allegheny/piedmont

[Speedtree]

I'm just curious what the commuting is like for anybody at piedmont? Do many of your pilots commute? Is it a problem. I know that since 9-11 commuting in general has changed but any info would be appreciated.

 

[ALGFLYR]

Re: ALG

If it looks like you will go over 30 hours in a seven day period they will change your schedule prior that day just to keep from paying you. They may add time to your schedule and when you are 30/7, They will send you home and not pay you for rest of your schedule.

. The training dept. is the worst in the industry. The faa is always on ALG butt for traing errors.

My advice is to go to work for PDT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you're going to exceed 30/7, then the FAR's mandate that the company change your schedule so that you won't go over. That's the law - not ALG management. If the flying was put in your schedule - you will get paid for it, even if they take it out for a 30/7 problem. If they didn't pay you for it, you need to talk to Jan and get it corrected. BTW, I think the pay here is pretty good. A 5 yr CA making 70K. Pretty good for a regional if you ask me.

As far as the slam on the training dept. and you assertion that the FAA is all over us about "training errors" is BS. That is simply not true. The fact that you would make such a statement without offering any type of proof leads me to believe you have something personal against someone in the dept. True? I have been in the training dept for many years. We have a very good program. It is a very thorough program and new-hires can find it to be quite challenging. But the product of such a program is a safe and well-trained pilot group.

As far as working for a regional, ALG and PDT are pretty close and in my opinion are one of the best regionals to work for. I think the deciding factor as to which company one would go to should be which type of Skiing they like - water or snow. You shouldn't tell someone not to come here based on you having a personal problem with some people in Mgmt. Tell them your opinion yes, but let them make their own decision. I'm sure you can find pilots at PDT that will tell you PDT is a bad company to work for. No company has 100% employee satifaction. Do you remember that old saying that says something about the grass being greener on the other side? Well, it's true. Perhaps you should go and find out and let us know.

 

[trainer8]

Coummuter dog

Read your contract...once you are awarded the trip, you are pay protected. 30/7 can't leagally be scheduled. If it looks as if you'll go over, yea, they'll pull you for a leg or two, but you're still pay protected.

As far as I know, PDT does not have ALG's Rescheduling premium pay, which is a great perk to the Contract. (They probably have stuff we don't have that we wish we did, too) RPP is 1 for 2 at your hourly rate for each duty hour starting at 2 hours after your original trip hour period ends till you finish the trip, if your rescheduled. No one that I know of has that. That is why AIR, Inc. shows Allegheny pilots AVERAGE pay at 100 hours per month.

Both Co's are solid companies.

Fly safe

 

[Commuter Dog]

I do not have to read my contract, All I have to do is look at my paycheck. I worked on the last contract so I know what is in it.I phoned Jan and she told me that any change to my sschedule was a RC even if it forced me into 30/7. I do not appreciate the slam from ALGFLYR and it just proves my point. All you have to do is say one negative comment about our worthless training dept. and they are all over you for saying anything. " IF the shoe fits".I recieved the comment from our POI, THE FAA. This is the type of pilot you will be flying with if you come to this unprofessional company. As far as your LAW comment on 30/7 you had better read your FAR'ss, Legal to start legal to finish. You just prove my point about the training dept at ALG with every line you type.

trainer8 : The company is making small change to your contract to force you into RC language, ie; ferry flights, fly a deffernt round trip then the scheduled trip. I would check your paycheck.The average pay at ALG is now 88 hourss. Check it out

p.s. I was union rep at ALG for 6 years.

 

[scouts out!]

30/7

It is absolutely true, legal to start legal to finish. However if in the morning prior to your trip you will go over by one minute the company must change your schedule. For a 16 hour duty day however if you have 14 hrs 30 min duty day and have one last leg worth 1 hr 15 and then another 15 after landing before your off duty bringing total time to 1hr 30min then your legal to try to leave if you take the runway and you see that your going to be one minute late, then you have to return to the gate. Legal to start and legal to finish DOES NOT apply to DUTY DAY but it does apply to flight time for a 30/7 or 8hr day or 100hrs in a month. Grass is always greener on the other side. Try living under PSA's contract,it SUCKS! Know your contract and use it against the company and don't let them use it against you. PDT and ALG are both exceptional companies, but we all have our problems.

