2,000 posts from a hotel room...that's crazy right there!
See ya in Frestucky!

Just curious if he resigns from training at mesa, how would that be looked on his PRIA? Compared if he leaves after say the checkride or IOE?

so how does this look on pria? Im just curious is all?

i heard that this is done on our records with the compny only and not on our Pria records but I'm not sure. What do you all think? Someone told me this but I am not sure.

I don't think there is a PRIA unless one passes or fails their checkride or is terminated. A resignation is not a pass or fail. Maybe someone else can elaborate.

HAH! Damn, ain't that the truth!

and if we're not working right we probably just need to warm up as well. Take the brasillia. live it. love it. enjoy it.

Ok dude, if you're able to be hired by Skywest, then why are you even at MESA??????? Anyways...... If you want to stay in LA or reasonably close take Skywest. You'll never be able to see West of the Mississippi at Mesa unless you've been there at least a year or more. Prop systems aren't hard at all there is just isn't as much logic as the jet and more memory items/limitations not a big deal.

EJECT!! EJECT!! EJECT!!

First off - go for the NOW class in the Brasilia...why? Seniority is everything. Those 40 numbers could mean the difference between being on the street and flying a jet at a later date.

I don't know what your flying background is like but I'd probably assume you're a low time pilot. If so, you could probably use some "real" flying before you get back to a CRJ. The CRJ is cake. Besides..you don't want to be a "Glass Baby" do you? Go make some noise and enjoy "BETA"!

Secondly - If I remember correctly, you have to finish training in order to be bound by the Mesa training contract - no? If you don't start the SIM, then there really isn't any true loss by Mesa. I think you might get a "get out of jail" card in that scenario.

In the case of a resignation during training, there most certainly IS a PRIA report...in this case it will show good training performance followed by a resignation.

The new employer will be fine with this...THEY know why you resigned. Future employers will see that you immediately started at another company without time for a job hunt/interviews, so they should not think you got fired.

People leave regional (even major) groundschools all the time..most of the industry hires at the same experience level based on supply & demand, so people who get hired usually have other interviews going on.

Where you might want to be careful is if you had trouble in training...if your training records show any significant difficulties, then it might appear as though you were told to resign or be fired. If you have a black mark, you might want to stay and finish just to avoid having that perception follow you around forever.

This may be the faggiest statement on APC. Take the first class offered! I don't know how many ways we need to say it on here... I don't care what you want to fly. Do you want to work for the company or not? Your CRJ class could be postponed, cancelled, etc. You'd be a fool to wait.

Its done. Im in the Aug 4 Emb 120 class. Thanks for all the feedback. What was I thinking going into a pool. Its all about seniority.:)

Good job! You may now disregard my above comment. :D

Excellent...congrats!

You have chosen......wisely.

I would jump to skywest, mesa isn't much fun to work for. According to the contract it doesn't go into effect until you complete the sim. Atleast that is how it use to be.......

See ya in FAT in a September.

Congratulations! It's great to hear about someone getting hired, rather than furloughed, for a change (as I am likely to be, soon).

I always wanted a chance to fly the Bro. I've heard it's a blast....

Congrats- Wise Choice! A quick couple of questions for all of you knowledgeable folks
 

Congrats on Skywest!

I am an extremely low time pilot (98.1 TT). I know...I know- what am I doing on this board? I have read this entire thread and have found that you guys certainly know what you're talking about so who better to ask?

Please take a look at my info

- 98.1 TT
- 23.1 ME (1.2 PIC ME)
- Working on Inst Rating now
- Working on Commercial immediately after Inst
- Working on ATP written now
- Following all of that, should have around 350 TT (?? ME)
- Currently have BA degree in Finance / Accounting
- Working on Master's

Not-so related:
- 1,800 hrs in back of helo as Navy rescue swimmer
- CRM Instructor for Navy squadron
- Squadron NATOPS Instructor
- 10yrs in Navy
- Squadron Standardization Board Member

I aspire to get hired at a good and secure Regional, such as Skywest. I know that I still have quite some time remaining until that is realistic, but would love to hear anyone's advice about the best way to get there. Here are a couple of questions:

1. Can someone please tell me a ballpark figure as to their actual take-home pay? I have been studying the pay rules, but have no idea what you guys actually make. Currently I make around $65k/yr. I know that I will take a drastic pay cut...just want to know how much.

2. What is Skywest pay rules?

3. I have a former flight instructor at Skywest who has offered to recommend me. How much weight does that have, if any?

4. Since I have a little while, is the hiring expected to continue through the next few years? I was hoping to be marketable within the next 9 months. Is that realistic?

