Airnet or Regional

[fencitup]

I am currently at 1120TT and 69ME and think I have a good chance of getting on at Airnet. (according to Mr. Washka) I would prefer to be with a regional though. My multi time is the big problem at the moment for the regionals.

Should I go to Airnet for the 12 mo. minimum and be desireable to most any regional or wait the 2-3 months it will take me to get my multi time over the golden 100?

 

[General Lee]

Get up to 100 ME and they apply to Eagle. You will like an E145 much better than a barron or a lear.


Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[jobear]

Pays better at Airnet

 

[taxicabdriver]

Will 100 multi get you to Eagle? Just curious how competitive the market is now. I would suggest a regional so long as it wouldn't take too long to get there. I have heard the upgrade on the lear at Airnet is 2-3 years.

 

[wings421]

I am currently at 1120TT and 69ME and think I have a good chance of getting on at Airnet. (according to Mr. Washka) I would prefer to be with a regional though. My multi time is the big problem at the moment for the regionals.

Should I go to Airnet for the 12 mo. minimum and be desireable to most any regional or wait the 2-3 months it will take me to get my multi time over the golden 100?

Once you're at AirNet, you might decide that you like it. Of course, Washka wants guys (or girls) that WANT to be there, not that have to be there.

With regards to the above post about upgrade time being 2-3 years, not quite true. While it will take that long (maybe a year longer) to go from the left seat of the Baron, Caravan, Chieftain or 310 to the left seat of the Lear, you can move to the right seat of the jet before your 12 month contract is even up. Guys are doing it right now.

 

[BoilerUP]

...Unless you areyoung (like myself), and you have a high probability to get the ATR on the Rock or the Saab. I hear that there are alot of SJU pilots whose seat lock is coming up and will be bailing back to the mainland. Then again, www.eaglelounge.com has listed mostly EMJ assingments from recent class.

The Airnet guys might be able to chime in, but its possible with their fleet change/expansion/whatever for you to be in a Lear within 12-14 months and a Lear CA within 24-36 months.

It all depends on what type of flying you want to do, what type of equipment you want to fly, and if you so desire the title "airline pilot". I wish you the best of luck!

 

[starcheck1]

I have been on both sides of this one. I worked at airnet for about a year before moving on to Expressjet. Positves of Airnet were, jumpseat privledges, pretty good pay (for working your a$$ off) and weekends off. People from my class are just getting their lear upgrades they wanted after 14 months. Ths QOL sucked since if you wanted to have a normal weekend you had to switch between a day and night schedule. When I left the company was going to performance based pay raises and starting to screw the pilots....which is why there is talk of a union now. I made the switch to Express jet mainly for the QOL.....(I missed sitting on the beach and seeing the sun). Now that I am off reserve at Xjet my paychecks are getting close to what they were at Airnet....on the old contract.
I would not pass up the flight experience at Airnet for anything...but working nights sucks after a while and I am not regretting the decision I made to leave. If you have any more questions feel free to PM me.

 

[DirkkDiggler]

Airnet is a great experience. You will never learn so much about yourself or you ability to pilot an aircraft in all types of situations in any other job. You will learn to be a captain and make decisions since there is nobody sitting next to you who you can lean on for help. I think anyone who works there for a year or more is a better pilot when they leave than when they started. I know some regional pilots who could have certainly used the experience themselves. However, working nights SUCKS. The pay is great though. I made $40,000 over a 12 month period while flying the props. I think the pay scale has changed though and they no longer pay floaters extra floater pay. If you ultimate goal is to fly for the regionals and then move on from there, don't fly at Airnet unless you think you have to increase your hours to become competitive. That's what I did. If you can get a job at a regional right now then that's what I'd do. It will save you time in your long run career plan. Airnet was a great experience and I'd never trade it for the world. I'm also glad my two years there are over.

 

[StarChecker]

Ditto...

AirNet is a good solid company. MX is excellent but the pay cut you take to go to the regionals is retarded. $16,000 pay cut for me from Baron to RJ.

QOL at AirNet can be pretty bad....especially if you get a 5-night run like I had. That basically means one night off a week....compared to the 16-17 days off a month I get now. Like the others said...I wouldn't trade the experience for anything...but I'm glad I moved on. Working nights sucks and trying to have a normal life on the weekends just never works.

But....flying single-pilot...you can do anything you want...just don't break anything and be kinda ontime...and you can have a blast. Good luck.

 

[mmmdonut]

Jesus.. whatever you do don't go to Eagle. Even though their minimums will be 700 and 100 soon.

Fly 135 and get experienced. Night cargo will teach you a lot and will make you a good pilot, or an obnoxious blowhard who rants about liberals. Either way, it pays more.

 

[350DRIVER]

A RJ or a Baron?!?! You serious?

Someone has got to be kidding me if you even think twice about this. If working for peanuts is A-ok in your book then this is a no-brainer.

As COngressman Traficant would say" beam me up Scott - taaaaay".

3 5 0

 

[DirkkDiggler]

350Driver,


Actually your assesment is inacurate. It's more like RJ or LearJet. And it's single pilot v. dual crew. Right now Airnet is upgrading prop pilots to the Lear in less than a year. And the single pilot night freight experience is not something to be sneezed at. You are making command decisions about weather and all other types of situations at Airnet that dispatch makes for you at a regional. There is no comparison as to which job makes you a more skillfull or knowledgeable pilot. In addition, the two options are not mutually exclusive. I flew at Airnet for two years and now I'm at a regional. Like I said previously, I wouldn't trade my time at Airnet for anything in the world. Also, the upgrade to captain in the Lear at Airnet is probably quicker than upgrade to captain in an RJ at most decent regionals. Airnet just had a handful of captains leave for Southwest, and in the past year another handful have been hired at ATA and a few other companies. It depends what your goals are but Airnet is a great option, especially if your times aren't very competative at a lot of the regionals.

 

[LearLove]

"You are making command decisions about weather and all other types of situations at Airnet that dispatch makes for you at a regional"


Please tell me how 121 dispatch makes "command decisions" for me. In my time as a 121 FO and Capt I must have missed this. And yes I know what the FOM says about joint authority.

Basically been there done that (as many other on this board have wrt 135 single pilot and 121 stuff) and having a dispatch dosen't make it any easier than sitting infront of a duat terminal and looking at the wx yourself. Actually making "command decisions" while getting input from dispatch, flight crew, ground crew, mx, pax and who ever else is sometimes and or many times worse than working by yourself.

BTW i'm not saying 121 is any better than 135 or Airnet type ops or anything else, its all good, I just had to comment on this statement.

 

[DirkkDiggler]

Part 121, dispatch will look at the weather before you've even seen the release and if necessary will refile your flight plan accordingly. There's a chance you won't even know this has happened. 135 you make all the decisions based on weather. Not to mention, instead of dispatch leaning toward the safest and most conservative approach to the flight, you have a dispatch that essentially wants you to go even if you have to fly through a field of tornadoes. As the PIC (part 135) you have to be able to stand up to a dispatcher who is telling you to get airborne and not let him bully you into doing the wrong thing. I didn't mean to come across as a 121 basher. I fly for a 121 airline. I'm just pointing out that in a single pilot 135 operation, you make every decision regarding everything about each flight.

 

[barnyard]

Depends how much you need to 'break in' to the regional side. If your older, and your whole lifes dream is to be an 'airline pilot' then just go to a regional and be happy. Im a young guy and I choose not to join the 'race to the regionals' because I like flying cargo, its great expereince, turb pic is gold, better $, weekends holidays off etc. Call me crazy i guess.