The 6 Year Upgrade
02-08-2014, 09:08 PM
#21
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Sep 2008
Position: B767
Posts: 1,901
Originally Posted by Kill Switch
I have my goods in with them, but being a "low-time" guy - I'm just another 1 in 10,000...so being debt free and a passion to fly - ill be choosy and can afford to choose the place with a smaller pilot group, a decent contract and a decent pilot group...and in turn, faster movement.
For the record, OO pilots will always be welcome in my jump seat.
For the record, OO pilots will always be welcome in my jump seat.
02-08-2014, 09:50 PM
#22
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: May 2012
Position: OO RJ FO
Posts: 437
Originally Posted by Kill Switch
Quote:
Originally Posted by wrxpilot
Wow, well I sure as heck never made $160k. But I sure wouldn't go to a regional if you have kind of potential or what I presume is a lot of experience. Why go to a regional at all in your shoes? I'd be all over a Legacy, or Spirit/jetBlue/VA, etc.
I have my goods in with them, but being a "low-time" guy - I'm just another 1 in 10,000...so being debt free and a passion to fly - ill be choosy and can afford to choose the place with a smaller pilot group, a decent contract and a decent pilot group...and in turn, faster movement.
For the record, OO pilots will always be welcome in my jump seat.
Originally Posted by wrxpilot
Wow, well I sure as heck never made $160k. But I sure wouldn't go to a regional if you have kind of potential or what I presume is a lot of experience. Why go to a regional at all in your shoes? I'd be all over a Legacy, or Spirit/jetBlue/VA, etc.
I have my goods in with them, but being a "low-time" guy - I'm just another 1 in 10,000...so being debt free and a passion to fly - ill be choosy and can afford to choose the place with a smaller pilot group, a decent contract and a decent pilot group...and in turn, faster movement.
For the record, OO pilots will always be welcome in my jump seat.
02-08-2014, 10:32 PM
#23
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Jun 2013
Position: On the right hand side
Posts: 665
To answer the original question of why someone would bail for a company with a 6 year upgrade- they are worried about the existence of their current company. It may go the way of Comair. With so many regionals for carriers to pick from, mainline can choose to outsource to the cheapest one, or one with cash in the bank. The product they receive is very similar (one would hope a company with more money would have better mx). United dictates what UAX carriers do: when a second beverage service is required etc. Lets say in theory you got hired on to the bottom of a list where the upgrade time is predicted to be 3 years, but it lasts 2, you never upgrade, then you have to go to the bottom of the list at another regional unless the hiring at AA, DL and UA picks up to the point where they need certificated pilots with a pulse. Or, alternatively, you could hedge your bets by going to an airline that offers decent quality of life, financial stability with the chance of upgrading. Could the companies these people are leaving stay in business, sure, but lets look at Great Lakes as an example of why leave an airline for what you call a lateral move. At one point people could go to Lakes and expect a 6-9 month upgrade dependent on how much time they had going in, now Lakes is JR manning captains to the right seat with no upgrade in sight for new FOs. Guys go there get their 1000 TPIC and either get hired into a narrow body jet, or take the PIC to another regional for some jet time.
02-08-2014, 11:08 PM
#24
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Mar 2008
Position: One man wolfpack
Posts: 246
Originally Posted by wrxpilot
So what's your point then? You ask why some of us work at places like SkyWest... I told you - I enjoy my QOL and living in base in a place like DEN. I'm not making much, but it's more the McD's. More importantly, I enjoy my life and have fun outside of work. Let's not go down the path of comparing previous W2s, I doubt you'd win.
Would I leave ExpressJet to come here? No way. Would I leave a dumpy 135 or 91 job to come here? Well, I think it was a good move in early 2011 when hiring was in full swing. Would I do it now? I don't know. But I don't regret coming here when I did.
But hey, if you want to head over to Commutair and live in some crappy mid-west base, knock yourself out. It's probably a fantastic decision. But it sure wouldn't be the right decision for somebody like me. I'd be outta aviation and back in engineering before living that life.
Would I leave ExpressJet to come here? No way. Would I leave a dumpy 135 or 91 job to come here? Well, I think it was a good move in early 2011 when hiring was in full swing. Would I do it now? I don't know. But I don't regret coming here when I did.
But hey, if you want to head over to Commutair and live in some crappy mid-west base, knock yourself out. It's probably a fantastic decision. But it sure wouldn't be the right decision for somebody like me. I'd be outta aviation and back in engineering before living that life.
02-09-2014, 04:54 AM
#26
The NeverEnding Story
Joined APC: Sep 2005
Posts: 7,514
A college friend of mine once told me "I'd rather work at Safeway in Denver than fly a Gulfstream in Tennessee" when he was only about a year into working at Skywest. And he had a VERY strong lead on a G-IV gig...but seeing as though he's at United now, I'd say it worked out just fine.
