Originally Posted by Cruz5350

SIU is being extremely shady right now with their process. I have a friend who has had nothing but issues with the process. Very disappointed in how they're doing business these days.

Originally Posted by 8Lpearlchannel

When I was hired at a regional in 2008, my class consisted of four UND graduates and two ERAU graduates. We all sailed through training without a hitch. Classes ahead and behind of my class were a mixed bag of part 61/91 guys. Some of those guys struggled; several had to be retrained, two busted the checkride, one quit after having training issues, and another was let go. One guy that came from part 61 training and flew part 91 cargo had difficulty drawing on CRM to coordinate what he needed in the flight deck.

My point is these types of things are all addressed in a THOROUGH formal education format. Sure you may encounter these things out on your own, but sometimes they warrant a discussion or you may not even recognize the significance of what it is you encountered.

When I flew as an FO at the regional level, I always looked out for when ever a guy told me he was a second-career captain. Guys that left their 10+ year office job to become a zero-to-hero airline pilot. Don't get me wrong, there were guys that came from these backgrounds that were absolutely awesome, but the majority seemed to have issues.

There is absolutely no way you can substitute a four year aviation university education with a 90-day course certificate factory. When I did my CFI course during summer session, we were required to design our own lesson plans and aerodynamics outline - that in itself took three months to do!!

When I visited ATP's Fort Lauderdale location, I was shocked to hear their students talk about busted CFI checkrides for not knowing basic elementary things. Things like identifying those VORs on charts to listen to FSS and transmit on a seperate freq. Another student's comment was "aw yeah, that's not really fair because when are you ever gonna have to do THAT?"

If I want to hire someone that comes from somewhere with proven results, I will throw in the extra incentive to do so. Plain and simple.

Originally Posted by CloudShredder

Although I do agree with a majority of what you're saying, the $10,000 is paid out over 2 years at $417 per month on top of your normal paycheck. So I wouldn't say it's heavily taxed. Just an FYI.

I would also say that with that bonus paid out like that, it makes the pay for the first 2 years actually pretty good compared to other regionals even when looking at min. guarantee on reserve.

Originally Posted by PIPErdrvr

No, no, no! It's paid on the first day of training in its entirety.

Originally Posted by puggle

Where did you get your information from? Their recruiter said it was paid in a lump sum.

Originally Posted by Mythbuster

I guess you need to have a talk with the U.S. Armed Forces. Four+ months of OTS/OCS (and a four year degree) vs. four years at a service academy equals exactly the same thing: Second Lieutenant / Ensign.

Originally Posted by embraer

An aviation degree is the biggest waste of time and money on this earth. Sorry if you didn't want to put forth the effort to get a real degree and are now extremely defensive.

Many of us, including myself attended real Universities and attained real degrees while also completing flight training on the side.

It was a tremendous accomplishment and I am a much more well rounded person because of it. Getting the "Aviation degree + flight ratings" bundle was an option I refused to even consider.

I wanted much more for myself.

Originally Posted by 8Lpearlchannel

That's great that you value the choices you've made in life. Your self-righteousness, however, may be a little off putting. I would hope that one's definition of "well rounded" includes humility.

The bottom line is that American Eagle prefers applicants with aviation degrees or they would not be offering this bonus. These are the clear facts. If you cannot understand this, you really need to get over yourself.