Interviewed with ASA in Nov. I was offered a job in Dec with XJT= turned it down.

Re-offered a class with ASA FEB or MAR. I took MAR.

I am currently a corporate pilot on a DA2000 contact (paying for training). I need a full time job.

Is it worth it? I dont need the time but would like to get to a major eventually.

How is the people you work with & company...contract?

Thanks for the input.

 

ASA has a good reputation with many of the majors, the company has things moving, some a/c are being delivered, morale is a tad low due to not much movement and these storms have just been beating us up this winter, All the people I work with ( I'm a 4-5 yr FO in IAD ) are consummate professionals and a lot of fun to be around, Contract is a sore issue at the present as we're on live PBS but the merger with Xjet could end up with them shooting down PBS and us starting all over again, the company goes out of it's way to keep us informed on certain issues and for the most part they don't lie to us, but like any company you're going to always have nay-sayers and when in IROP situations nothing ever goes well- sorry for the rambling and drag-on sentence but I hope this helps !

 

I believe that's a question that only you can answer. I guess it's worth it if it gets you to a major, right (considering that's where you want to go)? If you're talking about comparing us to other regionals, I can tell you now, there are not too many out there that are better and a lot that are worse. Quality of life is always associated to senority. The more you move up in the company the more control you have over your schedule, which in return give yous a better QOL.


Welcome to ASAcontract.com ASAContract - You can look through what we currently have. This will be changing because of the merge. Hopefully, it will change for the better.

Good Luck

 

You'll be ok coming in now with the projected movement from retirements. Be ready to work nothing but 4 day trips, though, because that's pretty much most of what we have here. 4 day trips with 30 hour layovers. Efficiency at its finest!

 

Why spread false information? I have not had a single 30 hr overnight in years. Every 4 day I have this month is 10-15 hrs. Sure, there are an occansional trip with a 30 hr overnight but they are certainly not the norm at ASA.

 

30 hour overnights? Not too many of those, but the efficency is awful. Backloaded 4-day trips are the norm (3 leg / 2 leg / 2 leg / 5 leg), with a 2 to 3 hour sit after every roundtrip. And more frequently it seems we are swapping aircraft at outstations (3 hour sit there too). I've already had 4 legs with 4 different aircraft, a few times in the last month!

5 legs and 13 sched duty, on the last day of a 4-day is probably what I hate most about ASA. Got fatigue? I suppose things could always be worse.

 

It is what you make it, I came here almost 14 years ago with no intention of staying longer than I had to. ASA can be both if you want it to , stay build time and then move on or stay 14 years. I've stayed because I moved up the senority list so fast my quality of life became first with me over a larger aircraft. Now my kids are much older and for the first time I'm serious about moving on. Is it the best place (no), but it's a long way from the worst.
Reserve work rules are awful, once you can hold a line plan on 4 day trips with 2 or 3 days off in between. You very well might be coming here a the perfect time, as all the hiring begins we will start to lose a large amount of pilot's each month.
I do enjoy working here and it's a great place to build your resume no mater what you chose down the road.

 

If you are serious about coming over i would take the earliest class you can. 16 numbers on a seniority list can make or break your own qol. j

 

Disclaimer: I am at XJT, now part of ASA. Just another Super part of our Super Regional

Personally, I enjoy the mix. A 30 hour layover on a weekend in SAV with a cool captain and a hot FA can be awesome. 30 hours in JAN on a Sunday with a couple of stooges/slam-clickers makes me want to shoot myself in the face. A 4-day of nothing but 10 hour overnights wears me out.

This sort of mix also tends to be fairly common at XJT. Fatiguing? Can be. But if I'm gonna be at work, lets get some productivity out of it! Now if after all that you only credit 14-17 hours, then I agree, efficiency sucks. But we have many trips built like that which credit upwards of 25-28 hours with the norm being around 20-24. And I'm OK with it. Don't get me wrong though, I hate to sit just as much as the next guy.

This was the same mentality I approached XJT with almost 5 years ago. Things were moving fast then but I remember keeping in the back of my head "If another Sept. 11th happened, would I be happy working here for the next 10 years or am I going to hate my life?" And to be honest, I haven't had many complaints. I think when most at the "top-tier" regionals sit back and consider the alternatives, they probably feel the same. Or maybe my glass is just half-full?

I don't think there is any one anywhere who thinks reserve is enjoyable. I think by our nature as pilots, we like things to be predictable, to have a game plan. So being on reserve and not knowing what to expect from the next leg to the next day or the next week can rub folks the wrong way.