No, I think the guy with the better attitude, humble and willing to learn will get the job over someone who thinks because they have PIC time logged the jobs is theirs.

 

Your comment is irrelevant. I was commenting on the previous post which emphasized choosing a larger regional over a smaller one because you would move up faster. I never said anything about needing PIC time (although it is more valuable than SIC time).

With regards to attrition at places like Expressjet, I have no doubt that it is happening; I have no doubt it is happening everywhere. I'm saying that in order to move up on the seniority list, a lot of people have to move in front of you. If 52 people moved on from your airline in June, you lost 1% of your pilot group. At a place like Compass or Trans States, that equates to 4 people. I would be willing to bet that they see 4 people leave each month. In fact, Compass is flowing 20 pilots a month starting in December. That means the most junior pilot there will, at the very least, move up 5 times faster than your most junior pilot. My point stands.

 

I agree, assuming they didn’t toss your application into the trash right away because you didn't meet their minimum qualifications (i.e. 1000 hrs TPIC)

You are extremely naive to think that having 0 TPIC in our careers doesn’t matter

 

Present Junior Captain is an 07 hire. What APC doesn't tell you is after the 07 and 08 hires upgrade there is nobody on the list (except the DO) until the 2012 hires, and many of them do not have the experience to upgrade and will not for a while. Guys with experience to upgrade from the Jan 2013 class have been told to put their papers in. The other big problem for TSA is a lot of the newhires with a lot of time are getting offers from majors and some of the furloughed cargo guys are getting recalls.

This business is a crapshoot. Always has been, always will. My best advice is to get the first class date you can because this is a seniority driven business. If there is a significant amount of time between class dates then take the first one.

TSA is going through a lot of changes driven by our new DO. We just got a new Training Manager and things actually look pretty bright here for the future. There are rumors we may have to hire street captains once all the majors are hiring this winter. Some projections have us losing 20/month when this happens. Right now both Captains and First Officers are getting 200% for pickups. Company says it is short term, but we'll see how short term this is. Personally everything I was told in the interview have been correct. When they said I would hold a line right out of training, I laughed and said I'll believe it when I see it. I sat reserve for 3 weeks because I finished OE too late to bid. My experience with the people doing the hiring is they are pretty straightforward about the company and what to expect here.

The biggest drawback to SkyWest is they appear to be next on Mother Delta's chopping block for concessions. They are a well managed company so this could get interesting if Anderson decides to play dirty to get cheaper lift. The problem with the regional industry is as a company matures, starts to pay employees more, and improve things for employees their expenses go up, and other regionals underbid them.

Best of luck to you.

 

All things being equal (attitude, ability, education, interview), the guy with TPIC gets the job without a doubt. In reality, there are far too many variables for anyone to say, "this is the Golden Ticket." There are things that help and things that don't. TPIC is one that helps.

 

So the most Jr captain hired at tsa is??? Youre using projections which mean absolutly nothing in this business and you should know that. The op is basing his decision on the promise of 1 year upgrade projected at tsa. To allow him to do that is irresponsible if history means anything.

 

PIC will still matter. The shortage will be at the regional and Part 135 level. There's a huge difference between being a First Officer and a Captain at the regionals and they know it. There isn't going to be and probably never will be a pilot shortage at the excellent jobs.

 

Did you even read what FlyingKat posted. Pretty much what I tried to tell you. How is what I told you (based on fact and experience) any more irresponsible than you saying (for sure) that the upgrade time will be 6 years?

 

Im not saying for sure that upgrades will be 6 years, they probably wont be. However, they for a fact are 6 years right now. And I am confident they wont go to 1 year for a long time, until the majors are retiring 800/year. You can project what ever you want, hopefully youre right (doubt it) but to tell a new applicant that he will be captain in a year is bs. Especially if he is turning down skywest based on the notion.

 

Don't know how I can make this any clearer if you can read English. People from the Jan 2013 class that have the time have been told to put in for upgrade and are doing so. That is less than a one year upgrade for those of you from Rio Linda......Its not a projection, its a fact.