Colgan Question
 

I will be sending my resume to Colgan in mid October. But before I do, I have a few unanswered questions...

1) Does Colgan require pilots to live at their base?
2) I've heard Colgan does do overnights, and I've heard they don't. Any real insight?


Answers to these questions and any other USEFUL information would be great.

-jdr

1. No, but commuting could be a major problem. The majority of Colgan's bases are not served by a high volume of flights.

2. In the NE, overnights are very rare. Typically you will only get an overnight because of weather or a maintenance issue. Colgan has been known to TDY people, in which case they are put up in a hotel for the duration of their TDY.


SEND YOUR RESUME NOW -- WE ARE CONSTANTLY LOOKING FOR PILOTS -- INTERVIEWING EACH WEEK!

How long is the upgrade at Colgan?

I wanted to get to 700 hours total before I sent it, which would bring my total multi time to over 570 multi. I will also turn 21 in mid October so hopefully the whole age thing wouldnt be an issue. Not to mention I hope to have the ATP written finished on or just after my birthday.

2200 TT

or

2000 TT and 1000 in type

The youngest person in the last class was 22 and the lowest TT was something like 650 with 300+ multi.

I had heard upgrade at Colgan, even on the Beech, was 18+ months and the Saab was over 24 months. Has that changed?

yes the upgrade time is longer now. We are upgrading 6 to 8 people a month. Some are transitions from beach captains, and some are saab FO'S. Upgrade now is around 18-20 months. Still is fast for an airline.

Some Beech upgrades are taking longer because low time guys are being placed in that aircraft. As a consequence of Colgan (insurance) requirements, it is taking these people a while to accumulate the required mins to upgrade.

Example:
600 Hour pilot placed in Beech.
@ 85 hours / month it would take 16-17 months to upgrade.


Also, Colgan is non-union, so upgrade is not solely based upon senority... rumor has it that they actually have a "list" of people they like.

But hey, even if it is 2 years to upgrade, it sure beats 5+ years at other places.

I know of a guy who was 19 when he was hired by Colgan. So I dont think me being 21 will be an issue....Well I hope not.

All of the above is true.

NE - no overnights, very little reserve
IAH - overnights, day trips (usually go senior), stand-ups, and reserve

Upgrade - Saab: 16 - 18 months. In the last upgrade class to go through there was a May 05 new hire (15 months). Beech: If you have the time, can be less than a year. The previous poster was correct. The problem there is due to lowtime Beech guys not having the time when their seniority number comes up. Plan on about 65 flight hours per month.

Upgrade is by seniority number. There are guys being passed over. But they are doing it to themselves by not being prepared. They have a poor annual PC, don't study, and/or gain a poor reputation on the line. So they sit. We are currently upgrading from about 135 to over 200 on the seniority list looking for guys who meet the required flight time and are prepared to upgrade. The required upgrade flight times are as posted.

Based on reading the tea leaves, more expansion is coming, so upgrade times might lower a little. If the company does bring in an additional ten Saabs (the first is in the hanger at IAH undergoing a heavy check) that will be an additional 90 to 100 pilots bringing the pilot roster to about 450 from its current 350.

No. Don't wait. In the class before the current one, there were two guys with less than 650 hours. One was 19. Based on your statement above you must have more than 300 multi. And don't worry about your ATP written. That's not a big deal.

I suggest you complete the on-line application now and then email your resume. Then call Chuck Colgan or Cathy Angelo in Manassas. Just call the main number on the website and ask for either. They'll transfer you without even asking a question. If you have questions, pm me. :)

WTF
ive applied 4 times and i got 800 tt 250 multi with 150 multi turbine

whydo they hate my name so much

Colgan
 

make sure you don't cause any problems at Colgan becuase not only will they pass you up on upgrade but they have been known to weed out pilots by busting them on their PC checks, and what makes a good upgare candidate at Colgan is not writing something up, cause if you do, they will screw with you all day long, you write something up, chances are you get to experience a 16hr duty day, its alot of fun !!!!!!!!!!!!! nothing like flying 8 hrs 121 then ferrying an airplane to Manchester from ALbany, at 1130pm then sleeping in a hanger until 6am then being told ok airplanes fixed go ahead and fly, well what about our 16 hr duty day sir??????? hahaha read your CFM this is part 91 son do you have a problem witht hat why dont you call the VP of OPS!!!!! Just one of may examples at least at a MX base but agian the pilot group at Colgan is awesome really cool bunch of guys i will say that. On the other hand there are two Crew schedulers that truly go out of there way to make your life miserable, both females by the way heheh

commuting can be done at colgan. I did it from Los Angeles to the east coast for 7 months without ever missing a beat. It's tough, but if you do it right and very conservitive, you will never have a problem. Not too sure about upgrade. I'm hearing a lot of conflicting info. 15-18 to 20-24 depending on who you talk to. I think it really comes down to how you do in the PC, if you have been a douc*e bag or not, and how much time you have. I know a lot of ppl are complaining about upgrade times at colgan, but they also walked in with well less than 1000TT. It's not senority, so if you have the times, have a good PC, and have a good name out there, you will prob get looked at.

