a 6 month WASTE of my life, and I won't be here much longer at all. I wish I could get out of here yesterday, wait I wish I never came here. The crazy part about that, is that I would have never guessed why: The "Captain Mentor" program Pinnacle does leads you to ultimately NEVER upgrade. We have here in Memphis 3 Captain Mentors, 1 in Detroit, and 5 in Minneapolis. The deal is that you have to do "X" number of hours with a Captain "Mentor" in order to qualify for a reduced TT upgrade. You have to BID to fly with them, you can't trade unless you're off of reserve. So then take that into account and the fact that you have to do ALL 100+ hours in less than 60 days. It's literally impossible. Now you come into my shoes here for a minute.... Really truely think about what I am trying to tell you and WHY. I am LEAVING ASAP, so I don't CARE about a freakin contract(for my own benefit, I wish the rest of 9E pilots the best!) and I am doing my very best to give you unbiased opinions/facts about the company. I am not trying to give a big "wah, look at me" I am trying to do my brothers and sisters in aviation a favor. If I had someone write this to me, I don't know if I still would have been so nieve to come here and leave such a goldmine of a job. PNCL's guiding principles: 1) Never compromise safety more like, never compromise Savings, with a cap S 2) Commitment to communication Quite the contrary, no one EVER tells you anything, and if they say something, it's guaranteed wrong/incomplete information. Crew scheduling never calls me to notify me of changes to my schedule unless it means I'm picking UP a trip so it doesn't get cancelled. They will never call you to tell you the trip is cancelled, delayed, etc. I have not ONE TIME been called by crew scheduling to be told anything like this(apparently them calling you to tell you what's up is normal). Only calls for junior assignments, extentions, and training events that do not follow contract rules can be expected. 3) Financial responsibility Because they won't pay you no matter how hard you TRY to work and they will TAKE money from you to make it an even more desperate struggle. When they say they want you to be financially responsible, what they REALLY want to say "live at your parents house" ... I live at my father's rental for $0/mo. So I have SOME pride left and maybe $30. 4) Ethics and Values Why don't we have a contract yet? I won't touch this. But I DO KNOW I am part of the problem! 5) Respect for all pinnacle people If this is true, why did 150 employees get dumped at MEM this month when we are severely/crtically understaffed at all bases? 6) Customer Service Almost 75% of my passengers miss their connecting flights due to labor related delays, almost every time due to lack of staffing. I KNOW they missed because we arrived nearly an hour late, or more. 7) commitment to stakeholders should be read "shareholders" and even then it's iffy. Every single thing that I was counting on happening at Pinnacle has turned out to be a flat out lie. If you are looking to work here, I will give you the completely unbiased truth (to the best of my knowledge) or nothing at all. Just repond here and I will be glad to tell you why we treated so poorly and why the company has gone from #1 to last in line as far as performance. Does everyone on here know that Pinnacle is literally paying people to recruit pilots? On the range of hundreds to thousands of dollars???? Why is it that since January I have gone from 1350++ on the seniority list to just over 1200? So if you hear a pinnacle guy/gal trying to coax you to "come on over, it's greaaat" just remember "you can check out anytime you'd like, but you can NEVER leave!" The past month I have flown with several different captains. Everytime I fly with a new one, their seniority # is around 100-300, sometimes as low as 40's. Maybe two of the several captains were above 300? No kidding. I really should have listened to everyone on this forum about the warnings, and my friends at my old job for their warnings. Just to get it out of the way: YOU WERE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT, and I'm sorry I didn't listen. I don't know how many 9E guys/gals here are going to back me up on this post because I'm bashing the company, yada yada, but you know what? I am ashamed of working here. |
Uhhhh People,
You have no reason to complain. You chose a job that requires 50,000 of Daddys Money for training and then rewards you with what 20,000 a year if you are lucky. |
Originally Posted by RedGuy
(Post 346148)
I look at it as more of a progression of things, flying freight on demand REALLY sucks. So I'll be happy with just alittle better working conditions (ie, just sucks):p, then my next job I'll want better working conditions over the last (only sucks alittle);), and so on.
I just wonder how many of the people that bash the heck out of some of these regionals even ever had any other job besides maybe flight instructing. That maybe they really don't know what a lousy job is, or how lousy it can get. Even where I'm at now, I know there are worse places out there. |
"Finally whether the mentors consiously do it or not in light of the managment labor relations there, they are helping management help solve Captain shortages."
Rick I thought the same thing at first, which is why i initially refused to be a mentor. However, the so-called company WILL lower the minimums to the bare minimun and the FAA WILL sign off on it. So if I'm gonna be deadheading in the back with a CA who's comm ticket ink just dried 9 months before, i wanna make sure he knows what he is doing. Plus it is the only route to check airman. So the company is gonna upgrade them anyways, i may as well do my part and make sure they are safe. It's the lesser of 2 evils... |
OK- i don't have a true face/name for spooled but he obviously he has nothing good to say. Not saying that I can find anything good to say myself...
