Originally Posted by WEACLRS

Rick - can you take a stab at whether you think they had PIC experience (capt's) or were FO's that wanted to move to a jet?

We do get a number of FO's at Colgan that stay for a few months and then get hired at an RJ carrier. The ones that are under 22 I can't blame - they might as well go and sit in a jet until they can upgrade - second year pay is better. But I try to talk the older ones out of it because turbine PIC time is so important and our upgrades have been fairly quick. I hope I'm not doing them a disservice.

That said we've also had a few "marginal" guys (for lack of a better term) that I think get nervous with the short upgrade times here and they jump ship...only to run square into their piloting weakness at the next stop. I can think of two that went ExpressJet. One I know didn't make it (he wanted me to recommend him back into Colgan) and I sure hope the other has found another career.

Originally Posted by rickair7777

It seems to be always prop captains going to jet CA or FO, probably because it's hard to stay in turboprops for long without upgrading. I don't think it could be a pilot quality thing, initial aircaft assignments are random.

Originally Posted by WEACLRS

Are you referring to internal company upgrades and transistions, or to outside new hires?

Do you think it's related to the automation (FMS, glass, etc) or ?? I spend my days slash alpha. The SAAB has a great autopilot and good EADI and EFIS, but otherwise it's dual nav/coms, DME's, and an ADF. I'm curious if you (or anyone else) thinks the lack of FMS style PIC time is of any real concern or, if one is competent generally, those skills can be readily picked up in training.

We have had a few of captain upgrades fail recently for "soft skills" - lack of command authority. Call it seasoning or whatever, but guys aren't ready when the call comes. Our FAA ACPM has indicated this is a problem the FAA is concerned about at a number of regional airlines. Are you guys seeing any of this too? I'm inclined to chalk it up to the quick upgrade...

Originally Posted by rickair7777

...Maybe it's just difficult to break out of hand flying/steam guage mind-set into glass/FMS. I guess the point I'm making is if you're on turbo-props now, don't expect a slam-dunk transition into the RJ.

Originally Posted by beeker

I'm sure some T-prop guys had trouble with the transition but I bet the same amount of jet guys would have trouble with the turbo prop.

Originally Posted by WEACLRS

Thanks for correcting me...I'd like to know if any of our guys have left for an RJ. Was he a 1900 captain?

Originally Posted by fosters

AWAC is not the "career" place is used to be. Switching to the US Air flying has killed productivity and made the schedules horrible for the commuters, with an average of 13 days off a month compared to what used to be 17-18 days off a month.

Get the PIC time, it'll help you later in life. A career at a regional isn't viable, unless you like being on pins and needles and don't mind moving every year.