Almost no overnights in the NE, unless you get stuck with a MX repo. THat is rare though. YOu will usually get home, even if it's 3 am. IF the rumors about the 10 new 340's are true, expect upgrade times to go down, just because we will need more crews.

FOr the guy who said he has applied twice......... Dude, I came out of Los Angeles. Colgan didn't want anything to do with a west coaster mostly because I guess they have had prob's with Socal ppl quiting after moving to the NE. I called Chuck Colgan Jr presonally because I wanted the job. I sold myself, and 2 days later I had a ticket in the mail. IF you want the job, be couteous, but proactive. THey get a ton of apps i'm sure. Call Cathy or Chuck and tell them why you would like an interview. It won't hurt, and it will probably help. IF you want it, it is there. I applied 3 times with over 1200TT, 200 multi, and 135 time and never ever got an email. i call later and i ws in LGA at the interview. Good luck

Like I said - you sure do have alot of details!! who's on your speed-dial?
We do need some good rumors of future changes, where are we gonna put 10 more AC?

Dude - if you slept in the hangar, that's your own fault!! Or your captain didn't have enough balls to do anything about it. Get your rest, or don't fly.

Crew Scheduling - "Crew scheduling"
FO - "Yes, this is first offeri Barney, I am calling in fatigue."

That is how you treat it.

hahaha
 

Calling in Fatigue at Colgan hahahaha, you obviosly never worked there

That's the question of the moment. Where they will go? The first two or three are easy. Replace the A's in service with United. My understanding is that's been a pain with the lower gross weights.

As for the rest, I don't have anything confirmed. Just that they are coming. There are two other things that also add up. Additional check airman are being trained. That's the first in about nine months. And the interviewing pace has picked up. So I'm guessing something is coming soon. I wasn't sure about the PX Saabs...until I physically touched 361PX in IAH's Mx hanger.

Actually, yes I do. And yes I have. Did I have to talk with D.N.? Yes. It wasn't a problem. The conversation was very professional. In fact, he got us a hotel room.

That said, for those of you thinking you would like to work for Colgan, you need to understand Colgan is still a relatively small company. You're not a number here. Crew Scheduling will likely know you by name, not seniority number. Crew Scheduling sits right next to Dispatch, and I mean right next to them. Both are run by the companys' president's son. The person who does the monthly bids is his aunt (the younger sister of the president). The Chief Pilot sits right outside Dispatch and Scheduling. Get the drift? All that means that your reputation on-line here counts. It's very difficult to be invisible. If you "work" it right, it's an advantage. If not, it's a risk. Some people do better in this type of environment than others. It's not necessarily good or bad. It is the way it is.

Colgan Hero
 

Another Colgan hero defending his company, I was at Colgan and I have had many friends that worked and its the same old ****, you know what they pull. How about calling in sick then having the scheduler tell you that there "is a good chance T.B. is going to call you and ask for your resignation" thats unprofessional don't you think?

SAABaroowski. All u do is try to convice us that colgan sucks, and thant you made a great choice by going to the bottom of yhe list for Xjet. "To Each his own" Stop putting people down for being happy with colgan, because you are insecure about the move U made.

I got a friend who went to ATP right out of High School, he applied for XJT with around 700hrs, they didn't want him so he applied for Colgan and now he works there as an FO. He's only 19 still on the SAAB 340.

I've called in sick three times in two and a half years. Each time I was told I needed to let TB (our Chief Pilot) know and was transferred to his number. Each time I left him a message. He never called back. I was NEVER threatened with my job. However, I called in the night before, not two hours prior.

SAABaroowski, I do hope you have a great career at XJT. I know you had a frustrating experience with Colgan. I wouldn't want to be in a NE Mx base either. And I believe your stories about your IOE in IAH (I know who you did it with and he can have a quick temper on the flightdeck). However, my experience with this company has been very different than yours. I have never found them to be unfair, ask me to do something illegal or against the FAR's, or be less than professional. It fact, it has been just the opposite. The one thing we can agree on is the pilot group is a great group to fly with.

