Pinnacle failing pilots to keep them??!?
 

Heard a rumor that pinnacle had a history of failing pilots for bogus reasons, including making it so it's harder for them to move on to prevent attrition...any truth to this? (not happy as a mesaba pilot coming into this)

That doesn't even make sense. You think pinnacle actually wants hundreds of 10 year pilots on their payroll? Pinnacle wants attrition. They want people to move on. In new hire classes they would come in and say, "Welcome aboard. Get your time, upgrade and move on." I would be willing to bet the budget is based on a junior pilot group.

I'm sure that rumor was started by someone who busted a ride and needed a reason to blame someone else for their mistakes.

That rumor has been around as long as the regionals. And no, it doesn't make sense.

false rumor. Some guys got busted for showing up to recurrent without updated manuals. It was probably one of them.

Dude, lighten up. This is the least of your worries. Just because u fail a checkride or 2 or 5 or 10 doesn't mean you cant get a job and it doesn't mean ur a bad pilot. All it means is you had a bad day. You have been listening too much to the BS. Anyone who has not hooked a check at sometime in their life is lying. You can hook every check in the military and still get a 2nd chance. Have a beer and relax!

Thanks for calling me a liar.

While I certainly would not put such a move past the typical regional management, it does not make any sense under the current environment...

- There is no movement
- Longevity is high
- There is no shortage of entry-level pilots
- A single bust would be most significant if it were recent...ie the best time to do such a thing would be during a major hiring surge not years in advance.

Except now thanks to the BUF crash, the gubmnet wants to hang an albatross around your neck if you DO fail a check ride. You and I know a bad day can easily lead to a busted checkride, and that's all it is: a bad day. The boys on the hill needed a scapegoat to appease the masses with torches and pitchforks, so now they think if you bust a checkride, you're a bad pilot. Now if you bust several, that may be true, but everyone has a bad day. It would be like reminding a senator every time they had a career defining moment "Hey, remember that one time you flubbed your speech on national television? Man, you suck as a public official."

I've heard that rumor as well, but I've never had any problems with check airmen during events here. Doesn't make sense considering all the other cases where Pinnacle is quick to give someone the boot rather than keeping them here.

Could always just spill coffee on them. Problem solved?

Haven't failed one yet...come close, but nothing failed. Not a liar, either. :D