Any Pinnacle Quick-Upgrade Capts Here?

[Lazy8]

Seems like PCL is having trouble staffing the 900's. A PCL mechanic in Atlanta said the airplane sits at the NWA hangar isn't because of mechanical problems or schedules, it's because of a lack of crews. What's the deal there?

From what I understand on the last company conference call PNCL doesn't even have mx employees in Atlanta. They can't justify opening a mx base there with so little aircraft. I suppose this could have been a contract mx guy? They're flying the -900's to Memphis for maintenance.

As for the -900's being understaffed... well... This is Pinnacle. When have we ever staffed anything properly? ...and they are flying the -900 on the -200 payrates (which are the lowest rates in the industry) ...not to mention the seat locks. Just seems like a sh*tty deal all the way around to me. It's okay if you live in ATL, but that's about it.

 

[COOPERVANE]

dude....

 

[Dirty Sanchez]

Seems like PCL is having trouble staffing the 900's. A PCL mechanic in Atlanta said the airplane sits at the NWA hangar isn't because of mechanical problems or schedules, it's because of a lack of crews. What's the deal there?

In January there were 8 lines in ATL, 4 reserve. The airplane sitting at the NWA hangar is a spare. No deal there.

 

[sligo1]

Street Captains

My sim partner from initial went back to upgrade with only 80 hours or so pncl time. He was an ex-indy guy. Busted his type ride first time thru. Made it on the second attempt though. Have heard that the street guys with little or no CRJ time have been struggling a bit in upgrade.

I can tell you from experience that flying at Pinnacle as a "street CA", well at best will beat the crap out of you. You will always be on reserve til your senority catches up, alot of deadhead and one or two leg trips, min days off etc. It is okay for the experience but thats all. Not sure about the bust rate now, but three years ago there were quite a few of us with no CRJ experience or F/O time in the aircraft. No one I know personally from the street busted a ride, in fact there was a high failure rate in the school house-upgrading F/O's. And it was a very picky group at the school house, due to the recent accident in MS.

 

[atpcliff]

Hi!

All of the USA Jet pilots, basically, are on reserve except for the -9 PAX pilots who are flying a 6 day line.

All of the days off are hard days off (you WILL be home, and you will only work those days if YOU want to, for lots more pay). They normally give you 2 blocks of days off or all in one block (5/5 or 10 or 6/6, 8/4 or 12 for -9 guys).

One of the best jobs for guys in DTW is a PAX reserve week. You will sit for 6 days on a 2 hour callout and never fly.

cliff
YIP

 

[Inconceivable]

re: "pink slip P*****'s"

All I can say is I am sorry. This individual is truly a horse's a$s. Lives in a twisted world where he thinks people need to be treated like it is the 1960's military. Funny thing is, in the Corps he was the kind of "officer" we would laugh at behind his back. Some people just don't realize they are civilians.

I wonder how much his abusive interview technique contributes to new-hire no-shows. Pinnacle is no United--if that was the 'welcome aboard" I got, I would go somewhere else too!

 

[Smarta$$]

An airline with fast upgrades that still can't get enough people should tell you something very important. This place sucks and is getting worse every day. This management does nothing but kick us in the nuts and collect a very large paycheck.

 

[aa73]

Just curious... why the ATL base for PCL? Isn't PCL a Northwest Airlink commuter? (MSP, MEM, DTW.) Or did they start flying for DL?

thanks,
73

 

[norskman2]

Just curious... why the ATL base for PCL? Isn't PCL a Northwest Airlink commuter? (MSP, MEM, DTW.) Or did they start flying for DL?

thanks,
73

Pinnacle signed a 10-year service agreement with Delta last year to fly 16 ATL-based -900s with options for more.

 

[aa73]

Pinnacle signed a 10-year service agreement with Delta last year to fly 16 ATL-based -900s with options for more.

Thanks. So hard to keep track of all the deals being signed these days!

I remember back in the days when a commuter was only based where its major code share partner's hubs were. Now you've got RAH. for example, based in IND and CMH... two cities that have absolutely nothing to do with UAL DL and USAir (the airlines that RAH flies for.)

 

[ratherbeflyen]

Would they really put somebody off the street in the left seat without any CRJ time after just 100 hours in the right seat? Seems like just a ploy to get you in the door and then keep you in the right seat for 6 months.