 

[Flufdriver]

ALG is controlling costs

Commuter Dog is 100% right. It was the Omibus Agreement of the mid 90's that has us by the short hairs. We were sold out by a dictator leadership. The RC language works to save the company $ at the expense of the pilot's income. The language's original intent was to give relief to the company for events beyond their control WX/MX. Now it is being abused at our expense. And our online pay system is another cost saver by making it totally inconvenient for the pilot's to fight discrepancies, and there are many.
We are growing again but, it is only the begining of the 10 year cycle. Just look at the last cycle. 50% of our company was sold outright to MESA and we were making money at that time and expanding. I had to give up my seat of 4 years and take a 15K/YR paycut. Majors had plenty on the street then too. Just give it a few years. These Dash-8's may look pretty from the outside but they are getting tired. Just 2 more years and most of them will be flying freight way down south. That's when the cycle will hit again for the negative. Make no mistake, being a wholly-owned regional is a "Wait till the next shaft" proposition at best. Just hope your timing and age can handle the 7 year upgrade we once had just a few short years ago.
My 13 years in this industy and 3 cycles observed gives me some valuable insights on the way a mainline management/pilot groups views it's owned subsidiaries AS EXPENDABLE LIABILITIES. Don't expect flow-through or jets at any of these Wholly Screwed Regionals. I see a sale and dumping the Dash' s in 2 years with the pilots best hopes on the bottom of a MESA or TSA seniority list. Just my 2 cents though. Timing is everything. If you can get your PIC time in by the time the majors hire again in '06 you'll be set. Hell, contract carriers are where it's at man, if you hope to move on. They will be getting scores of RJ's as the mainline brother's sell out they're own again. US Airways will shrink for sale and ALG,PDT,PSA will run feed for the RJ's like we're starting to do now!
FYI. ALG has about 80 pilot's with 15+ years, all casualities of past cycles and bad timing.

 

[Commuter Dog]

Thank You scouts out for your reply. I am just trying to steer young pilots away from a good company gone bad!!!!!!!!!!!!

Alg is not the place to start your career. It will help end it.

 

[ALGFLYR]

.

I worked on the last contract so I know what is in it.

I do not appreciate the slam from ALGFLYR and it just proves my point. All you have to do is say one negative comment about our worthless training dept. and they are all over you for saying anything.

I recieved the comment from our POI, THE FAA. .

You worked on the last contract? I didn't see your name as part of the negotiating committee.

As far as the slam, well, you started the slamming by making inaccurate remarks about our training department. You said we are worthless and the FAA is always on our butt for "training errors". So, you flame me, call me worthless and say we are "the worst in the industry" and you expect a positive return comment from me?? Are you stupid?? Of course I'll defend myself if you are spreading false accusations. I challenge you to state any of the "training errors" that the FAA is constantly on our butt about. And you say Ron told you this? I personally know that Ron thinks we have a first class training dept. I see him on a regular basis and will ask him why he told you that the next time I see him. It's not my intent to get into a public pissing match with you, but if these error are out there, they are being kept a secret and we need to know about them so we can correct them.


As far as your original comments about the company trying to not pay us in certain R/C events, I see now that it's true. Evidently, this is something that just started. I see they are trying to get out of paying certain people money they are due. This is unfortunate. I'm sure we will prevail in a grievance which will certainly be filed. The language seems clear to me and if we can just find those **CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED** notes on the negotiating history, all will be settled. (I've heard they are now missing - how convenient) Make no mistake that I'm on our side, I just take the bashing on the training dept. personal.