I'd rather dig ditches in Inditucky than take a job flying a large-cabin bizjet on either coast. That is MY choice, for MY reasons, and MY reasons alone. And we all make choices and decisions for our own reasons. As such, I would never fault somebody wanting to live in the PNW wanting to get on at Horizon or somebody that wants to be Rockies area wanting to get on at Skywest.
We roll the dice on a company and even with all the due diligance in the world prior to that, we ultimately put out career fates in the hands of Ernie Gann's "numbers".
I'd rather dig ditches in Inditucky than take a job flying a large-cabin bizjet on either coast. That is MY choice, for MY reasons, and MY reasons alone. And we all make choices and decisions for our own reasons. As such, I would never fault somebody wanting to live in the PNW wanting to get on at Horizon or somebody that wants to be Rockies area wanting to get on at Skywest.
We roll the dice on a company and even with all the due diligance in the world prior to that, we ultimately put out career fates in the hands of Ernie Gann's "numbers".
02-09-2014, 05:21 AM
#27
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Sep 2008
Position: B767
Posts: 1,901
Originally Posted by BoilerUP
A college friend of mine once told me "I'd rather work at Safeway in Denver than fly a Gulfstream in Tennessee" when he was only about a year into working at Skywest. And he had a VERY strong lead on a G-IV gig...but seeing as though he's at United now, I'd say it worked out just fine.
I'd rather dig ditches in Inditucky than take a job flying a large-cabin bizjet on either coast. That is MY choice, for MY reasons, and MY reasons alone. And we all make choices and decisions for our own reasons. As such, I would never fault somebody wanting to live in the PNW wanting to get on at Horizon or somebody that wants to be Rockies area wanting to get on at Skywest.
We roll the dice on a company and even with all the due diligance in the world prior to that, we ultimately put out career fates in the hands of Ernie Gann's "numbers".
I'd rather dig ditches in Inditucky than take a job flying a large-cabin bizjet on either coast. That is MY choice, for MY reasons, and MY reasons alone. And we all make choices and decisions for our own reasons. As such, I would never fault somebody wanting to live in the PNW wanting to get on at Horizon or somebody that wants to be Rockies area wanting to get on at Skywest.
We roll the dice on a company and even with all the due diligance in the world prior to that, we ultimately put out career fates in the hands of Ernie Gann's "numbers".
02-09-2014, 05:48 AM
#28
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Oct 2012
Posts: 241
Originally Posted by Kill Switch
Yeah - I've done the 135 with overnights in Vail, Aspen, Sun Valley with hundreds of thousands of Marriott points - big deal. SkyWest is a reputable place to work in the minor leagues, but why leave Eagle or XJet to be at the bottom of the list knowing the -200's are being replaced at 2:1 (at best) with a 3,400+ pilot group...
I don't chase the upgrade - I've saved enough outside the cockpit to be choosy where I go and have enough balls to stand up for a profession that I've wanted to do since before I was kicking a soccer ball....like majority of other on this forum.
But in the end, we don't go to regionals to swing gear and collect McDonald wages....unless your other half puts the bread on the table.
I don't chase the upgrade - I've saved enough outside the cockpit to be choosy where I go and have enough balls to stand up for a profession that I've wanted to do since before I was kicking a soccer ball....like majority of other on this forum.
But in the end, we don't go to regionals to swing gear and collect McDonald wages....unless your other half puts the bread on the table.
02-09-2014, 06:57 AM
#29
Line Holder
Thread Starter
Joined APC: Jan 2014
Posts: 52
Originally Posted by FLYZERG
Would you have the balls to stay at the bottom of Endeavors list?
1. I don't read anything about Endeavor
2. The ink on my Degree is still drying and I will go to any regional just to sit in a "large" aircraft
3. I drink the kool aid management has in the punch bowl...that they mixed up from a comair recipe
4. I can't get through an OO or CPZ interview
None of which are the case, so asking if I had the balls to stay at the bottom is invalid - I would have used my brains to not go there in the first place...
BUT - if I was a newly minted restricted ATP pilot out of college with a RJ type, I'd be calling first out - flying days off and trying to get my time while it lasted. I knew I was getting furloughed back in 2009 and was force moved the last month I was there - I flew all I could and within a month of getting furloughed I was employed with a company that I got paid more, did some great flying, and met my wife...
02-09-2014, 07:03 AM
#30
Line Holder
Thread Starter
Joined APC: Jan 2014
Posts: 52
Originally Posted by Jet87
Why wouldn't an OO pilot be welcome in your jumpseat?
I understand they have orders for 175's and a total option for 400...but I don't see them all being operated by Skywest. A number of them will probably be turned around and leased out or some of the options sold. No one can predict...
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