Training Contracts
 

Does anyone know if Pinnacle and Skywest require the signing of a training contract? If so, how long and how much. Do either of them pay during training or is it just a "meal allowance" type $150-300 payment?

Sorry if this has been asked before, I did a search but did not find answers.

Thanks.

Skywest does not require a training contract. They also do pay for new hire training now (they didn't when I went through about a year and a half ago :mad: ). I think the new hire pay is based on a 65 hour month @ $19.02 an hour (it might be 70 hours, I forget). I also don't know if they are paying per-diem on top of the new hire pay, but I don't think they are. Hotel is also provided (double occupancy). Considering how carriers do new-hire stuff, it's not a bad deal. Not sure about Pinnacle, but hope this helps.

Thanks for the Skywest info. I appreciate that.

If anyone has the same info on Pinnacle, please share!

I know it isn't exactly what you asked, but if those things are important to you, keep in mind that PSA pays guarantee (21.85*72hrs) plus $32 tax-free daily per diem, single-occupancy hotel, and has no commitment.

go to the pinnacle website and click on careers and then pilots. It tells you right there

Thanks for all the replies. I appreciate the information.

Any company, Airline or otherwise that can not pay a decent living wage should see your rear end going out the door after the interview and no more.

It is nice to know that IF I ever start up an airline, I can find PLENTY of cheap labor for the flight deck willing to prostitute their skills for the chance to fly a jet.

Do you people realize you are getting the same money that I flew 1900's for back in the 80's. I never realized how good I had it back then.

Walt, what did you get paid to fly a 1900 in the 80s?

You're so full of sh!t. Hell, <10 years ago GL FO's were making $10/hr. I bet it was even less in the 80's.

But you have to compare apples to apples by accounting for inflation...

Let's compare a commuter pilot in 1985 and an RJ FO in 2006...

A commuter FO making $10/hr in 1985...

would be making about $20/hour after adjusting for 2006 dollars. So it looks like it hasn't changed much... they both make the same real dollars for 1 hour of flight time.

But in 1985 he was flying a 19 seat 250 kt turbo-prop...now it's a 70 pax 500 kt regional jet...

Since airline revenue and pilot compensation is historically tied to seat/ miles...we will consider the pilot's productivity to be:

One hour of flight time in the 19 seater results in 19 x 250 = 4750 seat miles.

One hour of flight time in the RJ...70x500 = 35,000 seat miles

35,000/4,750 = 740% increase in productivity for the same pay!

And to make matters worse, all that extra productivity has eliminated all the major airline jobs that offer a livable wage...at least the guy in 1985 new he had a better job to look forward to someday!

Bottom Line: we're getting F-ed hard. Time to fight back.