ACA or ASA career advice

[rogerroger]

Hired by both airlines and can't decide where to go. need any good input. Thanks

 

[asarjfo]

I can't speak for ACA, but ASA is a great place to work!

I happened to be in Flight Safety when our President "skip" Barnett was just hanging out talking to some pilots about the latest and greatest. The 70 seat will be on property sometime in the next couple of weeks and on-line by April 1st. We are accepting 7 new RJ's this month and a total of 27 this year. We are retiring some EMB's so the net gain is something like 14 airplanes. We are supposed to be integrating all of the hubs soon, right now SKW is pillaging DFW and ACA seems to be doing alot in CVG. It is a stable place with "mother Delta writing the checks" and Delta has stated they are going to concentrate on the growth in the ATL hub so it should be good for us also.

The only "unknown" is the contract wich expires in September so who knows what will happen with that.

Good luck

 

[ifly4food]

The first question would which one has offered you a sooner class date. I know ASA is starting newhire classes in Feb and the training department says they are being told to prepare for "40 newhires a month until further notice".
I know nothing about ACA, but at ASA your chances of being furloughed are very slim. We have excellent benefits (identical to Delta employees) and fly some pretty good equipment. The pay isn't bad at $19.02 for a first year FO, regardless of equipment. 2nd year is ~$26 for an E120 FO and ~$32 for a CRJ FO. Our contract is amendable in September, so things may get "interesting" for a while.
You have an excellent chance of going to the jet right out of newhire class, but you may get the E120. It all depends on what the current needs are. The same goes for domicile. We have ATL and DFW, but I think more FOs are needed in DFW, so you may have to go there for a couple months.
Feel free to email or PM me if you need more info.
Good luck.

 

[House_X]

ACA has not had a class since 9/11...when were you hired? From my understanding, they stopped interviewing after 9/11.

 

[pilotboy]

ACA is the only airline i've been hired by but the experience was horrible. By the time i finished training with them i hated them so much i left the company. Call me a fool but i believe you oght to be happy where you work! Go to ASA !

 

[CaptBuzzard]

ASARJFO,

How did you get hired with less than the 1200 mins?
I'm curious. have they hired anyone with less?
I will have 1200 atleast by the summer. I work on the ramp for
Delta, not that it matters, but I do have some connections in Atlanta with ASA.

 

[Sabre60]

Hired by both airlines and can't decide where to go. need any good input. Thanks

I personally know nothing about ASA, however, 6 of my friends from MIDWAY went to ACA after we went down the tubes, and 5 of them have left already saying that it is an absolutely miserable place to be. Training by intimidation seems to be the norm there. One of my friends was told to expect around 4 years to upgrade.
Needless to say, he was one of the first to go. As for my 6th friend, he also is looking to get out of there. I just want to stress that these are NOT personal experiences of my own, but of people I used to work work with. In talking with all of them,the thread of discontent seems to be pretty common.
I don't know much about ASA, but I have NEVER heard anything like what I have just told you about ACA. Hope this helps. Good Luck!!!

 

[sabreliner]

ASARJFO,

How did you get hired with less than the 1200 mins?
I'm curious. have they hired anyone with less?
I will have 1200 atleast by the summer. I work on the ramp for
Delta, not that it matters, but I do have some connections in Atlanta with ASA.

Not to dash your hopes but...

He was most likely hired thru either the Flight Saftey or ATA programs, or thru a bridge program like we had with ERAU. To my knowledge, these programs are over with, as we don't have a shortage of applicants for the time being. We may still have some Flight Saftey guys swimming in the pool, but I think that will be it for a while.

I believe our mins rest at 1200 and 200. However, with the current state of the industry (and even before 9-11) we are generally not hiring low time pilots off the street. Most of our new hires have 121 or 135 experience, and more than the minimum times.

I'm sorry to say that the hiring party of '99-'00 is over. Back to the days of teaching forever, then flying 135, then maybe getting an airline job.

That being said, it never hurts to try...

I've heard AirNet is hiring...

