Anyone fly for Gulfstream out there?

[uwochris]

One problem I find (as a young eager student) is that ads like GS and other similar programs really do attract the young guys, innocent of anything "wrong" that may be attributed to these programs.

I know I used to look at ads from big schools, where they show pilots dressed in their uniforms looking all cool, standing beside a 747. They make it look like you will be doing that when you graduate. It also gives one the impression of credibility. There are no ads like that in Canada, and I used to get jealous because I wanted to go pay my way to the airlines as it seemed so
"easy". I'm glad I found all these forums and spoke to many pilots- the ones in the industry will be the best ones to seek advice from, and not necessarily the schools themselves. These ads also make it seem like it's the norm to pay your way to the 747, when in fact it's not.

Anyway just thought I'd say something. I don't like PFT very much, and I can see why it frustrates people. Buyer beware I guess.

 

[bobbysamd]

Gulfstream captains

Here's some food for thought: Where does Gulfstream get its Captains?

Do you become a captain by writing a check and re-upping every six months and hope for an opening? Or does it hire street captains?

 

[captjim]

It hires street captains.

 

[350DRIVER]

I am assuming that Gulfjoke will allow the "jokesters" to stay on after their 250 hours of "bought" radio playing/gear lifting time expires based on need..... Their is always an ad in Flying from one of their jokers that is "now" captain after taking his first flight 19 months ago- always get a good laugh at seeing his picture in the magazine every month although must not be too many others since its always his picture and story month after month..
I am amazed that none of their brainwashed jokers are replying to this thread about how we are all so "wrong" in our comments and how they sooooo well trained and needed in that "bought" right seat.- I can still remember last year a Gulfer for lifer responded to a similiar thread and tried to "justify" how the program is "legit" and how they have deserved the right to be there- HUH !! Looks like Cooper and the group must be giving them all a personal shrink to deal with an entire group of enemies as we all are towards them...

Cheers

I would walk before giving them a single dime

 

[Ameriagle]

I worked as a CFI with a fellow who is now a Captain at Gulfstream. He was hired off the street as a Captain. He did spend several thousand hours in the right seat of all our favorite trainers before taking the position. From talking to him the CFI experience has come in real handy! Though I cannot speak for the company, or its practices, he is a very competent pilot and a really good guy. I would share the cockpit with him anytime!

 

[capnflyright]

I don't fly for Gulfstream, but I would fly for them if I were out of a flying job. It's funny that only a few years ago when the airlines were in a hiring spree all you heard on these sites is how to "fasttrack" it to a regional and then a major. Don't come down on the pilots who have the ability(money) to enroll in these programs, they may have had to work for it and see this as a way to get a jump start. Not all pilots who enter these programs are 21 and have millionare parents, they are sometimes 40 year olds with years of blue collar work experience. I had to start out doing the flight instructing bit blah, blah, blah. Without aircraft operators pilot employment wouldn't exist even if they operate on an economically deficient status. I would have to think that Gulfstream cannot fill all of their right seats with P-F-T pilots and have to pay pilots to work in those positions. Just my view of things.

 

[dondk]

C'mon guys, they are not all that bad...

I first started at another 1900 operator, we had some Gulfstream people come over to us after they did thier time. I flew with a few (2-3) and found them to be very capable. Now this does not speak for all of them other than these few.

As for Express I being a PFT... I do not know of anyone who got on board with less than 1500/300 (the minimum's for PFT) which required a 10K deposit to be paid back (plus you got a salary). Everyone to my knowledge at EXA earned thier jobs, did not pay fo thier jobs...

Gulfstream flow-through... it is not a rumor and actually a fact.. 50-60 interviewed for some 40 slots at 6-8 a class over the next 5-7 months. The RUMOR is that gulfstream in short on income as the natural attrition of pilots has stopped due the state of the airlines. To enhance the bottom line the rumor is that 40 move "up" to the RJ and 40 newbies pay Gulfstream for the job.

