Great Lakes questions
 

How many hours per month can you expect to fly at Great Lakes on average?
Also, are you provided housing during training?

Not sure because I don't work there but there FLT time limitations are the same as ours on the EMB-120, that is all part 121 a/c with 30 seats or less can operate under 135 flying time limitations which are:

§ 135 Flight time limitations and rest requirements: Scheduled operations.

(a) No certificate holder may schedule any flight crewmember, and no flight crewmember may accept an assignment, for flight time in scheduled operations or in other commercial flying if that crewmember's total flight time in all commercial flying will exceed—

(1) 1,200 hours in any calendar year.

(2) 120 hours in any calendar month.

(3) 34 hours in any 7 consecutive days.

(4) 8 hours during any 24 consecutive hours for a flight crew consisting of one pilot.

(5) 8 hours between required rest periods for a flight crew consisting of two pilots qualified under this part for the operation being conducted.

http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text...4.23.6&idno=14

§ 121.470 Applicability.

This subpart prescribes flight time limitations and rest requirements for domestic operations, except that:

(a) Certificate holders conducting operations with airplanes having a passenger seat configuration of 30 seats or fewer, excluding each crewmember seat, and a payload capacity of 7,500 pounds or less, may comply with the applicable requirements of §§135.261 through 135.273 of this chapter.

(b) Certificate holders conducting scheduled operations entirely within the States of Alaska or Hawaii with airplanes having a passenger seat configuration of more than 30 seats, excluding each crewmember seat, or a payload capacity of more than 7,500 pounds, may comply with the requirements of subpart R of this part for those operations.

http://www.capapilots.org/Safety/Iss...far121.470.pdf

I’m been told by a few FAA observers that § 121.470 is also referred to the “Great Lakes Reg” seeing that it was lobbied mainly by Lakes and few other 30 seat or less operators due to the amount of revenue they would lose having to operate B1900 and EMB-120 crews under regular 121 flight time limitations. Is this true or not? Not sure but it sure is amusing.

What does this actually mean for you? Well under these regs you can work more and make more money but more importantly your company can now operate more a/c with less crew members because they can work the **** out of you.

And pay you a whopping $16 per hour........

Yes, sad. That 200 hours means upto $3200 more. WOW! BIG BUCKS! :mad:

I actually considered flying for them, but somehow living on foodstamps did not appeal to me.

Other than very very low pay, is Great Lakes an okay company to work for?

I'm not a Laker, but general consensus seems to be: bad management, very challenging training, no autopilot in the Beech, and as you mention, very very low pay. But potentially fast upgrade, and I really get the impression Lakes has one of the best pilot groups around, and ex-lakers are highly respected for their attitude and mad skillz they develop flying the 1900 around the mountains all day.

they are still doing a lot of hiring. You are not paid during training which can mean a month and a half of living out of a hotel without pay. The training is very difficult. The last class 7 of 8 washed out on the beech, and 2 out of 3 washed out of the brasila. You can not bull**** the training. They will not let you "figure it out" during IOE. If you are a junior FO on the beech you will being going to STL for a month or two. You can still upgrade in just under a year. Most lines credit around 100 a month. The pilot group is great. You will not get furloughed. You don't have to worry about flying SIC for 5 years. The airline is in the black.

-Jason

I wouldn't go that far, the 1900 is almost a light piston twin very responsive and it does what you want it to do, max weight is only 17k. Try a base visual approach from 10k on a jet that wants to keep going fast. I loved flying the beech but there's a lack of autopilot and gps and a very limited efis wich forces you to stay focused and never lets you relax. Not to mention more chances of being violated because of that. I am not as fatigued now that I am flying the jet. Also I didn't like the fact that the 1900 is single pilot certified, the cockpit is designed for single pilot, the calls/flows are amazingly redundant. Maintenance was always a big issue also though I'm assuming lakes takes better care of their 1900s.

Why the high washout rate? They are in constant need of pilots and yet they wash 7 of 8/ 2 of 3 out of training... sounds not so good to me. I will be staying far far away...