Anything new at Piedmont

[geographer]

Any news on whats going on at Piedmont? Hiring, US Airways situation (new info), more aircraft, anything would help.

 

[OPECJet]

Still hiring. Anything else is anyone's guess.

 

[plunger]

what are the competitive mins. over there. i know what the posted mins are but heard they are hiring UND guys with like 500 hrs. is that true or just a rumor?

 

[Mtnjam]

True

Yes, it's true, they will interview a U.N.D. Grad with 500tt. before they interview a "Joe" off the street. I applied with about 1200 tt. and 100 Multi and heard nothing, but keep hearing how they are hiring like crazy. I do know you should send your resume to Bob Trout in Salisbury, MD at Piedmont.
They are not the only regional doing this. Pinnacle was hiring Gulfstream academy grads with about 400tt and other schools have deals with other places as well. It's just the way it is.............

 

[SkyBoy1981]

Yes, and quite sickening it is.

 

[Sig]

FWIW-

The one failure in my class was a -135 pilot with over 2,000 TT and 300 ME, non-UND. A UND grad decided to discontinue training for reasons I don't know.

I only had 1100 TT, 820 ME, ~90 Turb. Neither UND nor Purdue degree (college for me occurred in the very early '90s in west Tejas before I ever flied me a plane), but I did have a current 8410 SIC- in case I got caught in the woods and nothing but poison ivy to wipe with. I was current and "scholarly" (heh) on 4 twins and a high-performance single (1200 HP)- but I wasn't asked much.

Every.
Single.
Non-aviation university grad had a LOR. Looks to me like it's about the same game as any regional, just that there are fewer "wild card" slots for the non pref pool.

I have no idea how well or how poorly the 'grads are doing in general on SOE. Some I hear are superstars, some I hear are not. My class shows a pretty good record for the young-un's, so it doesn't appear like they're betting on a bad horse. Yes, some were c0cky at first, but all in all I think they're a pretty fine group of people to be working with. This is MY opinion- not the opinion of an 18-yr captain that's used to flying with FOs that have 4000 in type.

I'm absolutely certain that perfectly qualified and capable pilots aren't getting the call. Show me a regional where that isn't happening?

 

[SkyBoy1981]

Cocky is the problem that I've always had with low time people from those type of schools. Of course this isn't the case for all of them, but at least a large number. Here's a word of advice for a 500 hour new hire through some college program....you're a new hire, you're green, you know nothing.....so stop focusing so much on all of the useless things you know from flying 172's and focus on learning a totally different type of flying environment. This will make your training more enjoyable not only for yourself but for everyone around you. Anyway, this was off topic so I'll get off of my soapbox now.

 

[crzepilot]

I know of some guys who where hired with around 500 hours and actually only did 4 sim lessons before the check and did extremely well, they aren't cocky guys they just really want to fly for an airline and busted their ass and it paid off...both from an aviation college...then the 1600 hour "joe" off the street actually 2 joes couldn't make it through

 

[SkyBoy1981]

"Busted their ass" compared to what? Someone with a few thousand hours flying around at night in POS airplanes in bad weather? Someone with 1000+ hours of dual given? Someone who has spent 1000+ hours flying charter and putting up with drunk passengers and crappy work schedules? The 500 hour college and airline academy brats may have busted their wallet, but not their ass. I'm not saying they aren't just as qualifed to fly an airplane, I'm just saying that contrary to the kool-aid thats often fed to them by their school, the fact that they went through XYZ Airline Academy or University doesn't make them more capable or talented than anyone else in their class. I'm not trying to be a jackass, it just seems that most of the class "know-it-alls" tend to have less than 1000 hours and graduated from one of these schools. I have nothing against someone who went through one of these schools if they have a humble attitude and want to learn, and aren't afraid to admit when they screw up.

 

[Sig]

I know of some guys who where hired with around 500 hours and actually only did 4 sim lessons before the check and did extremely well

Uhh, how many hours in the Dash8 simulator that UND owns did they have prior to showing up? 40? I knew of a few in my class that went back to GF to fly it to brush up.

It's a very, very easy box to fly, as long as you fly by the numbers (ie, rote). A 17 year captain made a couple of mistakes in the machine and busted two checkrides- I don't give a farpin soreleg about how well ANYBODY does in the box. Notice I only mentioned SOE in my post. I was trying to be fair in my output because of the way their attitudes shaped up, but yours phu<]{ing sucks my friend. There are many ways to evaluate the new hires' performances, and it would be very easy to illustrate their lack of experience (I started flying out of a very, very busy Class B (IAH) airport, !!!SOLO!!!, at 700 hours in a P-Baron, and know exactly what kind of a tit I was in that washing machine between the 27/26s at first) by just coming up with different criteria for what makes a pilot 'good'. How about total time in actual IMC? In twins? Pressurized twins? How much time above 180, both the flight level and speed, and both of those solo? In and out of Aspen? Jet time? 50K+ pound experience? Interisland flying at night? How about this: I only have about 100 hours in 172s/150s. Does that make me worth a fart in the soup? What emergencies have you dealt with? Ever have one that should have killed you? I have gobs of experience compared to the 500 hour guys, YET I HAVE JACK SCHITT EXPERIENCE! Look at my times! Couldn't even be a freight dog if I wanted to, but I had more HP multi than I knew what to do with.

Lots of money spent in the frozen wasteland does not a pilot make.

One of the best traits I can find in a friend or fellow pilot is the willingness to admit that they screwed up things in the past- if you know you're fallible you can fix where and why. I guarantee that speaks volumes about how well they do now. The few that went miles ahead in class were able to laugh about what they goofed up, either in this training or things in the past. The ironclad wunderkinds were the ones jacking up the flying in the sim and lying about it later...

 

[BoilerUP]

Woah there fellas-

Before this turns into another university vs. anti-university flamewar, let me say one thing. I have friends who were recently hired at PDT and said the training was cake, and I have other friends who said the training was tough but easily manageable. None said the training was "difficult" but that the Dash was no King Air or 727, and all said the training was top-notch (not spoon fed) and that they wanted everybody to succeed.

A pilot's success depends on their training, experience, and attitude, though not necessarily in that order. It sucks that people with more experience are getting passed over for lower-time pilots, but the fact remains that many of the pilots from these programs are of a "known quality", whereas having four times the hours in your logbook is not a direct reflection on your ability or knowledge as a pilot.

Happy holidays everyone, and here's to hoping we ALL have jobs this time next year.

BoilerUP

 

[crzepilot]

UND doesn't have a dash 8 sim, just seminole sims and i think they just got a CRJ FTD...But whatever no big deal, I do know what you are talking about with low time pilots being extreme know it alls regardless of where they come from.

 

[N813CA]

They have a CL-65 full motion sim as well.

 

[BoilerUP]

They have a CL-65 full motion sim as well.

I thought it was an FTD with no motion? At least thats what it was in May 03.

 

[mesaba2425]

Uhh, how many hours in the Dash8 simulator that UND owns did they have prior to showing up? 40? I knew of a few in my class that went back to GF to fly it to brush up.

I don't think UND has a Dash8 sim.