cloudkicker1981

Well i did the whole go to colgan for the quick upgrade but it seems, as everbody else is, we are slowing down. i havent heard about any new planes coming or more routes so im wondering if sticking around is worth it or not. Should i go to a jet carrier and wait a little longer or stick it out at colgan for another 8-12 months for the upgrade.
Anyother colgan pilots here good news about expanding in the future?

727C47

follow your gut kid, but remember PIC turbine is worth its weight in gold,500 PIC in the SAAB is worth more than a 1000SIC in the RJ.

SAABDriver

When did you get hired? Sounds like you may have been in the tail end of the "BOOM" December or January.

Are you flying or on reserve. I have heard there has been a little more reserve than normal. I heard they did a little overhiring at the tail end of last year.

The summer is here and there should be a little more flying around so if you are on reserve you might get a better line with some internal movement.

I would say to at least stick out your year training contract. you do not want to have to pay for your training....and yes they are using lawyers to collect if you leave early.

As you have heard on many posts here upgrade time is always changing what may be 2 years today could be 1 year tommorrow.

My friend who got on there in 2002 sat right seat on the SAAB for 20 months and he was hired with 2200 hrs and 750 multi. Many of the captains that are flying now sat right seat for 2 years. In 2002 Colgan had 6 Saabs and now it is over 40 that is a fast growth!

Look around. You will be hard pressed to find an upgrade less than 2 years almost anywhere.....

Good luck!

rickair7777

Get 1500 PIC, then go somewhere with good QOL and RJ's so you can hang out in style while padding your resume.

Some companies require turbine PIC, some require turbojet time, but I don't know of anyone who requires turboJET PIC.

iflyjets4food

For those of us who actually wanted that job for other reasons than just the upgrade, STAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I would have loved to have gotten hired and wasn't. It makes me sick to see that folks who WERE hired are less loyal than I would have been.

cloudkicker1981

iflyjets4food, i believe i replyed to one of your post back when you were trying to get hired, and i was very positive and helpful. maybe it was your attitude or the big a$$ koolaid mustache, but either way you didnt get the job so just move on. the post i put down was for incited advise, not from somebody who has know idea or expeirence in what they are talking about.

i got hired with colgan in june 05 adn i know that i should probably stay but you do get treated really $hitty. i mean besides low pay there are not any other duty regs for us. i keep getting pulled from trips so guys can do ioe, which is fine but when you put in a bid for a month and get a line then a week before you start that trip (per say at colgan) they pull it adn give you resevre with only reserve pay, this is happen for a while leaving me with 60 hours lines that were blocked for 90 and screwing my whole month up. whats the point of bidding a line. also they tried taking away 3mins off are runup and 3min off are repos.

thanks everyone else who has some useful opinions, i probably will stay like i said, just wanted to hear some more people telling me to stay.

fosters

Congratulations! You have now reached the point of understanding that being a pilot, and getting paid to do it, is a J-O-B, nothing more, nothing less. If more people realized this before taking that job with a "quick upgrade" we would be better off. I realized it when I was CFI'ing, and as such came to a good company (if I had any more brain cells I would've gone to a freight company).

No offense, but didn't a 12 month upgrade tell you *something* about the company? I mean, c'mon, with every other regional looking at 2.5 years PLUS for an upgrade (prop regionals mind you, like commutair, mesaba, eagle, etc.) and Colgan's at 12 months, didn't that tell you enough about the company?

You've made your bed, now sleep in it until your 12 month contract is up (June of '06 looks like). Leaving a crappy paying regional and forking out the $$ for a training contract is rediculous unless you're going someplace to make $60k+ a year.

My guess is by then you'll be *pretty* close to upgrade or at least have an idea if it'll be around the corner or not. And you won't owe anything...

WEACLRS

Hmmmm. Colgan will pay you your original block when they pull you for IOE. You need to put in for it. I had it happen to me both as a captain and an f/o and each time they have paid me my full block as planned, not just reserve.

The new employee pilot manual did not pull 3 mins for repos. It listed it at 10 mins, as usual. There was a typo on the runup that when brought to VP Admin's attention, she quickly corrected. It's stands at 15 mins. Also as part of the new pilot employee manual they left out that we are paid the better of scheduled block or actual for each day. That too has been added.

Granted, Colgan is not the highest paying airline in the world. But they are fair. If you have a 90 hour block line, you will get paid for 90 hours. Just put in for it. I just flew with a FA that got drafted. She didn't mind because she was looking for more hours. However, they (I spoke directly with crew scheduling) are paying her an additional 3:45 for yesterday and 3:45 for today, on top of the pairing block. Talk to your lead captain at your base. He'll show you how to list the pay credits on your pay sheet if you don't know.

Stay. Good things are happening here. The company is profitable, private, not asking us for concessions, and primed for more expansion (if we can just find the airframes - S340's are getting rare). After a year you are close to making captain and the corresponding increase in income. PIC time (and recommendations) are everything. I know of two more captains leaving this month for Continental and North American.

727C47

You have a great attitude WEACLRS,you will go far,no lie.

iflyjets4food

WOAH!!! I wasn't aiming to pi$$ you off. I was talking about a job that I wanted and didn't get. I have moved on. As I said in my interview when asked what I would do if I didn't get the job, I've moved up to 135 in my current company. I appreciated your positive and helpful comments when I was trying to get hired. I was just trying to be as helpful as you were, maybe I could have been a bit more tactful. When it comes to jobs, I've had a few. Stay put. What's another year in your career?