Airtran Interviewing?

[NYRANGERS]

Hey, Ranger fan-

I have been around at least as long as you, pal, so don't you worry too much about me. Apparently, the context of the string was lost on you.

We all make our own choices about what is important to us. You have made yours, I have made mine. In the end, we are the ones who have to live with our choices.

I think that we have a vested interest in hiring and training pilots who want to be here. Clearly, you are not one of them.

You don't have to justify your job to me. I wish you luck. I think AirTran is a fine Airline . More power to you guys if you can find people who are willing to stay there when the hiring boom comes again. Oh yea, it will come again, just like before. There have allways been doomsdayers.

No worries, as pilots in the US I thinkl there will be more good jobs for all of us.

 

[Ty Webb]

I truly hope that you are right. A rising tide lifts all ships.

Unfortunately, the future I see holds a lot more RJ jobs and a lot less jobs at the top. Hopefully, that dire predicition will not come to pass, but it sure looks like it right now.

Good luck to all. BTW, AirTran does not have a training contract, but they asked at my interview that I be willing to give them at least a year (pre- 9/11). I thought that was very fair.

 

[Heavy D]

AirTran Hiring

Hey Guys,
For those interested, the posts are correct about AirTran hiring in August and September. The preference has traditionally been to those with B1900, J32, DHC-8 PIC time, because everybody with heavy time ran across the concourse to Delta. AirTran hired some furloughed pilots from US, Midway and Emery Freight, so why not apply? However, if you regard aspiring to fly captain on a B717 as merely building time, why not try out the excellent opportunities at IASCO, Pembroke, etc. I was hired on 10 September 01, and instead of being furloughed on 11 September, the senior guys cut their own pay to keep me and my fellow new hires aboard. Today I flew an airplane that was two days old. I remember when Pan Am and TWA were the sought after carriers, and Delta was hardly known outside of the South. Study your airline history and give carriers like AirTran some thought. I for one, will NOT be flying on the first airplane out of ATL when the Big 5 hire in, what, three years? At my age (39) it does not make economical sense.
Happy Flying

 

[LearLove]

I just can't let this go...

"Study your airline history and give carriers like AirTran some thought"


Your boss is "Forklift Joe", among other names, look up his history.

 

[Guam360]

Heavy D,

AirTran!!!!!!

thanx.

 

[jimcav]

Airtran aint a stepping stone or a consolation prize. If you feel that way about us then you wont fit in here. Its a great place to work and you wont find too many citrus pilots looking elsewhere when hiring by the big 5 resumes, contrary to what some may think. Good luck to all

 

[9rj9]

rumor has it

rumor going around ATL is Delta wants to reduce mainline to 6500 pilots and continue growing/buying regionals. Did anyone see the Business center on CNBC with Leo talking about regional growth ? Anyway the big 5 are not what they used to be. Time value of money will kill you waiting for the majors to call you back.

 

[Ty Webb]

The time value of money . . . . That is a good point.

Others things people take into consideration include:

I. Quality of life
A. Commute
1. On-line/Off-line
2. One leg commute, or more?
3. Commutable schedules (start same day of commute)
B. Schedule
1. length of duty days- always max, or more reasonable
2. choice of # of days per trip
C. Accrual of seniority
D. Upgrade
E. Happiness/attitude of coworkers (work environment)

II. Financial
A. First Year Pay (gotta survive!)
B. F/O Pay 2d yr
C. Years to upgrade
D. Ways to make extra pay- open time, draft, etc?
E. Retirement
F. Profit Sharing
G. Other benefits (non-rev travel, etc)

The above are some of the things besides hourly pay that are important to me, and on my list, AirTran ranks pretty high in most categories. Some definitely could use some improvement.

I have a 50-minute on-line commute, with 4 flights a day to choose from. I had a fully commutable line from the third month after IOE. I will probably break $40K the first year, and upgrade in 2-3 years. I am flying new airplanes on relatively short routes, on mostly 4 day, but some 3 day trips, averaging 14 or 15 days a month off. There is very little bitching on the flight deck. Most guys are pretty happy, easy going types, with a very short list of "No-fly zones" . . . . Maintenance is a non-issue, if it's broken, write it up, and they fix it. Management's performance has been very good- we are above break-even load factor for the year, and June numbers are out . . . .traffic up 24% over last June, load was 72% on 20% additional capacity. . . .

