Airline Pilot Central Forums - Colgan Interview

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SAAB, sorry if I came off in defense of Colgan. I haven't been there and I don't what it's like. I think the pilots were just trying to be positive and from what you have said, the SAAB or in their case, the Beech were fun to fly. But I can see where flying 252CJ wouldn't be much fun. Thanks, though for providing both sides of the story.

The best advice I can give you to prepare for a regional interview is to make sure that you have a pulse! If you have a normal pulse, you are good to go. Best of luck.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SAABaroowski (Post 79019)

well once you get the thrill of wearing the unifom and "being" an airline pilot, u will realize that you should be paid for ALL of the hours you flew and that airplanes w/ 9 MEL,s just isn't fun. I also gaurentee that 6 legs a day to the same 3 airports gets really really old. and most of the guys that leave colgan jump to another regional. North American & Miami air are not major airlines!

everything you said is correct except. you were trying to be mean about the 9 MEL's. in all honesty it is usually 7.

to the original poster. this company is good for one thing. if you don't have time to get on with a quality regional then use them to get 121 time and that is it. use them and get out. use the time to learn about 121 and about regs. i am thankful i went there because in my current job i am smart and don't let things get thrown by me. the company i am now with doesn't try to but i am ready.

colgan isn't a place to have a career unless you live in altoona or lebanon. being home every night takes a toll on a commuter. there is no per diem so that is like a pay cut from everywhere else.

if you have little time then go here and just beware. if you want to talk more about this i will divulge everything i know. i am not one to thrash on something i don't know anything about. i put my time in at colgan and i got out. they used me for cheaper labor and i used them for another job. i used every bit of my sick time in my last few days just to **** them off and now i had to fill out paperwork with the labor board to get my last 2 overguarantee checks.

there is only one thing you can accomplish at that airline...bring in a union or close their doors. they are living on borrowed time.

just two things i will share to those going there or are there...24 hour look back means looking back 24 hours and not what Tom Brink says it means....I will quote this for you from the Chief Pilot at Colgan Air...Looking back in a 24 hour period means looking back to midnight...

2nd tip. When you go on reserve at 4am that is start of duty time not when they call you...So at 4am start time they can use you until 1945 before the 15 minutes added on to the end of your day. Just because Crewtrac says you are legal doesn't mean that your info wasn't hand manipulated in Manassas.

OH AND IF YOU ARE LEGAL TO FLY OVER 16 HOURS THEN WHY WOULD THEY OFFER YOU ANOTHER DAY OFF...

Sorry for the long post...It would have been easier to say...From a former Colgan Pilot...DO NOT WORK FOR THIS FAMILY

Hey LivinTheDream28 congrats. As iflyjets4food said got to www.aviationinterviews.com or also www.willflyforfood.cc will give you a lot info about interviews with colgan or any regional. hey what were your times when you applied????

A little of topic perhaps, but I notice Colgan has a number of bases. Does this mean you can get pretty much wherever you bid? Just wondering if there are any particular senior or junior bases in this case. Thanks.

You have to be careful before going to Colgan, and analyze few things and take into consideration your priority: 1. are you really in a hurry to get that PIC? 2.how much flight time you have? are you willing to seat in a turboprop (especially the beech) for at least two years? 3.Do you leave in one of the Colgan bases? 4.have you heard anything about colgan scheduling, or better, being "colganized"? I will try to answer in order:

1. yes, colgan has a quick upgrade time, but that depends on how much flight time you come onboard. if you go there with 1000/100 or less, expect upgrade time to be more than one year (15-18, even with the beech). plus they keep getting off-street captains when they need CA, which slows the upgrade time of hard working FOs, which bring me to the second question

2. if you are going there with bare mins, are you ready to seat on the right seat of a turboprop for more than one year/ especially the beech (freezing/sweating your butt off, getting up/down the stairs, dealing with disgruntle pax, maintenance, etc). yeas, turboprops are fun to fly, especially the beech. but it will get old pretty quickly (believe me!), and if you decide to stick around and upgrade, are you willing to be "colganized" for at least two years (wait to read #4). You also have to consider second year FO pay at colgan sux! and you don't get the per-diem since it is all outs and back. can you survive with $1500/1700 a month?

3. If you don't leave in one of the colgan bases, you have to consider that you will have to get a crashpad. sure, you can find something cheap, but that's one more expense on a not so good salary. moreover, are you willing to share a room with 2-4 guys?
in addition, if you decide to commute, be aware! colgan does not have a commuting policy, and if you miss a show time because of commuting, don't expect scheduling to help you out: you will pay for it (scheduling will "colganize" you, or worst case scenario, you get fired). remember: the beech bases, except ALB and HPN, only colgan flies there. personally, i would not rely on colgan to go to work (mx, delays, etc). the slab bases are a little better, but not much.