I hope you find the "grass is greener" at XJT. One last thought. I was sitting in GRK two months ago waiting out weather. There were two XJT crews there doing the same. They were talking about dealing with their crew scheduling for most of the two hour sit. You know what they called them? Screw Scheduling. :)

Ouch, hope he enjoys his 4 years as an FO on the slaab...:rolleyes: Thats like a 4 year hiatus on building PIC.

I think anyone anywhere in any industry would ***** about the people or group of people who sometimes throw a wrench into your personal life. I've never had a beef with scheduling but I guess I am one of the few who understand that the more junior you are, the more prone you are to getting screwed. Thats the gig folks.

This is a classic case of needing to go to where the jet is and sit in the right seat till 23.

Colgan
 

Hey like I said I enoyed Colgan, I did my IOE in ABE with Jack Wohner he was my sim instructer too heheeh, no explanation needed there, and to the guy who claims I am bashing Colgan becuase I am insecure about My choice to move to Expressjet, am I concerned? yes! but is Expressjet a better airline than Colgan, afriad so. The problem with guys like you is that you are the type that upgrades after a year has barely ATP mins and you think you are gods gift to aviation because your a Captain for a 121 carrier, get off your high horse, its Colgan not Continental. Or maybe your an FO and your slightly jealous cause I have the balls to take a risk and make a move why you just sit there and get abused waiting for the magical 1,000 PIC Turbine, well good luck to you I hope it all works out. And to be honest the fact that we are bickering like little girls is rediculous My girlfriend sees my on this and she calls me an idiot, and says, "I thought pilots liked each other" and to be honest I do like 99% of pilots especially Colgan guys I never met anybody I didnt like liker there, except for one Captain based in HYA this summer he was a jackass huge EGO and poor piloting skills, but anyway enough of the bickering I wish everybody the best, I really do

EMB 145XR is cooler than the SAAB340, except 121CQ that thing is awesome hahaha

My lord, how many incorrectly placed capitalized letters can you have in one paragraph?

You did go to college correct?

If you wished everyone the best you'd shut the hell up and quit with your never ending bashing of turbine prop flyers. You are a prime reason the bar has been lowered. You and your silly shiny jet syndrome that you couldn't deal with while you were at Colgan. It is obvious to many of us here that you lacked the maturity there to suck it up, upgrade to the left seat (gasp!) and get your PIC turbine time. Nope, you HAD to fly a jet. You make me sick.

I used to appreciate most of SAAB's replies, but since you made the HUGE upgrade to Expressjet you've been riding this unbelieveable high horse!!

Let's look at the facts: you were sittin on an ungrade at Colgan, unless you were one that ruffled feathers and was getting bypassed, where you would have been making $45K plus a year while building turbine PIC time. You decided Expressjet was where it's at, big things are happening. Well you could be an optimist or a pessimist on that one they both have their arguments but we won't go there with this one.

What you really did was take a $22K pay cut, along with over the next 4-5 years, that being how long it's gonna take you to upgrade will be losing $10K over that span. By the time you upgrade you would have been in a great position to skip Expressjet and go flow for a real airline.

If you felt it was the right thing to do then by all means, i don't question your decision, i have a lot of friends that have gone there in the last 8 months and its seems like a great place to be. Lot's of variables factor into that kind of a decision.

I think i've made my point and now i'm gonna sit back and wait for someone to jump on this one....

Good points
 

I did go to college I, I went to Rutgers College which is a great school. I double majored in African American History, & US History as well as a minored in Sociology. All of you guys make good points, I dont deny Colgan is the quicker way to achieve the 1,000PIC Turbine goal, however upgrade for me is still around 1 1/2 to 2 years based on the number of FO's ahead of me and the rate at which Colgan is currently upgrading. Some of you guys seem to miss the point that the reason Colgan in the past has upgraded so quickly is becuase they doubled their fleet of SAABS, are they getting more? I believe soo but not much more. Upgrades have been slowing a good deal. CA's make around 40ish, they do not make perdiem, I undertsand its more than I will be making at XJT (initially), however there are quite a few CA's that have been at Colgan for 3-5 years and its nearly impossible for them to make 55-60k if they do they are probably TDYing all over the place and working on their days off. You guys say I am bashing Turbo-prop guys I havent said a thing about Skywest or Peidomont becuase they are great Companies, Colgan is an ok company, and how you people can argue with me on that is crazy. The people at Colgan which I say over and over agian are awesome, the pilots are probably the greatest bunch of guys Ill ever get to fly with, but that does not change the fact that the airline itself is guilty of some shady operations, has anybody else (after the 1900 went down in HYA) had the experience of the superb MX guys once again reverseing the trims after a heavy check? At Colgan it has happened AGIAN but the pilots caught it this time. Colgan is notorious for that and if they were'nt they would not be on a "no Fly" list for such companies ay NETJETS and Citation shares (When they have to commute they have to take other airlines and COLGAN is on the list that the company can not make them travel on because they are "dangerous") Just a fact a very embarresing one but a fact none the less. To all you guys at Colgan I wish YOU the best I really do you guys take it so personally I am not bashing the pilots group just the company. (and I really am not "bashing" them just shedding some light on my experiences there. And Expressjet according to you may not be a "real airline" well if you never get picked up at a major youll be 40 making 50k a year on a SAAB and if I never get picked up at least I will be making enough to live on, oh and I won't have to tell people that the airplane I fly has Propellers on it hahaha j/k