 

[Commuter Dog]

Cheat and retreat

If you remember the orginal posting , It was not directed at you. I was posting my opion about the company. I don't even know who you are. If your opion is that this company is so great, use this forum to tell people why. Don't use it to attack people who do not agree with you. That is a big problem with our training dept. If you have a opion, on flying, differnt for our instrutors you are wrong. You just proved my point.So now I am stupid. Anyone who reads this and is thinking about coming to ALG , I would read what ALGFLYR wrote and you will see why you should not come to ALG. This person claims to run the Training Dept. You will called stupid, They will atack you and then later,after they see their mistake ,They won't say they are incorrect. ALGFLYR uses a debate tactic. It is called " Cheat and retreat". ALGFLYR will attack you, call you names, and after this He will say that this is not the forum for this. I can not respond without looking silly.

As for training errots. Do you remember when the FAA shut down our traing dept. when ALG was training pilots to hold at the outer marker and finish the "fire inflight checklist" before landing after a inflight fire. It happened in the TORONTO SIM.

How about Cathy Martin, You know who she is, coming into groundschools and telling the pilots that what we are being taught in ground school is wrong.

If anyone is considering to come to ALG make sure you read ALGFLYR's posting. This is the type of "TRAINING PILOT" who will guide you through your traing at ALG..


Next time you are talking to your good budding " RON ". ask him if he feels Chuck brewer is doing a good job at ALG. I think you will be suprised at his candor. Also ask him if he told me and a line check airman if he thought ALG was a joke. He advised us to get out before the place gets shut down.

I do not app. being called stupid. All I am trying to do is keep people from coming and throwing away there career just like I did.

GO TO WORK FOR PDT THEY WILL TREAT YOU WITH RESPECT.

p.s. I would not want my name on that contract. A few of the MEC members were recalled for that contract. Ask SCE or SYR how they feel about the contact.

Also, The neg committee does not have much say in the contract, The MEC decides everything. Ask your buddy Matt.

 

[ALGFLYR]

Re: Cheat and retreat

I can not respond without looking silly.

That is the only thing I agree with in your last post.

Sorry, couldn't resist that one.

Look Davy, It's obvious that a rational debate is an impossibility with you. You may read my posts, but you evidently do not understand them. I was going to address each part of your last post but decided you wouldn't listen anyway. You just seem to be looking for a way to flame someone. And that's OK, you're entitled to do what you want. All I will say in this, my last response to you, is that ALG has a very professional training dept and has a very professional pilot group (save a few though). You obviously look down on our company, and you are entitled to your opinion.

As far as our training dept. being shut down for what you claim happened in YYZ. That's the first I've heard about that. I will find out what happened though. I am betting it was an isolated incident that perhaps one instructor taught? I don't know. If that was the case, surely it was corrected. The training dept was not shutdown. And that was never a standard operating procedure that was taught here.

Fly Safe.

 

[Commuter Dog]

Do Not ALG

Like I said in beggining, Do not ALG. PDT is getting all new dash-8 300's. They were coming to ALG. Our pres. said He did not want them because of the lease rate. He feels we can be more profitable with PDT old dash-8 100's. This is true but for how long. Our planes are running out of time and we do not know if they will replace them anytime soon. With an attitude like this, We will never replace our fleet. I do not know enough about PDT but stay away from ALG

 

[dashflyer]

Not to add fuel to the fire but,
The 300's that Piedmont has gotten are far from new. We've gotten ones from China, South Africa, Tyrolean (Germany) and one or two from Shuttle America.
They are nice though, just not brand new.

 

[Commuter Dog]

MY mistake

MY feeling is that I would rather be looking at 300's than 10 of your old 100's. I interviewed at PDT and ALG in 1988. I was offered a position at both ALG and PDT. Not knowing anything about the company's, I chose the one that I thought had the higher pay scale. This forum did not exist back than. I wish I had choosen PDT. When people ask my opion on the subject, I gave it to them. I feel ALG is heading down the tubes. Our president feels are economic future is to get cheap leases on DH-8 100's. I think he is wrong. It makes us profitable now but our fleet plan will time out in three short years. We are scoped out of jets so we have no future.