Well said, 2cylinderdriver. I would not trade my two tours of duty as a Laker with a stop at USAIR in the middle for anything. It is not greatest or the most terrible place. It is what it is and that was a great time. From the people to the flying. Take care.

Hey Nate, it's Joe. Everything going well for you? We miss you a lot here.

Couldn't agree more with the former and current pilots here at ZK. I was apprehencive at first even to go to the interview because its Great Lakes... ooooh bad! When I interviewed I had two other interviews in the works one at PSA and one at Repeublic. I took the GLA job because they got back to me first. Best thing I ever did!! Look at those companies now.

I wanted to hold out for Skywest and be an FO on a JET, but reality is that you WILL be on reserve for 1-2 years and and FO for even longer.:( I was hired in NOV 07 and am looking at upgrade within 2 months. I spent minimal time on reserve (4 months) and currently hold a good day line on the 120. :D

Great place to be, and great pilots. They pay is do able, you have to be very careful with your money; and you only have to endure that payscale for a year or so (depending on Total Time). We are still growing like crazy, we need more planes and pilots. We have so much flying that we cant even do because of the afore mentioned plane and pilot shortage.

My Dad flys for a large cargo outfit and he has flown with many former "Lakers" and he has said that they are some of the sharpest pilots that he flys with.

Hey Joe, hows the little one?

He's diverting all of our disposable income. Other than that, he's great. Talking a lot, and eating alot

Do most new-hires go into the 1900 or the Brasillia?

I didn't see a posting for Captains. How long would it take to upgrade?

Plan on getting the 1900 as a new hire. If you really want it, request the Brazilia during indoc and they may put you in a class if they need 120 FO's. If you meet the atp mins all you need is 300 hrs online to be able to bid for upgrade which could be as little as 4 months and we are still seeing vacancies in our upgrade classes.

Can anyone tell me if STL is senior? How bout for CAs?

I would go to Mesa before lakes! CFI v.s. $17 per hour? Where's the tough choice. Even if Mesa doesn't make it you will get a CL-65 type rating and when hiring starts back up then off to where ever the wind blows!

STL is definitely junior, both sides.

You can be "off to where ever the wind blows" if that destination is corporate or another regional. I highly doubt you will upgrade as quickly at Mesa. Turbine PIC...

Hahahaha...Good luck with that. An SIC type in an RJ? I bet that makes you a shoe in for the right seat at another regional in a year or so. In the meantime you can upgrade here. But hey I understand those jets are irrestistable when they shine in the sun. At least Lakes isn't cancelling vacations.:cool:

HAHAHAHA what a tool! yeah those cl-65 sic's are sooo rare! Please, DO NOT go to Lakes. They have a certain group of people you would not fit in with at all.

Hey guys when AMW shutdown did you guys pick up any of their old birds with those routes?

Also if someone had a 1900 type and over 1000 PIC in it would it make a difference in the hiring of street CA's or upgrade times. I know some of those AMW'ers are bound to be looking for work too.

Thanks kansas, just keeping a couple "Plan B's" in my back pocket.;)

We haven't picked up any of the birds yet...the problem is that we aren't willing to pay enough for them.

It would be worth a shot to throw in your resume for a street captain slot. Hard telling if it would work out or not, but we have hired a few lately.

I actually have a question about benefits. What are the benefits Lakers do receive? Are they the same for all employees?

Do any of you know how long the training is at GLA? Just wondering how long to expect not have any income????

Training is 6-8 weeks long, you are not paid, but they do put you up in a hotel

Do any of you guys at GLA know how many more F/O's they are looking to get? My friend is eligible for captain upgrade, but told me she is still an F/O since they are short F/Os. Also, I see you guys, on the website, are adding new routes, but have other cities targetted that you are not flying too yet. I am interested in being based in STL, if I get hired, and I see there are lots of cities around the STL area that are "yet to be served". Any information about projected growth, adding new planes, etc??

TPIC is TPIC it's going to open a whole lot more doors than thousands of jet SIC but if your ultimate goal is to fly for a legacy airline that has thousands of JET PIC applicants your chances will not be so good out of a 1900 operator, I had many many CAs that I flew with that couldn't find a decent place with the exception of one who was in training dept for a long time. It's a different market than it was when all you had were tprop regionals.

Sounds like you've got it made having dad flying for a major carrier, other's aren't so lucky.

Sherwood- your friend must b on the E120. They seat locked them for 1-2 months, just enough time to get some more captains on the 120. They cant get enough CA's or FO's on the beech, those guys have some much flying to do it's crazy. Jus started some flyn in WI, word is that they r are starting MO flyn (ex Bigsky stuff), and now starting in CA and NV.

WE NEED PLANES AND PILOTS!!!!

Trainnig is 6-8 weeks long, unpaid, hotel provided. Trainning contract is 15 months and $7500.

Benifits aren't that bad; on the medical side, fairly low copays and pretty good coverage for a regional. Kind of expencive though. Travel is good, we are CASS. Free passes on Frontier (as long as they are around) and reduced fares on many other airlines.

Well, those types of airlines that were discriminating between TPIC and JPIC are going to have a problem in the near future due to the many furloghs that have been going on and people leaving the industry. They could afford to be picky. In the near future they may find themselves in a tight spot. ALPA and AOPA still project a pilot shortage of about 3,000 pilots due to the adjusted mandatory retirement age.

Maybe it's a problem with the CA that you speak of and not the lack of JPIC.

Two months without pay....wow!! You loose $5,000 dollars of instructor pay and then it takes you 4 months to make that up at 75hrs X $16.00.

I'd look around!!

Ya, she was an FO on the E120, but I think she wants to be a CA on the 1900, since she said upgrade to CA on those would be faster. I figured the MO stuff was BigSky's leftovers.