I can't speak for Pinnancle's hiring practice, it might be a recruiting ploy. As for the 100 hours ... big deal pilots at majors switch from FO to CA or CA to CA on aircraft they have NEVER flown before. IE. 737 CA to 777 CA.

 

[Rook]

Hi!

All of the USA Jet pilots, basically, are on reserve except for the -9 PAX pilots who are flying a 6 day line.

All of the days off are hard days off (you WILL be home, and you will only work those days if YOU want to, for lots more pay). They normally give you 2 blocks of days off or all in one block (5/5 or 10 or 6/6, 8/4 or 12 for -9 guys).

One of the best jobs for guys in DTW is a PAX reserve week. You will sit for 6 days on a 2 hour callout and never fly.

cliff
YIP

Dude,
Ditch the Knightley avatar and bring back Misty May:beer:

 

[atpcliff]

Hi!

Misty May is NOT that nice, and I don't think she's THAT hot either.

KK is WAY hotter, and she's probably nicer, also. Plus, she has a cool weapon!

cliff
YIP

PS-I breifly thought about applying to PCL for the Capt slot a while ago...but then I came to my senses!

 

[Windsor]

Hi!


PS-I breifly thought about applying to PCL for the Capt slot a while ago...but then I came to my senses!

Sitting reserve as a street CA here at PCL is a hell of a lot better than flying on demand charter in beat up old falcon 20's. Granted I'm coming from ameristar and not grand ole usajet, but the flying is easy (no more mexico) planes are nicely equipped and the schedule is still pretty o.k. (anything beats ameristar's sked).

 

[jmreii]

I can't speak for Pinnancle's hiring practice, it might be a recruiting ploy. As for the 100 hours ... big deal pilots at majors switch from FO to CA or CA to CA on aircraft they have NEVER flown before. IE. 737 CA to 777 CA.

training at the majors is generally better, for some reason they try and see that you get through it.

 

[FCPhotography]

I did 9 months of RSV as CA in MSP. Long story short, you will fly as much as you legally can with a bunch of deadheads. 13-15 hour days are very normal with reduced rests for 6 days in a row.

I live in domicile and look forward to 4 day trips (longer overnights) because it is the only way to get sleep and have the energy to excercise. The wife actually likes it better because when I home I am not so tired and beat down.

This past summer was much better because there were a few days they wouldn't use me. Now, I hear they use the RSV CA's everyday and 1-3 of your days off (10 days off down to 7, per month)

Our average lines are built around 89-92 hours of flying. On RSV I was flying 95-100 hours at times and the flying is inefficient.

 

[atpcliff]

Hi!

I'm now a -9 FO, getting about 14 days off/month, and making $60K+. I should upgrade to -9 capt in about 5 months. All of our days off are hard (we are airlined/bizjetted home if need be to get our days off). I get time off when I need it. While our planes aren't great, they do have APUs, GPSs and moving color maps. We are in CASS and can jumpseat on most carriers. We have family travel benefits with Midwest.

It isn't as good as NWA/DAL/Atlas/Cathay/NJA, but it's better than Pinnacle. I know our CEO. He normally schedules a chat room session with us once a week, and he gave us his personal (in addition to company) email for any suggestions/problems.

cliff
YIP

 

[Rez O. Lewshun]

sounds good for now..... is there where you want to be in 20 years?

 

[skyaddict]

I don't know about now, but when I tried to enter one of the periodic street CA waves at PCL a few years back, I (and everyone in my class who was eligible) got hosed when the tap shut off just as my class got rolling... got stuck as an FO until I finally jumped ship. In the end, had I stayed indefinitely it would have been two years in the right seat. That can happen anytime. But I gather attrition is now so high at PCL (attrition not growth) that the street CA tap is on full bore again. Mostly a great bunch of pilots but the most miserable management around. In hindsight it worked out for me because if I had actually got the street CA slot I'd have been so obsessed with building the PIC time (not that easy to build on reserve if you end up with tons of high speed trips) I wouldn't have jumped over to NJA where I make more as an FO than I'd ever have made as a street CA (and would never go back to the airlines, barring NJA tanking). Granted, if one actually lives in domicile, PCL reserve is no big deal (and true for any company). And don't ever answer crew scheduling on a day off.

 

[JonnyKnoxville]

Are the recent vacancy bids for captains currently going unfilled?

Anyone at PCL have a guess when the street captain deal will be coming to an end?