I do not know how EXA win's on this with so many qualified pilots on the market place, but maybe they have a deal were the 500 hour wonders get the right seat in a RJ for the next 3 1/2 years before they can upgrade. From EXA's point they have guaranteed FO"s for a very long time....

DO not flame me, I am only stating what I have seen, heard, and the rumor that is circulating.

 

[Jiminmem]

I guess I should renew my CFI, HA. Seriously though, I doun't see why wehave to do this with the thousands of high time applicants out there. Just me, but doesn't make sense.

 

[XJAVRO]

dondk,

You must be new, over half you pilot group paid the $10,000 for training. Until about a year ago? everyone had to pay. So you can't say no one at EXA was PFT. I know this because I'm friends with a few of your more senior pilots that paid for a job.

 

[dondk]

yep.. I am fairly new... but those whom I know (1-2 year) did not pay for training.

I honestky never heard anyone on the line mentioning they paid. I had 2 in my class that came on with the 1500/300 and had thier logbooks gone over with a fine tooth comb to see if they had to pay...

 

[Dieterly]

Other famous current and FORMER PFT outfits:

Comair
ASA
ACA
removed
Chicago Express
Airtran (Valuejet)
Air South
COEX
Carnival
Miami Air
Fine Air
Arrow Air
SWA (sugarcoated PFT outfit)
Execjet

Any more?

 

[NEDude]

SWA IS NOT PFT!!!!!

Folks, let's get one thing straight here, Southwest is not in any way, shape or form, PFT. You do not pay SWA anything, NOT A CENT, for training. SWA simply requires you to have an FAA rating, one that is good everywhere, prior to starting your training.

PFT means you pay the company hiring you for required training that you cannot take anywhere else. You do not pay Southwest for the rating, and you can use it anywhere.

People may not like the fact that SWA requires a 737 type. That is fine. I do not like the fact that some domestic only operators still require an FCC radio certificate. But calling something you do not like PFT just for the sake of trashing it serves no purpose. Say you do not like, find a proper name for it, but do not call it PFT because it is not.

 

[CA1900]

That's a crock and you know it.

Requiring you to purchase a rating that's not even required by the FAA to occupy that right seat, and which every other 737 operator on the planet will provide for you at upgrade time is very much pay-for-training.

PFT means you pay the company hiring you for required training that you cannot take anywhere else.

No, PFT means paying for specialized training that's required by this specific job. The fact that you end up with a type rating is immaterial. And the fact that SWA isn't the one taking your money is no more relevant than when FlightSafety was taking it for the commuters.

...and you can use it anywhere.

OK, where else can I use it? It's not as if these other operators are going to put you straight into the left seat without upgrade training just because you have the type.

You may not have a problem with it, and that's fine, but PFT is PFT any way you want to disguise it. It's forcing the pilot to pay for a lot of the airplane-specific training to save the airline a few training dollars, and I think that stinks.

 

[Andy Neill]

Dieterly.

May I ask how it is that SkyWest made your PFT list? Perhaps I'll learn something.

 

[Jiminmem]

I don't know when Express I stopped its pay for training for those with the time, but it was definiteoy more then a year ago. I was hired almost 2 1/2 year ago and I didn't pay.

 

[NEDude]

A few things about SWA:

First the type rating does not save SWA much, if any, money at all. You must still go through indoc and systems training at SWA. Plus you have to go through new hire sim training at SWA, just like any other airline. Additionally you must pass an FAA monitored upgrade ride when you move to left seat. You must still go through IOE when upgrading to captain. And you must still have an FAA line check when upgrading. You go through the same rides when you upgrade, with or without a type rating. Having a type does not save me, or the company, any of the expense. The only difference is they don't fill out a new temporary airmans certificate at the end of your check ride. So where in the process does SWA save money if they still do the same process that everyone else has to do?

