I am working aerial survey for a vendor called Air America, out of Daytona Beach, FL. It is a great place to work, and you keep current. You are free at will to make your own decisions, fly into IFR conditions, fly at night--basically have freedom to do as you choose, when relocating to job sites. Nice way to stay current while getting paid. GREAT pay.

I got hired by Piedmont back in April. Swimming in the pool. I much like traveling in my own airplane, and paying student loans while still being able to bank money into my investments and savings accounts. If you want more info, pm me.

When I interviewed back in August, I believe you needed about 300 TT with GLA, and then if you meet upgrade mins, you are eligible for captain upgrade. I believe you get paid the FO wage when you start. I believe their upgrade mins were 1500TT, so you should be good after a few months. My friends that work there say to except 80+hrs of flying per month.

Did you mean "expect"? How much flying is there for the newly upgraded, bottom-of-the-totem-pole, lower-senority-than-the-FO, captain? How long does reserve hell last?

And that is the basic premice that those of us that work here say. The long and short of it is, four years at Lakes equals a job at the majors. We aren't trying to say that this is the greatest thing since sliced bread or it works out for everyone, but it is an ends to the means. And I'm sorry Bradeku, but a job with Lakes is hardly contributing to the infamous "RACE TO THE BOTTOM". How can you compare a branded airline that exclusively flies EAS contracts with jet regionals that bicker over mainline flying. And while Sherwood implies that you don't need a regional job since the "airlines" hire from an eclectic group, the airline he is WAITING to fly for is a regional.

You hear all the talk about how bad life is at regional airlines and then everyone lines up to say how much better they are than Lakes. How much better? Think of it like a band-aid. You can get it done quick by ripping it off or you can pull it off slowly and it only hurts a little for a long time.

why would you rip on him? he was asking a question goodness

working out awesome its a grind for sure tho... about to take checkride in a few days and then off to ioe ... the plane is gonna be a blast to fly

by the way - denver is awesome!!! snowboard season here it comes woo wooooooooo

This has all been said before, and it's getting annoying that people are oblivious to the following argument. If you examine a 10 year span, starting with when a Laker first begins his or her 121 career, he/she is , without a doubt, one of the highest paid pilots in the industry over that 10 year period. Basically, we make it higher up the ladder much quicker. The affect an extremely small EAS commuter like Lakes has on the rest of the industry is nil. Lakes operates like commuter airlines of the past; like operations that flew Metros, 1900Cs, and Jetstreams. Those operations didn't pay the best, but you got your time and got out. Speak to about 30-40% of major airline captains, and they will tell you this same story. You can't really compare Lakes to a 70+ seat RJ operator. A more fair and accurate comparison would be to compare a 70+ seat RJ operator to a major airline. You can hardly call most regionals airlines "regionals" these days. Those flying hub to hub in aircraft less than 150 seats are, on average, doing it for half the pay they were 15 years ago. Yeah, Lakes is to blame for that....whatever. The math is simple:

Lakes- Year 1: $16, Year 2: $29 (upgrade), Year 3: $30 (2 types and check airman possible), Year 4: Probation pay at large jet operator

RJ operator- Year 1: $23, Year 2: $30, Year 3: $34, Year 4: $36, Year 5: $65 (upgrade)

Very well said.

From talking to my three friends who are captains, and my one friend as an FO almost ready to upgrade, back in late August, it looked like fresh pilots out of classes were immediately transitioning to right seat. If there is a reserve, I don't think it is that long. I know they will be sending you to the STL base, and from my understanding, the STL bases are short staffed.

This is true. I never implied that an airline us survey pilots will be hired by would be the majors. You know as well as I do, that with the current status in today's economy, lots of GLA pilots will transition to other regionals, or corporate, and are not guaranteed a job at the majors. All my three captain friends at GLA are looking for corporate gigs.

My girlfriend's Dad had to go from GLA to AWAC, then to Delta. I know captains at regionals who have been on the waiting list for Southwest for years (a friend of mine has been a captain at AWAC for at least 3 years).

You can't be certain with this industry....at least that we can agree on.