Pinnacle Fast Track
 

OK so what the new news with a deal with Oklahoma U that if the student passes the 141 course they get hired.... I heard this was just implemented? I heard this at my airline and Im ****ting myself that we are going to start hiring 250 wonders back into this industry.

I think they have to have 1000TT and either 100 or 200 multi to do it.

Wow if thats true, thats scary. No interview? Is that what you're saying? That sure is going to lead to some fun people to fly with.

That's what probation is for

I was told that ATP is apparently guaranteeing interviews for pinnacle if you do the CRJ program. I thought we were doing away with 400hr wonder pilots? If we haven't, we need to.

Negetive sir, they only need to be sopping wet...

We just got a memo about hiring and the minimums and referrals, they must really be hurting down on nonconnah or beale street, where ever they are now.

Are you able to share at all? Would be greatly appreciated especially regarding the mins :)

I don't mind being wrong, but knowing that I am going to be a new CA flying with "new" folks makes me hate being wrong.

Which are?

I hope the union shuts this down. Guaranteeing them a job essentially puts them on our seniority list. They tried to do this with UND CFI's a few years back at XJ. If memory serves me right they shot this down pretty quick.

They have the same agreement with Western Michigan University. The requirements are bachelors degree, commercial multi, got all ratings at the university, have a 3.0 in aviation classes and have no more than 2 failed checkrides. If they meet those requirements, they bypass the interview and get a class date if their classes available.

Yikes Keith...are WMU cfi's eligible? That would be the "better" scenario.

I've seen too many of those rats scrape through the program...

Negative wmu cfis aren't grandfathered in. you have to have graduated with in 24 months to be eligable. Most cfis here aren't eligable.

I heard from someone in charge of hiring at Colgan/Mesaba that by September they predict they will be hiring people with 250 hours again because they are having trouble finding people with 1000 hours.

I heard that Colgan cant hire anyone with less then 1000 and 100 until the name changes for insurance reasons... but im sure when the name changes they will. Same person says Colgan cant even come close to getting the numbers they need.

Dont know if any of its true... but sounded reasonable.

I'm surprised I haven't gotten a call from them yet....

I don't get this is at all. Why should a CFI from WMU who doesn't meet the grace period, but graduated with all the necessary credentials, have to interview with a chance of getting declined?

now you know how I felt flying with you!!! Karma!!!!!!! :D
just kidding obviously but I can't pass up a cheap shot...

I handed you off to the next "babysitter"... You really were a tough kid to watch.

Don't worry - they'll have a four year degree.

And a sense of entitlement a lot bigger than their logbook

coming from the OU side of things, i have mixed feelings on it. I can say that the first couple batches of guys will be solid pilots and i dont think anyone will be able to say anything else about them. Most of these guys are close to meeting Pinnacle's minimums anyway. However well have to see what happens when it starts getting to the younger guys that haven't been CFI's.

some of them turned out ok :D

You make it sound as if being a CFI is mandatory, when in actuality has nothing to do with what you're going to be doing at the airline. Yea being a CFI will come in handy when you upgrade but there are many forms of PIC experience. It's all up to the individual to be successful. Plenty of CFI and non CFI guys out there and they both do a good job.

Wasn't really making the point that CFI's are better pilots. I personally think being a CFI really doesn't help much at all besides getting better at seeing things before they happen.

My point was just general experience, and when you graduate from a 141 school with 250 hours, pretty much the only way to build that general experience is to CFI, unless you get lucky and land a gig elsewhere.

My main point was that these first few through all pretty much meet the standard minimums anyway. We wont really know how it goes until the fresh 250Hour guys starting hitting the training.

There are two WMU guys in the march 14th class that have 300hrs or less.

What about the 1500Hr ATP requirement!?!? Guess they are cramming as many kool-aid slurping, SJS afflicted newbies they can through the training before 2012 or whenever the new rules come into effect.

I know everybody's in a rush to fly a Jet but for heaven's sake go out into the world, get some PIC time in anything, try something outside of 121. As good as a deal as this sounds, come next downturn you'll be trying to keep your head above water wearing cement shoes!

Sheesh, I didn't wanna get involved in yet another 'experience' discussion.
I instructed for 400+ hrs and that was valuable experience....but man, I learned the most flying solo in the 500 hrs of survey work I put in. Flying from coast to coast in a single-engine piston, working over mountainous terrain and in all sorts of airspace definitely teaches you more than you'll ever learn instructing and you REALLY learn the in and outs of ATC.

