It's better than being hired and immediately furloughed. Think of yourself as lucky, and use this time to think about getting out of this crappy industry, or changing gears at least. Good luck.

No doubt...I think I'm more bummed out at the fact I had a chance to leave boring North Dakota but didn't, though it would have been worst to have moved only to get furloughed.

Off-topic: Grand Forks, ND is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay boring especially on days like today with bad weather and nothing to do. Don't come here! :p

I was very tempted to go up there;) but thought I will just take the hard life here in south florida running back and forth to the Bahamas. (they really should have a sarcasm smilie of some kind)

Still swimming in the pool not knowing what the heck is going to happen:confused:.

Oh well, best of luck to all :cool:

Yeah definitely. Do you check your PMs, btw? I had sent you a few a while back, though they're too old now that we know how everything ended up. lol

Yeah it does. I also just read that the pilot numbers are up to 300 being cut. The last number I had seen was 160. That's a huge jump. Hopefully there will be plenty of early outs so that there won't be too many junior guys getting involuntarily furloughed.

Ha! ...and to still think about the prospect of hiring 300. :rolleyes:

Anyway, this has been beat to death. On to other things...

to everyone in the pool, don't hold your breath on getting a call anytime soon because its not going to happen!!! but here is a question to think about...when (if?) comair does hire again, whether it be next year or five years from now, are we still considered to still be in the pool and getting a call for a class prior to them interviewing again or will we be required to interview once again after a certain period of time has lapsed with us being in the pool?

Depends how long it is, they me re-evaluate..or stipulate you need x amount of hours in the past x amount of days.

Seriously though, i thought i recommend staying away, even if they do call eventually. Go become a lawyer, or an oil futures trader.

hahah andy i have already taken your advice. its just the curiosity in me. after i got the call a few days before i was suppose to leave...i sat and thought about it for a long time and went to work right away with plan B (thank you 4 year degree!). i was seriously packed and all ready to leave for 2 months of training! this industry is a crapshoot. ....seriously though its a real bummer because for as long as i can remember this has been what i wanted to do in life and i've come so close (literally)...but whatever, maybe one day. i think its best for everyone trying to get in to try somethign else if only for the time being given the way the economical climate is the way it is right now.

wow, i thought they were going to be calling me tomorrow...i hadnt read any of the other 50,000 posts about dont hold your breath...
you can pretty much bet on the fact that every single guy in the pool knows whats happening in the industry so comments like that just serve to tick people off. Dont remind us, go drink a beer like the rest of us....:mad:

Im in the same boat. For as long as I was a pilot I wanted to be an airline pilot. I knew exactly where i was headed. Now its the last thing I want to do because I cant see a way into this crazy industry at this point....so thank GOD I have a degree in Aviation Management!! (oh boy, and why didnt you go and become an engineer?)

oh well...Im home with my beautiful wife every night, and at least I can still fly for a living as a CFI!

Sorry dude if that came out the wrong way, wasn't my intention at all. Its probably because all this job searching stuff is getting to me. Being that i got the call 3 days before i was suppose to leave for class last week, I didn't have any other plans for the month so I've just been polishing up the resume all of last week till now hahah. But yeah like you said in your previous post, the positive to all this is staying home with the wife, or in my case the GF...glad i was able to spend the 4th with her and the friends and not watching the fireworks from my room at the hilton! all the best to everyone.

i guess drinking leads to posts that come off a little harsh!!
this industry sucks hahaha

BNSF is hiring. Good jobs and good pay/benefits. BNSF.com

Let me take the time to clear some of the rumors and speculation that has been going on.

1) Comair is NOT furloughing 300 pilots... they are using an exaggerated number in order to force ALPA to talk with management... which they aren't right now.

2) Comair probably isn't gonna end up furloughing pilots. When they find out the amount of money they can afford to offer the extremely senior pilots of our extremely top-heavy seniority list, there will be a lot of pilots who will take the money and run. I estimate the possibility of any Comair pilots being furloughed to be about 40%

3) For those of you swimming in the pool... don't get too comfortable with your current jobs... when this crap is all done and over I estimate you will be here for training in no more than 6 months.

4) For those still in training.. you are guaranteed to finish training... they already paid for the sim time, and they can't get it back... that's about 50k per trainee... about $600,000 per training class... not including the instructors... they aren't gonna throw that money away...