 

[Jboss]

It's tough

Pilotboy

I really hope you didn't leave ACA on account of the training department. Sure it can suck, but beyond that the company is a good place to be. Management (Upper) knows how to make money (even in lean times) and the work rules and pay are among the best in the "regional" industry. Not to mention the fact that leaving an airline job right now might be detrimental to your career. But to each his own....just hoping you didn't quit because you hated training. Everybody does....simulator training at any airline is very intense. It can make you want to go become an engineer! Good luck.

 

[pilotboy]

reply to jboss

hey jboss your right !

I hope i didn't make the wrong decision but i was utterly miserable there at ACA. Im trying to find another job now and it's not easy like you said. I understand how leaving a job now can further retard my career a bit but i don't know how it can be such a bad thing. Is it considered so wrong to leave when your not happy at a job as a pilot for a particular airline? I've been told that its not such a bad thing. I staying hopefull that something will come along my way and i'll be able to earn a living doing what i love. Laters

 

[bailout]

You should go to whomever offers you the class date first, as stated earlier. The earlier rumors about class dates at ASA have been changed. Drew Bedson spoke to the Feb class and told them that after the March class, there will be none until the Fall. People in recruiting have backed this up. Of course, we all know it could change tonight.

 

[asarjfo]

Sabreliner is correct, I did go through a bridge program. I was right at the "tail" end of it and feel very lucky to be at ASA. Hopefully things will pick back up, though I doubt it will be to the level it was at 2 years ago.

Good luck to you

 

[Garbageman]

Well, as Bailout says, things have changed. Now the word from Skip is that the rest of the pool will be drained and this summer (July) hiring will resume for an unknown number of classes.

I too know very little about ACA. When I was employed at another airline, "Hal" (Chief Pilot at that time) tried to convince me how great the J-41 was. So I guess I am biased about those guys at ACA management. ASA on the other hand I continue to be impressed with. If I had the decision to make between the two it would still be the same...ASA.

 

[acaTerry]

Well, I don't know much about ASA. And ASA is one of the very few places I don't know anyone at but here is my 2 bits:
While I feel that ACA has some of the finest pilots out there, and growth is only going to continue upward, I would probably not come over here.
Yes, upper level management is really good: ACA is going to survive and thrive.
Yes, we have very good pilots. Anyone who can get through the training here is a darn good pilot.
Yes, upgrades are pretty quick. FRJ CA in @ 2 yrs.
BUT!!!
No, mid-level management is not in touch, much less concerned about it's pilot group. Crew Scheduling is exceptionally bad and our new sick policy is ridiculous.
No, our training program is not friendly. We have a little more than our share of instructors who feel that yelling, cussing, and arbitrarily failing people is part of the job. Especially the CRJ.
No, becoming a CA is not the end of the road. It is only the beginning. Upgrade comes pretty quickly, but sometimes you have to really put your foot down, and hard, over dispatch. And schedulers who are seemingly deliberately trying to find ways to violate the contract make it no fun.
I'm going into my fourth year here. I used to love this place. I was going to be a lifer until about 9 months ago. Lines suck. Our poor guys who build them (pilot volunteers) are often overridden by the company. It's pathetic. Top 30% of our seniority list and I get 11 days off with 80 hrs block.
I know it's better to have a job to complain about than to be looking for one. But for the amount of professionalism and effort this job demands, an airline should not use intimidation to squeeze you harder. It is only my opinion, but here it is: I would go elsewhere. ACA is financially solid, but Quality of Life issues are poor. Pay is good. But if life is no good....
Well, just my opinion. I hope I don't get fired for this.....

 

[InHot]

Thanks for the Candid Opinion

Hey Terry,

Looking in from the outside and trying to get a feel is at best an art form, never a science. Not til one is inside does one have a true feel for what is going on.

However, your candid comments in this post has provided what appears to be a frank and dispassionate view of life at ACA.

But for the amount of professionalism and effort this job demands, an airline should not use intimidation to squeeze you harder.

I've seen this at other companies as well. Why does it have to be this way? Pilots are professionals. You say ACA has professionals in upper management. Why can't they staff professional folks to interact with the pilots?

Ideally there should not be any friction between dispatch/schedules and the airplane drivers. As a matter of fact it is counter productive. If only management would realize this fact, this great job (part 121 flying) would be awesome!

Best of luck to you and Thank-you very much for your insight.