Congrats and welcome!!

 

Yes indeed, congrats and welcome! Some survival tips for SLC that other guys in previous classes passed on to me (thanks, CrazyCanuck!)

1) The only food near the Candlewood Suites is fast food. I highly recommend, for your food shopping, taking the UTA light rail downtown. It's literally a 5-minute walk to the rail stop, a 14-minute ride to City Center, and a 2-minute walk to Harmon's, a huge grocery store with organic, fresh produce and all kinds of delicious stuff. The Candlewood will do shuttle runs to a closer store, but it's really a basic store in terms of what you can find. So, Harmon's has been a godsend for me.

2) The Candlewood is comfortable and the staff all know the Skywest guys, so they do a lot to make you feel at home. The two BBQ gas grills outside are a huge benefit. There's a nice fitness center, and laundry. (Be warned: one of the guys in our class had all his clothes stolen out of the dryers and had to go to Wal-Mart to buy all new outfits...)

3) Don't plan on having much of a social life. You'll be at the training center from 0800-1700 every day (sometimes we get out earlier), then you'll have a couple hours of reading and homework to do every night, plus you'll need to study and start working on your flows. There simply isn't enough time to do it all. That said, there's time to take one day off every weekend...if only for your mental health ;-)

4) Your nonrev benefits should kick in 2 weeks after your class start date. I used mine for a 24-hour weekend visit back home to see my wife

5) Plan on doing your grocery shopping on the weekends...there just isn't any time during the week.

6) Know the EP&L's cold. I mean, cold. They dinged guys for things like forgetting to put the degree sign in "+5C OAT".

7) The first two days will be incredibly easy and slow-going. Then Indoc starts on Day 3. Indoc isn't too bad...a lot of regs to know. If you can study up on Exemption 3585 and how to do derived alternate minima for Part 121, you'll be a huge step ahead. Systems (starts Day 7, goes for 13 class days) is a beast...we're all drinking from the firehose right now. Just be prepared ;-)

8) Enjoy! And welcome!

 

Thanks and thanks for the info!! I'm looking forward to it! How far is candlewood from the training center? Walking distance or shuttle? I didn't stay there for my interview (I have family in SLC).

 

It's not that far actually...but there's no public access from the terminals (you'd have to walk across the 121 ramp and some taxiways) so you have to go all the way around the perimeter road instead. Too far to walk. You could run if you were motivated, but it would take a long time and you'd be sweaty. Everybody drives or takes the shuttle.

 

Thanks, Rickair!

 

OK 1.5 year FO at RAH. What do you guys think about a lateral move to Skywest?

 

Do you live in a skywest base?

Are you commuting from the west coast?

Trust me I know how bad RAH is, but why make a lateral move from a "bad" stagnant regional to a "good" stagnant regional.

Aren't upgrade times about the same at RAH and Skywest?

 

Believe it or not, some people refuse to sell their soul for a quick upgrade.

I know. Crazy, huh?

 

Only to avoid commuting and if going to Compass isn't an option, that's my recommendation.

 

Can you still get in on the CPZ quick upgrades?