"Colgan is notorious for that and if they were'nt they would not be on a "no Fly" list for such companies ay NETJETS and Citation shares (When they have to commute they have to take other airlines and COLGAN is on the list that the company can not make them travel on because they are "dangerous"

What on earth are you talking about? I fly for Colgan, and I carry Netjets pilots all the time. And no, you're not insulting Colgan pilots directly, because you keep saying we're cool guys, but you keep nattering on about how sloppy the company is and how bad mx is, and I feel the implication is that us pilots must be morons for not realizing what danger we're in and leaving like you. And you keep harping on the trim accident. I used to work for a different regional (a good one by your definition, we had about 100 jets, and they were really, really, shiny) and mx there actually reverse rigged the AILERONS. Not the aileron trim, the ailerons themselves. That one nearly turned into a crash too. Stupid mx, pilot, dispatch, and scheduling errors happen at every single airline in the world.
You keep bringing up the things Colgan has done wrong as if it's the only airline with people who make mistakes, when in fact it's just the only airline whose mistakes you are familiar with. It seems like you're making yourself mad by being on this stupid board all the time, and you're certainly getting on a lot of other people's nerves, maybe it's time for you to find a new hobby. Have you considered taking up drinking?

Net Jets
 

I had a regular NetJet fellow who jumpseated with us and we were talking about the mx at Colgan and he said, and I qoute, "Yeah Colgan an a few others are airlines that we do not have to travel on, due to their poor mx, and a few other things" I did not say they were not allowed, they do not have to if that was the only way for them to commute, next time you see a NETJET guy, ask him he will tell you and why do you sound surprised? you work at Colgan you know what goes on there, you know a captain by the name of Lou C? I bet you do , why don't you ask him about the company and how the FAA almost took his ticket thanks to Colgan, they really stood behind him ha?

I know Lou C. Ask him why the FAA almost took his ticket. Not because of Colgan. Because the previous crew...
and Colgan HAD to ...
NEVER mind. SAAB, I hope you are happy at XJT. I am sure there are happier people at Colgan now.

Lou C
 

That shut you up pretty quicly ha?

What are you talking about? The point of my post was that it seems useless in trying to argue with you. You seem like a very pompous person.
I was saying I know him, and the story he gave me had NOTHING to do with Colgan the company. The previous crew didn't write it up (and actually called over the ops frequency to have MX come out and look at it!), he knew about it, but got distracted because of a release issue, and took off. The rest is history.
He called me to ask for advise, I said to bring a lawyer. He didn't, because he was told the FAA was to have a "friendly" meeting (there's an oxymoron). The FAA didn't almost take his ticket because of Colgan, they almost took it because of himself, and the previous knuckle heads. Colgan HAD to side with the FAA. RULES/REGS. were broken!
For the future if/when you upgrade, if the crew that you are swapping with tells you something is wrong with an AC, tell them to put it in the book!!! No matter how it delays, CXs the flight. CYA!!!( that stand for Cover Your...)

that shut you up pretty quickly, huh?
 

No, it didn't shut me up at all, I just have other things to do with my life than bicker with some looser on an internet message board. Speaking of that, I will not dignify any of your future "zingers" with a response since your rhetoric is pompous, one sided, and insulting to me and all the other people like me who work hard to make this airline a good one. I don't quite understand what kind of pathetic satisfaction you're getting from slandering Colgan Air all over this website, but please, it's getting obnoxious and I'm afraid someone who doesn't know any better might believe that your myopic version of reality is a cogent one. Enjoy ExpressJet, I hear it's a pretty good place to work too.

The funny thing is EXJet people read this site too - and they may not like the attitude either! Ever heard of new hires washing out before you ever start systems? Good Luck!!