I don't know....I think you can train a 250 hr pilot how to push buttons and even hand fly an approach without crashing, but man...I'd never feel comfortable if I had to ride as a pax in that plane.

This x1234

I'm not airline guy, don't have any interest in them, and this is part of the reason. The fact that Colgan is waiting for their name change to start rehiring 250hr pilots really says something about them. God forbid another 3407 type crash occurs and word gets out that, hey the company that had that turboprop crash, went back and rehired people with no experience once they changed their name.

I've taught for 2 1\2 years and flew a season of survey, and I've learned so much just from that. As miserable as survey was sometimes, there were many times when I had a great time and really enjoyed what I was doing. These guys are so crazy for CRJs that they don't see anything else in aviation besides it. There's so much more out there.

Why is Colgan changing names?

I recently interviewed at Pinnacle (got an offer too). I met someone in one of the current training classes and they confirmed that they have some collegiate lower time pilots in their class that bypassed the interview. I guess the true test will be for them if they can hack it through training.

As for Colgan, Pinnacle Corp. is having all colgans pilots and aircraft absorbed into Mesaba. When the dust settles, Pinnacle Airlines will be all jets and Mesaba will be all turboprops with all the pilots from both colgan and mesaba. Very soon the Colgan name will be a thing of the past!

-W

Sometimes it's the only way to change the face of bad publicity. "Two weeks and Two bucks".:( very sad.......

They should be ashamed at themselves that they're letting in people new to the industry without an interview when there are still those of us who have been furloughed from 121 carriers who still don't have a job yet.... where's MY class date offer? for that matter where's my interview call???...

I completely agree. Did you apply?

I have a current airlineapps application.... if someone who works there wants to help out... tell them to send me a class date offer ;)

Soooo tired of hearing about the 300 hour wonder crap....I came to Pinnacle with under 300..Along with 2/3rds of my class who are all still here...Have been here over 3 years and have enough time for upgrade now. Never had a sense of entitlement. Never failed a checkride or line check. Have been told numerous times I'm a good stick from the very start. Have made or helped make decisions that have saved captains a$$es on multiple occasions. Are you serious???? Some of our worst pilots are the salty old dogs with tons and tons of hours that either don't care or just get complacent. A 300 hour guy or a 1000 hour guy is just a number when starting out for the first time in 121....behind the plane either way, but the fundamentals are there or aren't regardless of the slight difference in time. That's on the individual. A pilot is a pilot by that point. Lots of the junior Captains we have were Gulfstream guys with low time when they started and I feel safer in the cockpit with any one of them over these nameless senior guys we've all flown with who have a$$ loads of time and experience but make stupid decisions or forget stuff left and right. Lots of our FO's who were prior airline or Military and had thousands and thousands of hours are horrible pilots...Heard this from numerous Captains. So like I said it's all about the individuals piloting ability and decision making and not an arbitrary number....

Thats all well and good that you 200 hour wonder pilots are now in the position to upgrade. But having flown with low timers from both seats, I'll take the guy thats been around the block over a low timer any day. My ranking of who I want sitting next to me,
1. Freight dawgz
2. Military
3. CFI/UND/Riddler
4. Corporate
5. Gulfstreamer
6. Jet U'er

This list is only based on prior flying experience. I've flown with all of them and this is just my opinion. Sure there are some streamers and U'ers I like flying with, but overall they seem to lack a depth of aviation experience flying outside the spoon fed, watered down, relatively easy part 121 flying we do. Personally, I think everyone should fly some part 135 single pilot ops before they come to the regionals, but why do the hard thing when a job a Pinchanickle is virtually assured by one of these "direct entry" programs?

It's not even the low flight time that ****es me off about this...it's the no interview thing. It's a lot easier to simply not hire someone for things like abrasive personality, poor hygiene, social misfits, megalomania, than it is to 'weed them out' after the fact. This no interview thing is going to come back to bite them in the butt when they're paying their lawyers tons of money to back up their 'weeding out' decisions.

I see this as nothing less than a prime example of Pinnacle managements notoriously flawed logic rearing its head and changing the Mesaba culture (in this case our hiring department) for the worse. I can't say the Pinnacle pilots didn't warn us about this.

I'm not saying the hiring department needs to be overly picky, but they need the ability to interview and weed out even just 5% of these guys.

Agree 100%