Second, where do you think the money is going when you pay flight safety for new hire training? You don't think your company has a nice financial arrangement with FSI for that training? If they didn't then the airline wouldn't be in business with FSI. Southwest does not get a kickback from anyone when you get a 737 type rating. So there is no financial gain there.

Third, the type rating you get is not company specific training that ceases to exist when you leave an airline. With PFT, when you leave the airline you have nothing, absolutely nothing, to show for your investment. When you get a type rating, you have something tangible that you can put on a resume. While most airlines may not specifically require it, when the industry is in a slow hiring phase, a type rating can help land you a job.

Lastly, any airline that requires an ATP is PFT under your definition. The ATP is not required to occupy the right seat in any airline and many airlines will provide it to you when you upgrade. And no airline is going to put you in the left seat to start out.

PFT is plainly paying your company for training that the FAA requires them to provide. This training is company specific and cannot be transeferred anywhere else. SWA does not fit that.

Just because you don't like something does not mean it is PFT. Call it something else, but don't apply a name that does not belong.

 

[Timebuilder]

Good point, NE Dude.

I was passed by for an FO job in March because I didn't have a type rating in the aircraft, and someone else did (along with a little time in type, too). I think that a 737 type shows the employer that you are trainable for their operation, and may give them a very low washout rate.

Do I like the SWA requirement? No. Do I think its PFT? No, because the "job" is a real job, in a plane requiring two pilots, and doesn't end at the end of 110, 250, or however many hours are a part of the PFT plan in question. A training contract without an up-front payment of cash at hiring wouldn't be PFT either, because the training contract is amortized by time. In a year or two of flying, you've made money and owe nothing.

Didn't this thread start out with Gulfstream? Is there dobt in anyone's mind that they are PFT, or are we having a friendly argument about that, too?

 

[bigD]

I think there's a communication problem here. There are two different definitions of PFT being used by different posters. This was kind of hashed out earlier on the thread, but it's coming up again.

Guys like Dieterly and CA1900 are using a very literal definition of PFT. You're paying for some training, and under that very broad definition I guess having to buy a type rating would somewhat qualify. But they're arguing semantics, because if they were actually following the thread at all they'd know that most of everyone here is calling PFT a situation where you're paying for not only some training (if any at all), but for the time and the job itself as well.

There's a HUGE difference between SWA wanting a type rating for their F/O's, and some 300 hour pilot spending 20K to play with the gear and radios of a 1900. By the generally accepted definition being used by almost all of the posters on this board, I doubt that any of the outfits on Dieterly's list would qualify.

 

[Dieterly]

Big D: The PFT was started by Comair in the early -90's, lot of airlines followed the concept, mainly by using Flight Safety as a training provider. Maybe Bobbysamd could chime in... Gulfstream and others just took it a step further.

NEDUDE: Do you work for SWA, 'cause some of claims are just pure lies. Like, ""Having a type does not save me, or the company, any of the expense.""

If it doesn't save you or the company any money, why do they require it then?

ANDY: Maybe I was wrong about SkyWest, but I thought they used to do the FlightSafety thing also. I'll correct it right away...

 

[Sppedmode]

Clarify Express I "PFT"

I just want to clarify the PFT requirements at Express I (prior 9-11)

If you had less than 1200 total and 200 multi: You pay the company $10,000 and they keep the money. I only know one guy (intern with 600 hrs) who had less than 1200 and "paid".

If you had between 1200-1500 total and 200-300 multi: You pay $10,000 up front, and are reimbursed over 30 months ($333.33/month).

No pay for over 1500 total and 300 multi.

I had heard that we weren't taking anymore guys with less than 1500 and 300 multi now, but with this new Gulfstream flow-thru/hiring, I hear that some guys have less than the requirements...so???

I'm curious what you guys think about the reimbursement? If you get the money back...is it really PFT??? Just like an opinion from outside the company. Thanks