Cape Air to Regionals?
 

I've read a lot of good stuff on here about Cape Air. Does anyone know if they are good stepping stone to the Regionals? Also, is there any truth to this Cape Air to JetBlue hiring program? Any more info on Cape Air would be great, thanks!

Many Cape Air pilots have made the step from Cape--which is indeed a regional--to the jet-fleet regionals. Cape Air is a good company that produces good pilots that get great experience. So, yes, they are a good stepping stone.

A few have even gone direct to the majors, but I don't know how much of that will happen anymore with the over-abundance of RJ pilots available.

I can't speak of the JB program.

The JetBlue bridge program exists and is sending pilots direct from Cape Air to JetBlue. I don't know all the details, but you need to be part of the program from the beginning. "Regular" Cape Air pilots get no special treatment.

I know a lot of folks who went from Cape Air to jet regionals, or also commonly to private jet or cargo companies. Some went straight to a major, but as far as I know they've all had turbine time either from elsewhere or from Cape Air's ATR operation in Guam.

I went from Cape to a regional.

Great company. Are you looking to get hired as an FO?

Yes, I would be hired as a FO. Right now I'm in the process of separating from active duty military and I have about 600 hours as a CFI/CFII/MEI (27 ME but going to start instructing ME very soon). My original plan was to keep instructing, get my ATP in the next year or so (ATP written complete) and go to a regional. But now that I've read so many good things about Cape Air, I'm wondering if that might be a good route. I do have three kids and a very understanding wife (her Father flies for Delta, so she knows the lifestyle), so time at home is important, but I understand the industry I'm attempting to break into involves time away.

If you go from Cape Air to a regional do you essentially start over again at a regional making roughly 20K/year? Also, how much say do you have in your initial base out of training? How often do they require you to move? Do you have to move seasonally?(I.E. every six months?)

Thanks for all the great info.

Do you live in a Cape Air pilot base? Commuting at Cape is next to impossible.

You will start over at the regional. Everything is based on seniority. Your base both at cape and at a regional will be bid on by seniority. Generally in class seniority is determined by age, the higher age being the more senior. You won't be required to move unless a base closes.

Unless you manage to get to JetBlue, why go to a low-paying regional only to later go to a less-low-paying regional? If I were you, I'd finish the 1500 (or whatever you need) and apply at the primary regionals.

Go from a regional to cape it's gotta be better.

Going from anywhere to a regional is always the wrong answer.

Cape Air to Regionals?
 

I flew at 9k for just over 3 years and commuted for almost all of those to almost every region we fly. I don't have any kids and am very fortunate to have an understanding girlfriend. PM me and we can chat.

A lot of people go to the regionals from Cape Air. I've never really understood why.

Because most airlines require glass and fms/fmc experience. Since the Cessna 402 doesn't have that, a regional jet operation is one of the most efficient ways to do that and get that experience...albeit "painful".

Or was your comment purposefully obtuse?

Looks like I should just stick it out instructing until I get my 1500 and go to the regional. Only reason that I would go Cape Air is if I could go straight to a major from that, doesn't look like that's possible. Thanks for the info!

It's not impossible, and Cape will pay better than any regional. It's great experience, and looked upon favorably by regionals and majors alike. If you go to Cape, and get 500-1000 hours, you'll still have to go to a regional, but you may not be there as long with the Cape experience in your bag.

You will start over at every airline that you go to. Unfortunately, that's just the way it is, and there is no getting around it.

Gonna have to disagree with you on that one.

Regionals will hire ANYONE that meets the min flight time as long as you don't have a ton of failures.

They can't even fill all of their classes. In 2014, they don't have the option to be picky about "glass time" requirements. Now, they may say "preferred" but I "prefer" to have 6 pack abs and a bikini model next to me....wish in one hand and --- in the other. So no, it's not a requirement.

Plus, flying glass is a simple joke. Anyone who flies with steam gauge 6 pack can handle simple glass.

I went from Cape Air to regional. When I was instructing I got hired as an FO at Cape with about 700 hours. At the time no other regionals were hiring. I was also part of the Bridge program with JB, but at the time (and I think it's still true) you had to come from UND or Riddle. Cape Air was a great experience for me and I felt it was better getting my time there than continuing to instruct. However I do think that you would have to go to regional and wouldn't be able to go straight from Cape to major.

The comment was in reference to going to a major not a regional. Of course a regional would hire you with or without 402 time, or anytime for that matter if it was up to them.

He's saying that if you fly the 402 for a few years you could hopefully only spend a year or two at a regional before going to a major or national etc, while making more money and having a better schedule. Rather then spending 4-5 years at a regional to get into the 4-5k hours range.

Whether or not this is true I have no idea.

