welle036

[quote=Pontius Pilot;554658]Yeah, you don't want to end up in SJU on the ATR. It may sound like a great place, but its crowded, expensive and dirty and it really tough. If you speak fluent Spanish and you enjoy the 3rd world country type setting, then it can be paradise. I, and a big number of the people I know that got sent down there, hated it.

MIA isn't terrible - if you don't mind Miami. The flying there is pretty good.
quote]

Which routes do they fly out of Miami? Is is mostly to the bahamas and around Florida?

imbroke

At first I wanted to go anywhere but SJ. Now that I have taken some time to think about it I think I might like to go to SJ and fly the ATR. Here are my reasons tell me what you think. 1. Probably have the best chance at paying off my student loans and surviving at the same time on first yr FO pay (compared to ORD, MIA, LAX, JFK, ect.) 2. The weather would be pretty awesome, 82deg average for the year, low near 70 during the winter. 3. If I absoulutely hated it I could hopefully bid to get on the ERJ or CRJ somewhere else after a year and second year FO pay wouldn't be that bad (compared to first years). 4. I actually like flying so the ATR would be the best for me. 5. I need to work on my spanish, haha.

withthatsaid182

if you go to SJU and don't commute you might live a lonely life without any family or friends. if you commute you will find out how much commuting sucks.

you won't pay off your students loans easily on FO pay no matter where you are.

you do get a lot of good experience flying in the northeast. i don't think there is anything else like it. flying a prop is good experience too, i can't discredit that.

from what i have heard it's a pretty crack operation down there but if you can make the best of it you won't mind any other base.

if you come to JFK you get really good at jamacian.

Pontius Pilot

1. Cost of living there is expensive! Almost ridiculously so. Food is terribly high, so high I almost went into shock at the grocery store there. Crash pads are going to run you $400 or more - a bit more than you can usually find them around the other Eagle domiciles.

2. Can't argue with the weather. It is beautiful, gorgeous - but you won't get much instrument time. What clouds there are we avoid like the plague because they are brutal bumpy little buggers. Weather is good until Hurricane blow through, which is kind of neat too. You will sweat your butt off down there. AC is rare because electricity is so expensive (5 times the continental US rate or more). My crash pad was sweltering at night. There is something to be said for being able to eat outside in January, but the novelty can wear off.

3. If you hate it that year will seem like an eternity. I met a few people that had the same thoughts and they were miserable and trying everything to get out of there. If you hate it the job becomes miserable and you'll make everyone else miserable. Somehow those guys down there can sense a guy who's sick of being there (I guess they get exposed to it a lot).

4. The ATR is a great flying plane, there is no doubt about that. It takes a pilot to fly it and automation is at a minimum. So you get stick and rudder skills. You'll be slapping that thing down on tiny runways in less than ideal conditions. It can be exhilarating. Its a pilot's plane. I don't regret choosing th aircraft. Its an excellent, well built, bullet proof airplane. It has some maintenance problems here and there, but it seldom lets you down.

5. Puerto Ricans are the fastest Spanish speaking people on the planet and they speak a different brand than most people are taught in school. Its a bit more proper than what you might hear in Mexico. Its hard to figure out what's going on at the speed they throw it at you. You get the hang of it. A lot of people are shy to practice their English, but many of them had to take it in High School so they know it.

Before you were to make a decision I have a recommendation for you. Fly down there and stay for a couple of days and check it out. You may like it, you may hate it. People can go either way. I've met people who just meld into it and will probably never leave...and then there are the guys who will kill you just to move up seniority and get out of there! San Juan is a rough and tumble city and its definitely not what many people expect. That being said, I didn't hate it. I hated commuting. Had my wife been there with me it would've been great. You really just have to go and see it for yourself.

Hopefully I've been as objective as possible about it.

Pontius Pilot

[quote=welle036;554667]Routes may have changed a little since my last exposure to MIA, but generally consist of:

Key West, Savannah, GA, Jacksonville, Tampa, Ft. Myers.
Bahamas: Marsh Harbour, Freeport, Nassau.
Cuba: you can sometimes pick up trips to Cuba, cool and worth the experience.

As I said, we may have changed some of these, but that's the ones I recall.

imbroke

Pontius Pilot - thanks for the info/advice. I actually have been contemplating taking a trip down to SJ for a few days to see how I would like it. To be honest my number one choice would be ERJ in ORD. I guess you could say I'm just really trying to be prepared for the worst case senario.

kojack2101

Pontius Pilot- Where did you commute from? are most flights there open? If I was to be based there I would try to commute from DFW.. comments, suggestions?

Pontius Pilot

I commuted from the desert southwest through DFW most times. DFW flights (at least before passenger loads took a nose dive) were notoriously full and I was 9 times out of 10 in the jumpseat. Not a comfortable 5 hour flight, but the conversation and the view were usually good. I learned a lot about flying around hurricanes!

When commuting you always need a backup plan. For instance I went through Atlanta a few times, Houston once, Orlando a few times and Miami a bit. Sometimes I would go from home to DFW - DFW to MIA - spend the night in the crew room and then catch the morning flight to SJU. You can always get there, you just have to be creative and willing to adapt your plans. I would say going out of DFW gives you a lot of options.

Furthermore you may consider flying on airlines other than AA to get there. You have to pay to fly AA and it was costing me around $40 roundtrip from SJU - DFW. It doesn't seem like a lot, but if you do it once a week it eats into your pay. Other airlines are free. I've taken Delta, Continental, AirTran and Spirit just to save money.

Commuting takes a lot out of you. I probably have more time on the flight deck of a 757 than I have right seat in the ATR. But if you have to do it, you have to do it. Its a hard lifestyle and I don't know many that enjoy it. But it can be a means to an end.

Pontius Pilot

If I had it all to do over again, I would've taken ORD and gotten on the CRJ (nobody wanted the CRJ in my new hire class). The ERJ would've worked just as well though. I'm not sure they will allow you to chose bases when they start hiring again - but definitely visit SJU if you get a choice and are thinking about it. I wish I would have done it.

kojack2101

thanks for the info.. are they sending a good amount of pilots to SJU? Even though they brought some of the ATRs to DFW?? how hard is it to hold DFW ATR?