It was an interesting article to read. For those of you who are current/former pilots for Colgan ir any other regional, what is your thoughts on what was said by the pilots interviewed?
I was at CJC from Jan 04 to Nov of 08. I had mixed feelings about the show and what was said. It basically could have been [insert regional here] and talk about their practices. The two Captains were on the Beech side originally, while I was on the Saab. There was a huge differenece in the quality of life between 1900 and Saab drivers. The joke then was that the Saab was Colgan Mainline. 1900 drivers got used and abused without quarter. Now the FO, I didn't know personally but c'mon how many guys haven't counted kids to get that jump seater on. The Saab without any modification can be STC'd for 30,000 MTOW(norm. 29,000). That coupled with the fact that these airplanes were flying fine when everybody weighed 170, carry on's weren't counted, and checked bags were 20 pounds. This doesn't only happen at CJC but every where. That gut just did not come across as being that competent.
I was initial cadre on the Q and flight safety did all the training for the first 60 type ratings(4 free/Q400). There was not a lack of material or direction on the part of the Q. We used an established curriculum until we put ours into place. The FAA was breathing down our necks with that airplane and they approved all training syllabuses. I personally knew all the guys doing the initial and transition training and these guys were sharp knowledgeable and had been in the training department for years.
That Montileon(FAA) idiot has no ground to stand on. The FAA has multiple law suits and counter suits to his. He had a personal vendetta. He was our POI and we had him removed because of the crap he was pulling. Somehow, he weasled his way to be the FAA aircraft manager on the Q program. He was trying to ground us any chance he got. He would ride along on part 91 training flight, not proving runs mind you, and treat it as a proving run or check flight. The FAA originally pulled him off the certificate, again. Our ACARS were initially having problems with Aero Data(perf) on one of these Part 91's and he was trying to ground us for that. He thuoght we needed to revise our Emerg Evac checklist because we didn't have "dome light" as an item. He is the type of guy that would ask you where you thought this item belonged and then take it to mgmt or the FAA saying, "Capt so and so says we need this item and to add it here..." A snake in the grass is too kind for this guy.
Overall a lot of the things that were discussed I never saw or witnessed. My experiences were good and I left on a good note. Management never forced me to take an airplane or fly unsafe. Mine was but 1 experience but I enjoyed it and for the most part do not have any negative things to say.