I was at cape for 3.5 years and went to a regional, for the same reason everyone else did. You have to have glass and turbine to move on in this career right now. No one is jumping from Cape directly to a major right now, it has happened quite a while in the past, and it could possibly happen in the future, but it sure as hell isn't happening now.

As for the Jetblue flow through. It is mostly for people who were in the bridge internship program from the start. Some people were able to flow through from the general pilot group but you have to meet the internship requirements, ie go to UND or Riddle. I would not recommend going to cape if your putting all your eggs in the flow through basket. And with all flows, when the company is hurting on pilots and they are not contractually obligated to flow you (both are true at Cape right now), there is a huge incentive to stall people on flowing, not saying there are doing it just saying it's something to consider.

If you live in a Cape base that you can actually hold (there's the catch as there are like 40 bases and most only have 4-8 pilots in them) and want to build some time before going to a regional for your ceremonial thrashing. Then go to Cape, otherwise just hit 1500 and go regional.

Just my 2.

Because it's a good company, because it's great experience, because you get put in CASS, because you make more than a flight instructor, because companies like JetBlue look at PIC time from Cape Air. Because it's not Mesa.

You don't need 1500 if you are military... err... a military trained pilot

Unfortuantely I'm not a military "pilot", I'm a military backseater, so I don't believe that applies to me.

I don't know why anyone would go to Cape Air unless you live there.
Flying a 402 for a while then stepping to a regional would be a complete waste of time.

Completely untrue. Becoming PiC at Cape Air will teach you aeronautical decision making on a scale you can almost never get in the right seat of an RJ. I flew lots of single pilot IFR before being hired at ASA, which was invaluable experience.

Ahh 9K. Where to begin lol.

I was at Cape for exactly 1 year. While it was really good experience and definitely unique (compared to the typical RJ world of flying) there is a lot to be desired.

I started training in May. 1 week of GS and then you start flight training. The problem was that it is summer and high season up north. They use actual 402s and they are always flying the line and/or on maintenance. Instructors were also hard to come by. On average I would go 5-7 days between flights. Talk about staying proficient when learning a new plane! Thankfully I had a lot of 421 time and it wasn't a huge issue, but it caused my (one and only) classmate to washout, which the company handled in a less than desirable manner. Long story. From starting GS to taking my check ride was 2.5 months. There are only 12 lessons (even less for FOs). The nice thing is you do get paid 40hrs a week so your making some cash despite sitting on your ass waiting around for lessons. The company puts you up in the Holiday Inn during training with your own room ie single occupancy.

Once done with my check ride the dysfunctionality continued. OE took another month. What they do is, since its high season, they will sell your seat if they can. I got calls saying I was starting an OE trip the next day, showing up and ready to go, only to be told I was manning the coach now because they booked it to 9 pax. I'm all for the company to make money, but again your paying people 40hrs a week and $100+ a night at the Holiday Inn. Its in your best interest to get through training quickly!

After OE finished, late August, I was based in HYA until October when I was awarded Tortola for the winter. It is one of 3 Caribbean bases that require work permits. Because of this you are "base locked" and cannot bid out until at least the spring when you can come back north for the summer. While I did have fun down there, the arrival and transition to Tortola was a complete train wreck. It got so bad me and another pilot (also new to the base) were down to the 11th hour. We were within hours of catching a flight to SJU and not leaving until someone helped with finding secured housing. Cape forgets, I believe, that they are sending pilots to foreign countrys. Most are nowhere near the standards you find back home. The British Virgin Islands are extremely expensive and housing is near impossible to find. While the company does provide moving allowance, it is taxed to hell and back. I think I took home $450 of my 900+. Big help!

A typical 4 day work week in EIS (Tortola) was 2, back to back, 14hr duty days with 8 legs at 40-45 min a piece. You also had to clear customs each and every time you arrived in SJU (San Juan). Cape would, at least 75% of the time, have the wrong CA name on the Gendec. This resulted in being sent to the detention box for 10-15 mins. Once out of prison it was a 10 min walk back to your gate and a trip through security. Your 40 mins scheduled break between flights had now become 5-10 if your lucky. You basically are handed your pax weights for your next flights W&B the second you get back to the crew room. The only good thing is the ramp was so embarrassingly dysfunctional your bags wouldn't get loaded until 20-30 mins past your next flights departure time. This gave you a nice break to relax some. However, this happened nearly every leg through SJU so your now 14hr day easily became 15-15.5. That sounds pretty safe.

A couple months before the winter season down south ended, I interviewed at a regional. I got the offer and my last day was literally my 1 year anniversary. While I do miss Cape sometimes I like where I'm at now and inevitably the turbine, glass and crew experience is pretty much mandatory in this career field.