I hope this lets all those affected by the recent events feel a little better...

Heck yeah that made me feel better! So many people are eager to tell you how screwed you are being in the pool and how you might as well give up and do something else. It's refreshing to hear something different for a change. I've been reading that the 300 that Comair mentioned is grossly exaggerated, so hopefully that turns out to be the case and that the original 160 is more accurate. More importantly, hopefully nobody ends up getting furloughed.

On another note, does anyone else have any other opinions on whether us guys in the pool might have to interview again?

I was doing recurrent the last 2 days and there were NH's in the sim, pretty tough to stay focused with this crap going through the air.

It’s good to hear some positive prospective on things at Comair, but how exactly did you get this information?:confused:

Let's think about these buy outs for a second. If you look at the top 10% of the pilot group, a lot of them actually have 10 years still that they can fly. At that level, 10 years is basically $1,000,000.00. That is just straight earning potential. That doesn't include any 401K match from the company. So the way I see it, the company would have to offer those guys over 1.5 Million Per/pilot to make that a remote possibility.

It the time value of money, though. I would take $500,000 right now, invest it AND have the opportunity to work somewhere else for 10 years.

I would be surprised to see Comair offer anything more than 3 months salary.

It would be interesting to see what their formula is in determining what your price would be. I guess everyone has their own motivations so each persons price is different.

I decided to resurrect this dead thread because i need some help. I was supposed to have a july 7th training date so i'm fairly close to the top of the comair pool, not that it means much. since i got the call that i'd be waiting for a while i've been looking at other job options. any opinions and advice from my fellow poolies or other aviators is welcome.

Turns out i might have a source that can help me get an airnet interview. they are a pretty solid company but i'd have to sign a one year contract so if comair ever did call me back i might have to say no. i'd still like to fly for em but dont know if i can wait or risk waiting for something that might not ever happen.

Also, what is everyone else in the pool doing in the meantime? Instructing... other regional... law school... etc. I don't have my CFI, dumb not to get it i know, so I dont have that to fall back on. And i've applied everywhere else without much luck.

Thanks again to anyone who answers I really don't know what to do.

Truthfully, I would just advise you to go to Airnet. Even if you got called from the pool for a class date now, you would most likely be still betting on a 5-6 year upgrade*. At Airnet, you would be getting paid a whole lot better then first year FO pay, you would be logging PIC time and have excellent IFR skills. You would also probably also get left seat in the lear within 2 years*, which would allow you to move on to bigger and better places. Besides, the cargo industry is handling this fuel mess a whole lot better then the airlines.

Airnet - Better pay, PIC single-pilot time, quicker upgrade to left seat of a jet.

Comair - Living off food stamps first year, SIC time in a jet, looooonnngggg upgrade.

*subject to change at any minute.

Have you ever flown night freight? There's a reason most of them jumped at the chance to go to a regional.

Airnet is a great company and a great fit for many people, but let's not say that it would be better for the average pilot. Flying all night by yourself regardless of the radar or icing is paying dues. It's not the same as Comair by any stretch of the imagination.

With all that said, the current industry dictates that your choices are narrowed for probably the next year or so. If I were in your shoes I would go to Airnet, but I would prefer Comair.

Best of luck to you regardless.

What he said. /\


Pipe line patrol is coming up too. Not many options open for pilots right now. If you have something, go for it.

Yeah....currently flight instructing...not making much money but at least feels good to have a relatively secure job at the university.

I'm not betting on Comair as the place to be, but if they call us back, I'd definitely go in a heartbeat. I'm sick of North Dakota. More importantly, I'm sick of teaching contract students.

Ive been instructing as well, I had the early July class as well....I mean I couldnt agree with the comment above, its nice to have a steady job, my pay is the same as in regional airline, if not more, but training contract students does suck....but better than not having an aviation job....hopefully Comair calls soon (and i mean early 2009) cuz I cant see myself instructing for another year, maybe 1.5 yrs....after that Ill have to work construction to pay off bills...

hey guys thanks for the input. very much appreciated. actually had a phone interview this afternoon for a company in ATL that flies beech jets. that would be sweet and hopefully no commitment if comair calls back. hope they call back!

