If you don't meet the min requirements for the airline that you want (or the one that will get you quick PIC time), then I guess you have 2 choices.

1. Continue doing what you are doing (cfi, 135, flying rubber dog-sh!t out of hong kong, whatever) as long as it's a secure job and pay is decent relatively speaking, until you meet the mins.

2. Take a regional job if you get an offer, even if it means being furloughed in the near future, or if it's with an outfit like AE with a 7 year upgrade. Do this with the knowledge that the worst case is you'll be jobless. If you can handle that idea, then go for it. The up side is that you'll be jobless with a few hundred hours of jet time in your book, even if it is SIC. Just watch for training agreements, etc, that make you pay back the cost of training if you leave before some prescribed period of time. You don't want to get the offer from your ideal company only to be tied down by $20k in debt to your current employer.

 

Having been a close watcher of the airline industry as a whole and the regionals in particular for many years, my advice would be NOT TO FALL IN LOVE WITH ANY AIRLINE BECAUSE THEY WILL ALL BREAK YOUR HEART. What is true this year won't be true next year. In 2 years Mesa could be at the top of the payscale in the regional world and Horizon and Skywest could be at the bottom (both Horizon and Mesa have pilot contracts up for renewal soon). It wasn't so long ago that Mesaba was THE regional airline to be at. They were getting the Avros, expanding the Saab fleet and life was great. Now where are they? The only regionals that have consistantly been well managed and reasonably good to work for are Horizon and SkyWest but that could all disappear like a fart in the wind. And its all relative.

Bottom line: Regional airlines are all pretty much the same. Every one of them has its own set of pros and cons. And those pros and cons are always changing. Today airline A is up and B is down, tommorow B is up and A is down. I know this post doesn't answer your question directly but its something to think about.

 

I got the "Welcome aboard" letter from ASA yesterday. Given that I already live in Atlanta, and have a fiance here in Med School... it seems like the logical choice. Even with upgrade time being a little long, it still seems alot safer than moving across the country somewhere for who knows what.

With all being said, I am still very excited about the opportunity and I thank all of you for your help!

 

Congratulations on getting accepted to ASA. I would just suggest taking the job, complete the required term of service for the training contract. Then re-evaluate your circumstances and the industry and make any changes that you see fit to get you on your desired career path. But one thing I cannot stress enough is the 1000 hrs of Turbine PIC. Every thing else is "colored bubbles".

 

Jacksjj..... Any info about the interview and the sim ride ??

Thanks in advance

 

Congrats on getting on with ASA!!!!

Look forward to seeing you online........

 

jacksjj:

Congradulations. Best wishes & blue skies.

Btw, does anyone know what the average upgrade time is within the regional airline industry? Just wondering.

atp

 

The "good" regionals have higher times. Horizon runs upwards of 7 years. The ones that don't have the QOL and pay tend to go pretty quick, I'd imagine because of faster attrition. Mesa and TSA are somewhere around 2 years or less usually.

I would say that the majority that are currently hiring probably average a 3 to 4 year upgrade.

 

Takpilot - here you go.

All the gouges from willflyforfood and aviationinterviews are pretty right on. They know everyone reads them.... and they expect you to. However, the downside is... they expect you to know the stuff in the gouges pretty well.

Day 1: Sim ride. Meet at FSI at 1400. The guy was really nice and laid back, he does his best to make you feel comfortable. He goes over the RJ and power settings pretty thoroughly. He never looked at our logbooks one time. Asks basic questions about your background. he is a very laid back guy... very cool. He will get you in the sim, and brief you on all the knobs and levers. Pilot flying is right seat, pilot non flying is left seat. left seat handles all the bugs, flaps, and gear. The only flying you get to do is a level descent while the PF briefs the approach. i used the left seat time to talk A TON. Constantly saying altitudes and pretty much anything I can remember just to help the guy flying, he is busy enough without trying to remember what altitude he was told to maintain. The guy told me he liked my CRM... so I think it helped.

The profile is as follows: T/O, maintain 250kt climb to 5000, level off at 250, begin 250kt climb to 8000 and a right turn direct to a VOR, he gives holding instructions a while out, so you have time to set up and SLOW DOWN, (be sure to remember holding speeds - he will NOT remind you), enter the hold and go around once in the racetrack, then begin vectors for ILS into ABY. Like I said, upon starting to descend, you can hand it over and brief the approach to yourself while you load the bugs and frequencies, once you take it back... plenty of time to gather your thoughts and fly the ILS. he said it would be 600OVC and 2mi. It was more like 1000 OVC and 5. The landing is not graded.

Over all - the sim is not too bad, but by far, the most stressful part of the interview if you havent flown one. If you screw something up, he will stop the sim - ask you what youre doing, and let you do it again. (My partner had to fly the ILS twice) So - if you screw one up, dont sweat it. All they are looking for is basic instrument skills, asituational awareness, and the ability to fly a glass cocokpit SOMEWHAT. My biggest piece of advice is to get all the glass time you can get. The tape will throw you off if you have never seen it. When youre done - go home and call the number. If you hear the last 4 of your social, back for day 2. All four of us made it.

Day 2: Meet at 9 at the GO. They give you the urine test, have you watch a powerpoint, and take a written before your HR and tech portion. The written is not too bad - but study ANY information you have on EVERYTHING. You will never know what youll see on the written. There are 4 versions and EVERYTHING is covered.

Examples: What is p-factor? That does 121 cover? What is MOCA? What does it give you? How much frost on the wing is allowed for TO? Where does bleed air come from in a turbine engine? Define class B airspace. What does an aft CG give you? Where is the FAF on an ILS? What color is a taxiway direction sign? Nothing too hard - but the questions are all over the place. Study the AIM and you will do fine.

The tech and HR are pretty similar to all the other gouges. Why ASA? What can you bring to us? Ever scare yourself in an Airplane? What is CRM to you?? Your captain wants to take off 30 pounds overweight... what do you do??? Tell me about your current aircraft's electrical system... (he tried to get me here by asking me how it relates to other systems. I.e. - If no electrical, will the landing gear still work? Etc...) Know the Jepp enroutes. he said "we are taking off here - and going here. Tell me what every single one of these symbols means." If you dont know one.... tell him you dont know. Honesty is crucial with these people. They want to know if, when you screw up, you can admit it and save yourself.... or cover it and cause a problem. He will give you three Jepp charts (An ILS, a DP, and an airport diagram) and have you brief an approach. Then asks what adequate visual reference means under takeoff mins... then youre done.

The guy is very firm in his attitude. One of the things you are being evaluated on is your composure. Hold strong on your answers throughout. However, he is still a nice guy and tries to make you feel at home. I think he just wants to see if you know what youre doing and cant be pushed over.

Any more questions... email me at jjjackson_21 at yahoo dot com.

 

No training contract at ASA, but AMEN on the TPIC.