A few words about the JB Gateway program. It really ****es me off they even promote this. It is unattainable for, I would guess, 60-70% of people working there. They keep changing the reqs every few months. When I was there I could have been a part of it, but wallah they changed it again. As it stood when I left you had to have instructed at an AIBI Accredited flight school. Way to alienate almost everyone at Cape except a few riddle, und etc. Glad to know my 1135hrs of dual given and 9 sign offs wasn't good enough. The JB program was enticing back when no one , hardly even regionals, were hiring. Now that you can go to a regional and upgrade relatively quick n then move on to a legacy it isn't what it once was. As for the comment someone posted earlier. Even if you are in the gateway and are accepted, you can't leave until Cape says you can. Seniority is everything and a buddy of mine is being held hostage. Every month JB is running classes and he's missing out. They won't let him leave because they are so short staffed right now. Bad bad deal.

Pros/Con's

Pros:

Awesome experience.
You will meet a lot of great people/pilots.
Home in base each night.
A lot of fun flying in unique and often challenging conditions.
You will garner a lot of respect with your next airline job when you tell your CA you were 9K.

Cons:

Long, fatigued days flying in challenging wx/conditions and dealing with pax.
A company that doesn't really care about you despite the "were a family" mantra.
Not much assistance when you need it like myself and others in the Caribbean.
Pay isn't that great. I was being doubled taxed both US AND BVI. After 40+ duty weeks and consecutive 14hr duty days it was pretty sad seeing what I took home.

All in all I enjoyed my time at Cape, but I wrote this so your aware of what to expect. I was let down in I expected more from the company when I needed help. If you go into it with low expectations you will be alright.

Cape is great for those up north or in the Caribbean who already currently live in base and are looking for a job. If not I recommend just hammering out some more dual and getting ATP mins and applying at an regional. I came to Cape when hardly any regionals were hiring. Its a much different landscape now.

Another thing that made Cape special was the people I met. A lot of them followed me here where I am now so its like Cape all over again, but with different equipment.

Let us know what you decide. Good luck.

P.S. I realize how bad my handle is here. I think I created this account in EIS after a hellish day and drunk at the bar unwinding lol.

What a ridiculous blanket statement.....building 121 time (especially in a jet) is a necessity if you want to get hired at many majors, not to mention a requirement for FedEx and UPS.

Going from Cape Air to a major is next to impossible unless you're extremely well-connected. Doesn't matter if steam gauge 402 flying is "harder" than glass (who cares?) - the typical 121 jet crew environment is nonexistent.

Majors have no shortage of qualified pilots to hire from and when it comes down to a Cape Air 402 captain versus an E170 FO with 4000 jet hours, they will hire the 170 FO 9/10 times

Don't believe me? My first CFI flew as a Cape Air captain for 4 years before leaving for Air Whisky. His goal was Jet Blue. They wouldn't hire him until he got jet time.

Flying a 402 will make you a "better" pilot but this discussion is about career progression, not stick-and-rudder flying and ADM. Why waste 4 years of seniority at Delta just to fly a 402? Doesn't make any sense...

Not to knock Cape Air, but if you could get hired directly at a regional, I think that'd be the way to go. If not, then go to CA.

As an example, I tried to get hired at CHQ in the 2003 timeframe and they wouldn't look at me with 1600/100. I went to AirNet to build multi time. It was great experience and about a year and a half later I got hired at CHQ. There were a few Lear captains that would get hired by the majors from AirNet, but by and far, most guys didn't. It made sense to leave there and go to the regionals to build 121 time (if majors are your goal).

While the experience gained at AirNet was great, I'd gladly have gone to CHQ right away.

Your right, it's not Mesa.

He won't upgrade in 16 months to CA on the E175 or CRJ900.

Did they make you move down south? It sounds like just sticking out here with instructing is the best way to go because I do have a family and want to minimize the moves. Thanks for the info! (and nice name!)

That's a great point, would anyone recommend AirNet? or same kind of deal, if I can instruct and get to 1500, should probably stick with that?

Here's the deal. If you want to go 121, it doesn't make much sense. It just adds an extra rung in your career ladder. Most of the people here are building multi time for part 135/91 stuff or are lifers.

CAirbears experience was typical for training at that time of year, however the carribean is completely different from the other regions. Things work a lot smoother in the regions I've been in.

Bottom line is if you have 1500tt and want to go to the airlines, go to the airlines.

Upgrade times can change at the drop of a hat. I wasn't trying to slander Mesa, you guys have always been good to me and I know some good people who have flown there. I was just trying to point out that while it might not be 121 jet time, 9K can still be a great experience.

I interned with Cape Air as an FO. I really enjoyed my experience, I thought the company was top notch! Nothing but good things to say!