Hang tough in the pool
 

I'm in the 23 June (read last) class brought in at Comair before classes were cancelled. I'm older, much older, than the average hire and have a ton of corporate experience as a senior executive. Flying is a short second career for me.

Comair is a quality organization and well worth the wait if you can afford it. While anything could happen, I don't see any indication that Comair believes anything other than they need to ramp up hiring, but have to wait awhile to do so. How long? I don't know. The latest announcements have delayed projected furloughs to October with recalls projected to start in November.

I'd recommend waiting at least 6 months to get hired by Comair. This period of time will get the Delta/Northwest merger closed, and the economy, oil prices and capital markets through the presidential election into the new President's honeymoon when everyone is happy.

Things will be much clearer econonically then. Moreover, the Delta strategy vis-a-vis regionals will be clearer and if you have waited you will be a good place to make a better informed decision about what to do. There's going to be a shake-out in the regionals. Delta/Northwest's regionals will be good places to be and worth a small wait.

From the perspective of a 30-40 year career, a few months
here and there to get the right positions is not delay, but just good career planning and management. Good luck to everyone.

I'm surprised that someone is comparing Airnet to Comair. You'd rather fly a single pilot Baron that is a beat of piece of garbage through all kinds of weather in the middle of the night because it pays a little better?

I have jumpseated in one of their single pilot planes once, and it was a very eye opening experience. The kid was doing a nice job, but still.... I would work for less $$ that first year (comair) and be able to get a somewhat normal day schedule and be able to get above the thunderstorms.

I would take Airnet, you make more money, have more time off, and you don't have to deal with Comair crew scheduling. You have to like nights though.

Thankfully I didn't give up my corporate and skydiving jobs so thats still going till comair starts calling.

I also would take Airnet if it was available and I didn't have current employment. Lots of flying and PIC/IFR time to boot.

"C" is for Comair.

Hmmm...the somewhat normal schedule comment is vaguely plausible. Above thunderstorms in a CRJ200? Sounds like a good idea for an episode of Myth Busters.:D

Looks like I might have a gig lined up flying organs and tissue samples in a C-310. Really random, just ran into someone at the FBO that needed a pilot. Not the best pay or schedule, actually its basically on-call 24/7, but it's a 30 min drive from home and no commitment or contract required. now if comair calls back eventually i can go at the drop of a hat or if not at least im getting some more multi time. thanks again for the input fellas i think i've got a better idea what direction i want to go

All you poolies hang on just a bit longer. were set to get seven 90's starting in October which resulted in the need to promote 30+CA's and 14FO's and if we meet big daddy D's performance we should get 7 more starting early 09'. Not to mention the whole mesa/freedom injunction that put a screeching halt to hiring is almost up and as far as I can tell they are failing miserably in there performance #'s are the lowest of all of the connection carriers. If mesa goes and new a/c are going to be on the property..........? This all seems to point in a positive direction*. PM if you have some questions Ill tell you what I know, not that I’m "on the inside" but just my insight on what I see. Ive enjoyed being at Comair and its worth hangin on for just a bit longer if you can.

*subject to change for the worse without notice!!!(but hopefully not)

Not to be the downer guy, but don't want the poolies getting their hopes too high, teamdothis i agree that things are moving in a positive direction, but probably not many changes staffing wise until early '09. True we are "promised" the additional 900s but DAL has been cutting hours on the 50-seater and returning some to the leasing companies. Not sure on the numbers coming offline, but the additional 900s aren't really expansion just replacements.

To the poolies hang in there, believe me I want you guys here as bad as you want to be here. I was lucky enough to get into class this summer before they brought hiring to a halt and I really don't wanna be on the bottom of the seniority list more than I have to be.

thanks for the support/words of encouragement. that's a rare find on these boards sometimes. i can handle waiting till early '09 or even a little more if thats all its gonna be till i get out of this pool. my only fear was that comair would dry up the pool if they started to furlough and i'd never get the call. as long as that is not the case i'll have some slight ray of hope to cling to. if anyone does have any more rumors about the pool and the future of it, good or bad, i'd like to hear it in case i do need to make other employment arrangements. thanks fellas

Man- I hope the call comes sooner than '09. How many slow fight, stalls and steep turns will I have to see...


Anyone have AW's direct line? I have seem to have misplaced it during a move. PM me.