I really...really appreciate you taking the time to read all the above and posting a response. I will read every reply.

Thanks!

I can't answer all your questions but might be able to provide some insight. I'd say an internal rec. might help getting an interview but not much from there. I know people that had 3-4 interviewing I however had none. As far as pay goes with a line you could figure about 90 hours or so I'd imagine with 300 hours a month in per diem but figure you'd be on reserve a while making the min. And 9 months would be pushing it with only 100 hours. That would mean you need 100 a month for SkyWest. The hiring will continue just not sure what the minimum requirements will be the next several years. Good Luck.

Thanks for the reply- that does provide me with a little better understanding of the pay. It is just a little confusing looking in from the outside and trying to gauge how much I may make (ballpark or course). Thanks for the info.

1st full year at Eagle I made 31K. That includes per diem, 9 months on first year pay ($23) and 3 months on 2nd yr prop pay ($26), a little bit of over time, first 4 months on reserve etc.. I have buddies in the jet who make in the 40s on 2nd/3rd year jet fo pay. ($33/$36)

btw, i heard (from my girlfriend) that hospitals are hiring nurses, starting at 50K, good sign on bonuses, paying back student loans and similar schedules to us. Nurse anesthetists make 120K easy. Then you can have your own plane and enjoy flying.

not quite, thats like saying Pilots make $250,000.00 Easy....... Potentially yes but not that easy...........

Not too much of a stretch though, my brothers wife started at 100K in California now works in Texas making about 90k.

I heard that its a lot like flying actually. The only exciting parts are takeoff (putting the person under) and landing (bringing them back) the cruise portion is lame. Except, when **** goes wrong, the nurse doesnt become a lawn dart.

That is exactly what I was looking for because when I do the simple math ($23 X 80 guarnteed hrs = $1840 - 15% taxes = $1564/mo), it is not too appealing. Thanks for sharing that, I feel better now.

1. FO pay...approximate numbers, depends on how much flying is available and how much you want to work.
- Year 1: $25K.
- Year 2: $40K.
- Year 3+ $45K.
- Assuming upgrade at year 4: $75K.


2. SKW has some of the best workrules in the regional industry, they are too numerous to list but if you specefic questions, throw them out...

3. An internal rec will help you get an interview...most folks who interview have one. You still have to pass the interview...I did not find it execeedingly difficult, but it was thorough. You must be prepared, and sim practice is recommended.

4. 900 hours in 9 months is asking a lot unless you have unlimited cash or a good instructor job. It's possible, but I'd say 12-18 months conservative.

Also be aware that they will like the fact that you were in the military. But they will not care about the details unless you were a winged aviator, so don't make too much of that. Non-pilot crew time is meaningless in airline-land.

Good Luck.

Fly the Bra upgrade to captain by next June, and get your career started thats what i would do....SKYWEST

Nice, welcome to the fine fraternity of Proptrash. You will not regret your decision, you have the rest of your career to push the hdg sync button.

Wow- thanks for the specific info. It is definately an industry that I want to keep working at. I am ready for a change, even if it means a paycut. Sick of flying in the back, even though it is quite fun every now and then.

Couple more questions:

1. Is per diem taxable?
2. Does SKW pay on duty, trip, or hourly rig?
3. If someone were to commute, what would a typical work week be like? (such as- when would they fly to their base airport in relation to when their duty starts, hotel stays...etc)
4. Does the airline pay for the hotels during overnight stays? If so, are they double or single occupancy?
5. When does the per diem clock start ticking? I've heard that it starts any time that your away from your base airport and only when you will have an overnight stay...but does that mean it starts when the plane is pushed from the gate, or upon reaching your destination?

Sorry to bombard everyone w/ questions- but your replies are a big help to me in understanding what I'll be doing.

Congrats enjoy your career at skw

1.Per diem is not taxable

2. You get paid from the time the door closes to the time it opens...and if your away from base you get your per diem no matter what.

3. Depending on your line..you might commute in the day of the trip and commute home after the last flight of your trip. If its an early morning show you might have to come in the night b4 and do a crashpad or hotel, and the same if your trip comes in late.

4. Paid for by the comapny at single occupancy

5. Perdiem is paid from the time the door closes on the first leg of your trip untill the door opens on the last leg of our trip. So departure time is 6pm on monday....you get back to base on thursday at 6pm. 72 hors pewr diem..and poly somehwhere around 15 hours of flying.

1. It is not taxable on any given day as long as you had an extended break (5 hours ?) or an overnight away from your domicile. If you fly a "local" trip where you report in the morning, do some flying, and return to domicile at the end of the day your per diem for that day is taxable. Senior pilots who live in base tend to fly locals. Junior pilots and commuters tend to fly 2,3,4, or even 5 day trips.