The word I hear is that everyone wants Denver, and no one wants to be based in STL. Any truth to this? Are PHX and MKE bases also?

Thanks for all your info.

I agree on the travel benefits, but the insurance here is horrible...and costly.

When is this going to happen?

STL is junior, few want to be based there right now. The PHX base closed a year ago. MKE and ABQ are run as TDY lines at the moment.

Don't know where you're instructing, but I wish I could have instructed for 30k/year.

Using your logic: Spend five more years at a "good" regional than you would at Lakes before hopping to an LCC/major due to the slow upgrade, and you lose 5 years of salary at that next "dream carrier."

Say that "dream job" is AirTran...

5 years X 128520= $642600. That's over 20 years of flight instructing at 30k/yr. Plus, 5 years extra seniority can be what keeps you in a job when things turn downward.

Our pay is terrible, I agree. Not trying to completely bust on you here, but I do get tired of the short-sighted "don't go to Lakes, you'll make $16/hour" argument. Lakes isn't for everyone. Heck, it isn't for most people. But that doesn't necessarily make it a stupid decision for someone else.

Good luck looking around buddy... no one else is hiring!!! That is the problem with most young pilots today; they are not willing to make sacrifices for a job. Kansas is right, nothing but a buch of short sighted talk with no walk. I thought the same thing when I was CFI'n (Great Lakes= Great Mistakes), truth is that this is the best move I could have made. Keep CFI'n and wait 2 years untill airlines start hiring again then get to an airline, or bite the bullet and get into an airline now, make some sacrifices now and reap the benifits latter. And I'm not getting furloghed, like those "more desirable" airlines!!!

Kansas- We are healthy, young pilots. Of course, it's all relative when comparied to Starbucks, UPS or FedEx. Regular visits $30, Preventative care $30. Vision $60 Dental is 100% coverage for preventative care, 80% for basic (after $100 deductable). For most of us we are not going to be retiring from here, and it's no secret that medical insurence is expencive. Lakes is no exception, but it's better than our previous CFI'n jobs or whatever.

When all those age +60 guys retire.

Normally I wouldn't agree with this, sacrificing your skill for low wages, but since Great Lakes is a 1900 EAS service that doesn't affect any of us flying routes, I'll just go along with it. Good luck.

What do you mean sacrificing skill for low wages?:confused:

Steak Pilot - You forgot to mention the quick upgrade. Young pilots, with relatively low time, being able to fly, and get paid, a turbine aircraft; with the realistic possibilty of being upgraded to CA within a year or two. Turbine PIC time is priceless as a young pilot.

Bite the bullet in the short term, as far as pay goes, and look ahead. Where else can you start your airline career, and after three years have 1500 Turbine PIC time??

Thats right tubine is turbine, whether it has paddles or fan blades.

The wages are low, but not that bad really compared to your "more desireable jobs". I was there for just under 3 years and let me tell you what I made:

Year 1: I made absoultely nothing... it sucked and I couldn't buy anything or do anything fun because I couldn't afford it. Then I upgraded exatly one year from my date of hire.

Year 2: I was a new 1900 captain on reserve for about 6 months. $29/hr at 75 hr guarantee (~$13050). Then I started holding 85 hour lines and for the rest of the year (~$14790). For the year total, I made ~$27,840 plus perdiem. Then I transitioned to the Brasilia.

Year 3: We were short on brasilia pilots and I held a line at $37/hr. I was flying about 85 hours a month at first and then I would pick up some open time and bring myself down to 10 days off and ~110-115 hours of credit. I was building Turbine PIC baby and I was doing it fast. AND I was on my way to making near 50K for the year. I was bringing home around $3000-$3200 per month after taxes and including perdiem.

Point being: you may make a little more at an RJ job over the course of 3 years, but you won't have 2 type ratings, over 1000 TPIC, and numerous contacts in the industry.

Also, there are some places that prefer Jet PIC over TP PIC, but not as many as you think. I have flown with guys that are now at FedEx, Alaska, Southwest, Frontier, and AirTran to name a few. I went to Frontier and now I am getting furloughed.

Now... Who has a better resume?: Me or the guy at Republic who has been a captain on the RJ for a couple of years and also has 1000TPIC+? I don't know the answer to that because it depends on who is looking at it. I would, however, put my resume against any RJ captain at an interview and feel just as qualified.

I will tell you that if I had to do it all over again, I wouldn't change a thing. Lakes opens the door to opportunities faster than any other regional in the industry.

Just my .02

Flex (ramrod)

Thank you, your .02 is right on.

Sorry to hear about you and F9.

I never said it was stupid.

Go ahead and look around. You have that right. Just don't be suprised if the amount of RJ's flying around is continuously reduced in the coming years, which means they won't be hiring for a very long time. Lakes may be the only job available for a while, and if that happens you may need 2000 (or more) hours to get an interview there.

The Boyd Group, Inc. - Aviation Hot Flash & Insights
"Between now and 2017, there will be over 800 fewer of these RJs in the US skies. That is based on The Boyd Group's 2008 - 2017 Global Fleet Demand & Trend Forecast. This figure may now be conservative with jet-A heading over $3 a gallon."

FYI, Jet-A is closer to $4 a gallon now.

I saw one of the requirements was to be 21 one years old. That would be one long upgrade, but you would have a quick upgrade time when you turn 23.

yeah, thats my issue... I'm 21 and I'm already wanting to move on from instructing. I'd love to get on somewhere with TPIC time right around the corner, but I don't want to be stuck in the right seat @ $16/hour for 2 years if I don't have to.

You guys have PLENTY of years ahead of you. Don't worry too much--wait a few years, instruct, make some money, and get your TT up; or get in while the mins are still low, gut it out for two years, and be WELL ahead of the game by the time you are 24. I would choose the later.