The negatives-

Few cities West of the Mississippi
One pilot base
No frills (ie. no crew meals, crew room facilities pretty lacking, 2-3 star hotels)
Won't be as rich as Delta buddies . . .
No heavy iron/international routes (well, Bahamas).

Those are our warts, and I'll take 'em. BTW, the work environment is very important on my list. I can make money flying anywhere, but it is worth a lot to me to work with people who have a pleasant outlook and aren't always looking for how the "Company is trying to screw us". I have jumpseated on a lot of carriers where the pilots made more money, but spent most of their time in cruise complaining. I hear very little of that here. Most guys think that we've come a long way in a short time, and that things continue to improve and will continue to improve . . . .

 

[DougCorp-9]

Heard through the grapevine that the august class has been cancelled. Can anyone confirm.

 

[js31pilot]

Does 3600 ttl time 750 PIC turbine (js31 Pt.135) with average total and actual instrument time sound competetive for AirTran? I know 6 months ago it probably would have but you never know now. Have an employee who walked it in (though not in flt ops). Any comments or suggestions would be appreciated from current or past AirTran employees. AirTran seems like a good place to be very long-term.

 

[publisher]

Big 5

At the rate things are going, the Big 5 are going to be

Southwest
Air Tran
Northwest
American
Delta

Apparently no one read Don Carty's comments on how American needed to become more like Southwest and Airtran

 

[Clownpilot]

Re: Big 5

Airtran, a top 5 major?

Come on. Come back to reality.

Pure wishful thinking.

At the rate things are going, the Big 5 are going to be

Southwest
Air Tran
Northwest
American
Delta

Apparently no one read Don Carty's comments on how American needed to become more like Southwest and Airtran

 

[DCitrus9]

PanAm or Eastern going out of business?
No way, come on- come back to reality!
Stranger things have happened. Nobody knows the future, and there was a time when Delta, United, et al was just a crappy little airline that could...
Please try not to be so small minded.

 

[js31pilot]

I guess I didn't write in big enough print.....LOL


Anything can happen in today's marketplace........I used to remember that people used to say Eastern could NEVER die!!

 

[AV8OR]

Contact

Just curious. I know it's been a while since they interviewed, but when they start, how do they contact you? Letter or telephone? Also, are any of you Citrus pilots on this board planning on helping with recruiting at the Air Inc. fair in ATL next weekend. If so, would you mind sending an e-mail or PM so I can put a face with the username.

Take care.

Tom

 

[Marko Ramius]

I guess I didn't write in big enough print.....LOL


Anything can happen in today's marketplace........I used to remember that people used to say Eastern could NEVER die!!

While I wholeheartedly agree with the above comment, I always find it funny that many of the people who say that anything can happen always point at the failures of Eastern, PanAm, etc as proof that big airlines like UA and AA can fail, but never think the same thing can(and has) happened at many small carriers as well. Alot of people seem to boil down the decision of whether to go to airline like Airtran vs. an airline like AA simply down to money. If you go to AA, all you care about is money and really big iron, and if you go to Airtran you are somehow wholly altruistic and care more about people than money. Airtran may have the quality of life and benefits attractive to someone in the southeast, while someone in the southwest might prefer United or Southwest. While there are probably people who fit both extreme's, I think the truth for most of us is somewhere in between. We want a strong stable company, that is enjoyable to work at, and provides us a strong paycheck to provide for ourselves.

 

[js31pilot]

Good point Marcus.....good point

 

[Race Pilot]

Re: Big 5

At the rate things are going, the Big 5 are going to be

Southwest
Air Tran
Northwest
American
Delta

Hey, how about ATA. Come on now, I just got hired by them

 

[Ty Webb]

Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!

I haven't seen the details of the new contract, but I hope you guys got what you were looking for.

Please keep us posted on training, schedule, pay, etc!

 

[DCitrus9]

Marko Ramius, I think you missed the point of why I emphasized anything can happen. Too often pilots of "big" airlines berate those of us who choose a different life
eg. ClownPilot "Airtran, a top 5 major?

Come on. Come back to reality.

Pure wishful thinking."

I honestly don't know where we'll be in 5 years, but to take such a negative stance is hurtful to everyone.
I never claim to be altruistic, in fact I'm trying to make the most money I can by flying airplanes. We certainly don't all agree on what path that is. A friend is furloughed AA, and it is going to take several years after recall for that person to match me in pay - given all things(contract) remain the same.