2. Not sure what an hourly rig is but SKW pays as follows:
- Leg Credit: The greater of scheduled flight time or actual flight time (totaled up on a daily basis). Flight time in 121 is gate-to-gate so this includes ATC, Wx, and deicing delays as long as you are off the gate.
- Daily Guarantee: 3:45 hours for coming to work.
- Monthly Guarantee: 75 hours.
- No Trip Rig, this is covered by the daily guarantee.
- Duty Rig: 50%...so 12 hours duty will pay at least 6 hours regardless of how little you fly. If you go over 12 hours you get more (x1.5 IIRC)

3. I'm middle of the pack in my domicile, and I get 4-5 day trips which show early afternoon or later, and get done in time to catch the last flight home. The late shows give me to 2-3 options to get to work, so I'm not hanging it out every week (stressful). All 700/900 flying for me, just because the schedules work out better. A more junior commuter might get stuck doing a 3 day followed by a 2 day (or some other split trip combo), in which case he needs a hotel or crashpad for the break between trips. He might also get an early show or late release, which would necessitate coming in the night before or staying the night after the trip...again hotel/crashpad required. Junior FO's and flight attendants have been known to "camp out" in the crewroom to save money, but this does not seem to happen at SKW...it is probably frowned upon.

4. All US airlines (except mesa) provide a single occupancy hotel. At SKW they range from barely adequate to luxurious. Sometimes you get a great hotel downtown, other times it's eastern-block housing in the airport industrial park.

5. Per diem starts when you report for duty at your domicile (45 minutes prior to departure) and ends when released from duty in your domicile (15 minutse after arrival). It continues the whole time you're on the trip, even if you return to domicile and have a short or medium break in the middle. If you get legal rest (8+ hours) in domicile, then duty and per diem ends.

Most of the better regionals have similar or even better arrangements, but a few may have significant workrule gaps (pinnacle, colgan?) and mesa has no workrules other than per diem. At mesa you only get paid when they feel like paying you...pretty much their discretion.

Always happy to help out another navy swimmer :cool:

Hi- thanks for taking the time to reply to all of that.

I understand that the hotel stays during duty are paid for...but what about while commuting? I imagine that the company does not fork out the individual's hotel bill, just curious.

Is there a realistic opportunity to have a side job during the first / second years as a new hire FO? Or, is the schedule so "up in the air" (literally) that it is impossible to hold another job?

Oh- cool. Are you a former swimmer?

It is funny that you mentioned getting paid for gate-to-gate time. I travelled to San Diego for a work thing several years ago and was on my first connection flight home (EMB-120). We boarded the plane very early in the moning and taxied only to sit at end of the runway for 30 minutes until the field opened. That puzzled me- now I know why.

How long, typically, can someone expect to fly as a FO before upgrading to Captain?

For those individuals that fly RJs, become captains, and then go into the majors- what happens to their pay? Do they immediately begin as 1st year FOs again?

Commuting hotel stays are not paid for, neither are crashpads.

Your side job opportunity depends on the company, airplane, and base. If you end up on reserve for an extended period it will be hard to have a side gig. If you end up a line holder in a junior base where you can control your schedule and get a lot of days off, then you might be able to swing it.

Unless you are retiring from the military, consider staying in the reserves...you can probably work as much as you want to and the airline has to let you off. It's rare to be given a hard time over reserve duty from an airline. However...there are plenty of IA opportunities right now your reservists. If you stay in long enough it will probably get around to you.

I flew the Brasilia for over six years at Skywest! You'll love it! Just get on the property! You'll have plenty of time in your career to fly jets. Good luck and have fun. LEAVE MESA ASAP!!

My opinion is go to Skywest! Getting experience at Mesa is great but caution... You signed a training contract already and once you complete training (don't recall what is considered completing of training but probably after IOE) you could be required to pay it back. Upgrade training contracts are approx. 12,000 bucks and that translates to 1,000 a month. I don't know how much a SIC contact is worth but who cares. If you want a type rating that bad let Skywest buy you a couple or just pay 12,000 bucks and get a PIC type but don't get a worthless type rating from Mesa. SIC type ratings just mean you sat in the airplane legally for international flying thats it. Mesa legal department is busy, but knowing JO it wouldn't take but two seconds to send you a certified letter asking for the money and or threatening legal action. Mesa contract could be like an apartment lease the landlord wont let you out of unless you pay. Ask around, but I would wait and take the job with the better quality of life. Compare days off and pay to see if it is really worth getting a slightly faster upgrade (maybe) or having a life.

That, sir, would be a dream job! :D

*entered from the crashpad*