belliott

Anybody have any idea what realistic mins. are for Pinnacle... and more importantly... do you think they will be around for a few years?
Thank you for your opinion.

higney85

I will answer your question in the reverse order in which you asked it..

Will PNCL be around for a while- I think so.. They currently are still making profits every quarter, handle over 700 flights a day for NWA, and are in line to get the 15 CRJ 200's back that were taken when NW declared ch. 11. On top of the 15 we will most likely get back there is a bid for an additional 36 CRJ 900's that NW bought and will have one of its regionals fly. The other regional for NW is mesaba, which is in a very tough spot right now. I hope mesaba makes it through, but on the same front I have high hopes that PNCL will get all 51 CRJ's up for grabs! There is the lingering pilot contract ordeal but that will get settled soon enough. In answer to your question- I dont think pinnacle is going anywhere any time soon.

As for hiring- Currently hiring is for attrition. The next class is oct 30 and will be between 24-30 depending on how many show up on the first day. Once there is an announcement on a pilot contract and/or more planes from NW hiring will have to go to warp speed. PNCL operates 124 CRJ's and currently has enough pilots to staff em (barely) so even the 15 CRJ 200's we are expecting to return will need 150 pilots on the seniority list. The mins to get hired depend. 1000/200 is what is the "Stated" mins, but in my class that is still in training about half the guys have the 1000/200 range (instructors in other words) the remaining half is split between ex charter/furlough guys and ATP/academy people. The atp/acad guys have 500-600 hours and have had CRJ training so they got the job. I dont know what group you fall into but those seem to be the three ways of time for the job. Also a referral letter from a current pilot (especially a capt) is a big, big plus. Let me know if you wanna know more!

overspeed

A friend of mine got an interview with 900/100, but didn't get hired... He put his resume in at a job fair. I got the interview with 1200/100, and got a job offer. I had an internal recommendation, but I don't know if it made any difference. I would say you will eventually get an interview at 1000/100. I took two weeks for both of us. Oh and by the way, they E-mail you, so watch your inbox...

higney85

FWIW I recieved my interview offer with 850/240 and 4 internal refs. I think one of my refs got me the interview since he was a capt who did the interviews quite often. By the time I went to the interview I had about 925 on the updated resume.

CL65driver

I've known people who were hired at 550/200.

IMHO, from spending some time there- build some extra time and apply to an airline that will give you a better QOL and livable wage.... but that's just my 2 cents.

Good luck in Memphis!!

Space Monkey

I remember when I was hired it was 1500tt and 300 multi.... (much lower than that for academy $hits).... but that was a long time ago...

belliott

Thanks for the information guys!!!

Silver02ex

My sim partner had 400 TT. fresh out of ATP. I don't know if there is a set minimums but there's a big range of hours for the guys in my class. Anywhere from 400 - 4000+ TT

CAPTAINxJSB

ATP has a contract with pinnacle!! the minimum is what atp recomends to pinnacle! so thats why these guys have such low hours....they also had to take the crj training course for $6,000 to even be considered at that low time!! but i think it is worth it... atp is expensive but it saves tons of time and anguish!

belliott

But why in the world should I pay for training? It doesn't make sense to me to spend $6000 for something that isn't guaranteed... I know of a few university's that require CRJ ground school and some sim time to meet graduation requirements but after finishing school I have to go back and spend more for what people should be paying me to do... go through ground school and type that is. I admit I have a very low TT and my experience on turboprop aircraft have come easily for me through contacts in the industry. And I will admit in retrospect I probably kept more qualified people (higher TT) from sitting in the right seat. But why should I shell out more money (especially when I am already in debt.) to "have an opportunity to interview" with a regional?