This company only exists because people come here to get the time and bail. For many of the "250 hour wonders" this company is but a pit stop for a good regional. For others it is only a source of the quick TJPIC time and then they bail. I for one have really been thinking lately.... I am but a few months away of a type rating/ PIC time/ and a better pay rate (although still crap overall). If the current economy wasn't slowed I really think I would still highly entertain jumping ship. This ship is sinking unless some major turnarounds happen. This company has no cashflow problems and plenty of business to keep the company profitable. Problem is mgmt has "mismanaged" its most important resource- the employees. A contract will only fix the pay and help the QOL but until a new regime comes through this place will continue a downhill slide. At this point I would not endorse employment here to anyone. ProfessionalPilot- If you are a new hire you cannot even do the mentor program if you want to. Regardless of your TT you need 1300 here at PNCL. Maybe that is why you cannot hold trips with the mentor guys. I am sure you have more details but if you are a new hire with 100 hours at PNCL in the CRJ and 3400TT you can upgrade. Otherwise you need 3000TT/500PNCL or 2500/1000PNCL. The mentor program allows you to upgrade at 2000TT with at least 1300TT before you start 100 hours with a mentor. I am sure you understand the program and since this company communicates so well I am sure you have been informed. I wish you the best wherever you go. Avoid PNCL. I thought things had hit the bottom months ago but I am finding every month is a new a deeper challenge. I never thought as I got more senior my days off would go DOWN. |
Originally Posted by HIREME
(Post 346198)
Don't talk yourself into something and tell those with more experience than you that they don't know how good they have it because they don't have experience at a real hard job. It shouts of arrogance and smells of uninformed opinions.
Just so you know, I wasn't pointing fingers, that was really more of a question. I have read alot on here, and I don't work at Pinnacle, but am looking to work there. So far nobody has painted a rosy picture at all. But I do live in the DTW area, I don't have a family, and I have the required hours plus some to upgrade hopefully pretty quickly. Also from an FO I'm acquainted with that works there, I was told when your on reserve your only on the leash for 12 hours a day, you have scheduled days off, and DTW is their most junior so I could easily hold DTW. Also they're flying A/C built within the last decade, it's 121 time, and like I said one of the main attractions is upgrading quickly and getting 121 PIC. So those are the positives as far as I can see it. Now the negatives, read from here, the management is a bumbling group of idiots that have no respect for their employee's, no contract, poor scheduling, poor training, poor morale. So far from what I can see, for my personal situation the positives seem to out weigh the negatives. I'm not some kid with 1,000hrs looking to get my first flying job, I've been a captain for a couple years now flying both piston twins single pilot and 2 crew turbo props flying 135 freight. I'm looking at everybody that I work with and no one is moving on, even the jet captains. I don't know if it's the freight dog stigma or what, but they're just not finding good jobs. So I'm looking at taking this big step back wards to hopefully make myself more marketable. Plush who knows if I stick it out at Pinnacle for a couple years, they may finally get a decent contract in that time and conditions might improve. |
"I was told when your on reserve your only on the leash for 12 hours a day, you have scheduled days off, and DTW is their most junior so I could easily hold DTW."
Sorry to **** in your snow Red but reserve at Pinnacle isn't that rosy. You will be SCHEDULED for 12 hours of reserve and days off, but you WILL be called at 0530 on day one for an "out and back" which WILL turn into a 5 day trip. Then when you check out on day 5 they WILL extend you into your day off. When you check out on day 6 they will attempt to schedule you into DAY7 in violation of "contract"/FAR's. You are lucky to get 7 days off as a rsv, and good luck getting a comp day. the treatment of employees here really is criminal, luckily for us the iceberg is dead ahead for management |
Originally Posted by mooney
(Post 346221)
"I was told when your on reserve your only on the leash for 12 hours a day, you have scheduled days off, and DTW is their most junior so I could easily hold DTW."
Sorry to **** in your snow Red but reserve at Pinnacle isn't that rosy. You will be SCHEDULED for 12 hours of reserve and days off, but you WILL be called at 0530 on day one for an "out and back" which WILL turn into a 5 day trip. Then when you check out on day 5 they WILL extend you into your day off. When you check out on day 6 they will attempt to schedule you into DAY7 in violation of "contract"/FAR's. You are lucky to get 7 days off as a rsv, and good luck getting a comp day. the treatment of employees here really is criminal, luckily for us the iceberg is dead ahead for management See, to me that even doesn't sound that bad. I don't mind working at all. What I absolutely hate is getting called out at 2200 or so after you've been awake all day and getting sent on a 14+ hour duty day. The you fly home, and sleep all day, get up for a while, force yourself to go back to sleep that night, then be up all day the next day and get called out late again that night. Just the fact that I don't have to answer the phone after my 12 hours is up would be a huge relief. |
Originally Posted by ⌐ AV8OR WANNABE
(Post 346156)
As a matter of fact yes he does. ...and when he does he uses Charmin Ultra.
I thought that was common knowledge? ;) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=styCsH87qqw |
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