4. now, let's talk about scheduling, which will also explain the term "colganized". going to colgan you have to expect to: not know your next month schedule until the week before (if you are lucky!); work long hours duty days and minimum rests. you have to be aware that colgan is always going to be short of pilots, just because the way they treat them. therefore, even if you get a morning turn, 85% of the time you will get extended to do something else. you have to get called out of reserve, seat at the airport for 8hrs and not do anything. you have to get ready to finish a morning turn, get extended, deadhead somewhere to seat for 2-3 hrs (unpaid!), and then do one turn and get shipped back to base. ah, did i mentioned they will try to deadhead you beyond your duty time? and if you don't catch it, they won't do it for you, but they will change the time on the computer to make it work. now, if you are "careful" enough to notice you will go beyond your duty time, and present the issue to scheduling, and have them get you a hotel, you can expect to get colganized the following day, or in the very near future (possibly the last day you are on...). also, they will try to have you reposition an aircraft beyond your 16hrs duty day saying that it is legal. IT IS NOT! And beyond that, it is CRIMINAL to have an airline pilot work for more than 16 hrs in a day! We have spent too much money on our certificates to loose it by protecting the interests of a company that care less about the sacrifices you did to get to the point you are now! Unfortunately, you can also expect to fly with captains that will bend over to satisfy the “requests” of scheduling, so you will go over the 16hrs duty day. Those captains (unfortunately, at colgan, you don’t upgrade because you are “ready” to upgrade, but because once you have the required time, they will need you as a CA) will fly with open MELs in conditions they are not suppose to. Are you going to have enough guts to say no? scheduling knows who these capts are, and they will take advantage of them. If you go there, you will soon know who they are. I can go on all day about these “sketchy” things, but I think you got the idea. Just be aware of this: if you are a sharp guy, keep track of your duty time and flight time. However, when you will deny repositioning an aircraft because it is past your duty time, you will soon make a name at colgan. It is a small company, and it is easy to remember who you are and what you did.

In conclusion, this is my take at colgan: I would go there if I were a young guy (19-21) with low time, stay there for about a year, and then go to a “real” regional, with better working conditions. I would go to colgan also if I was 35+, with a decent amount of flight time, knowing I would upgrade quickly and then move on just as quickly (however, are you willing to stay away from home/wife/kids for 3-5 days a week?).

Be very careful how you make your decision. I hope I helped you out with my reply. Best of luck, and fly safe!

i appreciate that maddog. I have thought a lot about it, as I am currently 20 years old and don't know how I feel about having the wait 3 years to upgrade because of my age. My flight time at this point is 850/130 and I'm trying to decide, if I get the job, if I should wait until something better comes along when I hit 1000tt or if I should take it now to get out of instructing. The place I'm at now has not so great pay with no benefits what-so-ever. I also don't understand why everyone says the interview there is so hard when its seems to be not such a good job. As a recent college grad at 20, frankly I just want out of flight instructing. The question is.......is this worth it?

Thank God its abouit time I had some other former Colgan guys come on here and help promote the truth about Colgan. I worked the whole last month and still have not gotten paid! I always get bashed for bashing Colgan but they treat their pilots like garbage! If ya don't believe me just read above its the truth.

Livinthedream apply to Expressjet, EAGLE, CHQ, AIRWISCONSIN, avoid airlines like COLGAN, MESA, BLOWJETS, COMMUTAIR. Just instruct a little longer get the 1,000ttl. I have guys in my class at xjt with 600/100 to the tenth of the hr apply here! They may wait 3 months to call you but at least you will be flying for a real airline going to differnt places with a/c that actually work and are certified above FL250 :)

This thread really got taken over by a**holes. Well, to be the contrarian, I like it at Colgan Air. I work about 4 days a week, give or take. I only work about 10 hours a day (pretty average as regionals go), and aside from mx and weather problems here and there, as at every other air carrier in the world, I'm pretty well back every night when I plan to be, and generally get about 14 hours rest. I don't live at my base, I commute to it, and I choose to do so, so I don't want to hear any idiots say I just like it because I'm home every night. I would also disregard anyone who accuses me of only liking it because I am new, because that's not the case either. This is a great place to work, if that's what you want it to be, but it could also be really bad if that's what you made out of it. It's all up to you.

Colgan will not, contrary to the opinions of these morons, make you fly a plane that is, in fact, not safe. They will also not force you to fly a plane when you've been on over 16 hours and you do not think it is safe for yourself to do so. They do not do these things because they do not want to loose their certificate, and certificate action against any carrier would be certain if they were shown to engage in those activities. I challenge anyone with stories to the contrary to provide evidence other than little anecdotes.

I am not saying it is not important for pilots to understand and be vigilant about the rules they're operating under, on the contrary, it is of the utmost importance, as it is at any airline. But it is also important to make sure that you really do understand all the rules. There have been a lot more arguments between pilots and scheduling or dispatch that ended in the pilot being the one who was wrong, but I've never seen one of those stories told here. And for the guy who thinks our only goal should be to unionize or put the company under, you might be an idiot. I'm willing to bet your time here was characterized by a lot of petty arguments with scheduling, and payroll, and probably every other department that had the pleasure of dealing with you, and now that you're out, you're taking pride in your little crusade against the jerks. Well shut up, it's obnoxious.

That Saab guy, who has evidently concluded he is an industry expert, pointed out that North American and Miami Air are not major airlines. That is true. But UPS and Continental are. If his point is that time as a Colgan pilot does not make one marketable to major airlines, and I think that is the point he is driving at, he is also an idiot. I am not going to question his career choice in moving to another regional, I wish he wouldn't insult my choice in staying here until I can move up instead of simply over.

I also hear a lot about planes with 9 MELs (or 7, whatever). I've never seen that, I've never heard of that, and I don't expect that I ever will. I did fly a plane tonight with an MEL, it was for the logo light. OOOOHHHHH. I'm lucky I made it through that one. I did have dispatch try to sneak a release by me last week without an MEL on it that should have been there. So I called them. Then they pen and inked it onto the release. Then they apologized to ME for forgetting. WOW, I don't know who those jerks think they are, I'm lucky my super pilot wit allows me to stay a step ahead of evil/nincompoop dispatchers.

Don't get me wrong, I don't intend to retire here either, but I do intend to enjoy myself until the time comes for me to move on, and if anyone reading this thinks that is a bad way to go through life, I encourage them to commit suicide.

Congratulations on getting the call for the interview. You said you are 20, so, in all honesty, you might find that you would be happier at an RJ carrier where you will be able to make more as an FO since you won't be upgrading soon anyway. On the other hand, flying here is a lot of fun, and most of the crews are pretty cool. It's up to you though, best of luck with whatever you decide.