I think that's the way to go, fair for everybody... if someone puts in a couple of years in the Saab, he/she should be rewarded with the Q....

New hires should not go to the Q, I don't think that would be fair..

 

Lol fair is something that doesn't exist in the airline business. FYI

 

Edit: Thats what I get for leaving the "reply" page open for an hour or so, walking away, then coming back to type my reply. Question asked during that time: Minimums?

 

There are a lot of current Saab FOs who will not even consider a transition to the Q. They are either in line for upgrade, or content where based. Outstations will be but a memory for future Colgan Air. Tyler, TX is slated to close this spring. This leaves only Albany, Buffalo, Bar Harbor, Presque Isle, Syracuse, and Charleston West Virginia as outstations. I imagine plenty of Q spots will be open for new hires.

 

1000tt, 100 multi for the mins but I imagine competitive mins will be a bit higher. No idea if they'll be after CFI/135 guys or previous turbine experience/furloughed guys. Either way, best of luck all.

 

yea, what plastic said. Q is actually the junior equipment for FOs right now by far, not the other way around. It is out of choice, not because the senior FOs were gipped out of it. (Q=crap base and more militant operations for exact same pay.) Plus if you transition there is a 1-yr seatlock, so if you were senior enough to upgrade when that opens up, you'd still be stuck as an FO in the seatlock. Hence the lack of transitions for the senior FOs.

but yeah it is kind of funny that people assume you "move up to the Q"... when I jumpseat I sometimes get asked when I'll be senior enough for the Q.

 

Why are they hiring? New flying?

 

New airplanes, I'm guessing. They're taking delivery of a few new Q400's this year. Maybe new flying too, the guys there could tell you more about that than a goof like me though!

 

I suspect the Q CA roster in IAH will be filled by about half CA transfers from EWR, about half transitions from the Saab in IAH, plus a handful of FOs with the times to upgrade. The FO side will be heavy on the transfers from EWR, the rest filled with new hires. This will leave a bunch of empty CA and FO seats on the Q in EWR. Guess where Q new hires are going?

You're not going to find IAH Saab FOs transitioning to the Q. There's no point. Why waste a month in training to come out the other side with the same pay, and a seat lock? Spock would say that is illogical.

You'll probably see a lot of outstation vacancies opening up in the Saab, as those guys fill the empty seats in EWR, IAD and IAH. That is if they haven't closed all of the outstations by then, as nobody who is a commuter wants an outstation base.

I'm lucky enough to have only had to spend 6 months after I was hired commuting to an outstation. That gives "suck" a whole new definition.

 

Any street Captains?