ASA Interviews

[chippy]

Anybody have the latest gouge on ASA interviews

 

[SuperKooter]

I wouldn't waste your time at that airline. Upgrade time is going to swell to 7 or 8 years soon no thanks to Alpa and will probably not hire anyone for a while. I would go to XJT or G0jets.

 

[airksk]

Damn, kooter, anyone ever tell you that NO ONE CARES what you say? I don't post much but even I know it.

 

[Daytonaflyer]

Yeah, I was chatting with an ASA crew in Minneapolis a few weeks ago. The FO had been right seat for about 4 years and when I asked him when he was going to be eligible for upgrade, he said in about 20 years. Fortunately he had a decent salary after 4 years. He claimed about $50K/year, but knowing how some FO's exaggerate their income, it's probably closer to $45K.
Apparently there is absolutely no movement to the captains seat right now, and none in the forseeable future. Unfortunate.
Unless you wanna be at ASA for a career, I would just go to a less desirable regional where you can move to the captains seat in 2 or 3 years. Those are the ones who go onto Southwest, FedEX, Continental, etc.

 

[UHBlackhawk]

Yeah, I was chatting with an ASA crew in Minneapolis a few weeks ago. The FO had been right seat for about 4 years and when I asked him when he was going to be eligible for upgrade, he said in about 20 years. Fortunately he had a decent salary after 4 years. He claimed about $50K/year, but knowing how some FO's exaggerate their income, it's probably closer to $45K.
Apparently there is absolutely no movement to the captains seat right now, and none in the forseeable future. Unfortunate.
Unless you wanna be at ASA for a career, I would just go to a less desirable regional where you can move to the captains seat in 2 or 3 years. Those are the ones who go onto Southwest, FedEX, Continental, etc.

And this is just the problem right now with the regionals. Everyone thinks if they just put in a year or two in the right seat, they will move to the left seat (or as soon as they hit 23, whichever comes first). A year or two in the left seat, and it's off to fly Shamu, or wear purple or brown. Hey, if they work for peanuts for those few years and undercut the pilots at other regionals who are trying to make their company a good place to work, well screw 'em. All for one and all for me. Besides, I screwed up and shelled out $120,000+ for the education for a job that only starts at $20,0000.... sorry, $10,000 a year (after all, I went to Mesaba after all the pilots there quit- but hey, they now have a quick upgrade time.... I hope).
Of course there are probably 200 applicants for every slot at SWA, FedEx, UPS and Cont, so not every one gets to go. Some do, some don't. Some don't for good reasons (Norman Bates' son), some just have bad luck. So this same slop after realizing he/she is at The Slaveship Airline for the long haul, suddenly will want to make more money. Ohhh, but there are pilots at other airlines that will have that same dream and will work for what ever it takes to do so. Those %^&$!!!
Of course this happy merry go round will continue until Pinnacle II- this will be the first RJ crash at some airline with two yahoos flying, a 23 year old with 1575 hours in the left seat saying "DUDE! AIN'T this SWEET!!", and a 19 year old with 250 hours in the right seat sucking his/her thumb, they will screw up by the numbers, maybe even do a seat swap or two while they're at it, but this time there will be 50 passengers in the back. The public will read the CVR tapes and have a cow when they find out the experience level of some of the crews flying them.
Applying to a regional? Apply to them all, then go to the BEST company you can. Upgrades faster elsewhere? They were fastest at ACA when I was getting hired... oops. No longer around. They were also very fast at the time at Cont Exp, and man... Eagle had that FLOW through thingy, so you could be on with AA in just a few years. Oops. Then there were the RJ pilots senior to me who left my airline to work for Midway. WHY would some one go to an airline that had already filed chpt. 11 three times? To get a 737 type rating of course. Oops. Midway put them in the RJ. Oops, 9-11, no more job and they had to use their own money to get home. But hey, my airline gave them a job again when we started hiring... now they are junior to me.

 

[Daytonaflyer]

Well that's a nice point of view, if everybody shared that view, the regionals might be a better segment of this industry but unfortunately it's not a realistic view. If you're going to go the path of regional airline pilot, you have to understand that you're not going to get paid very much for a very long time.
You can stand for what you "think" is the right way to go and sit right seat for 5 or 6 years, probably never breaking $50K/year, and be furloughed once or twice, and hate your job, listening to all your coworkers complain about the company everyday...or you can go to the many less desirable companies and get a quicker upgrade, higher experience level, more money, and a chance to move up in the industry.
It is sad that the regional airlines have come to this, but it IS reality. The regionals are always going to pay around $20K for first year pilots. They are always going to do what is best for the company and the management, not what's best for the pilots.
I have many friends on both ends of the regional airline ladder. The friends at Mesa are already eligible for upgrade in less than two years. Most, in fact, are very happy there and are making about $50K as captain in year 2. The ones at Comair were furloughed in their first 6 months of employment, had to go back to flight instructing, and are probably gonna sit as FO for close to a decade. I won't even get into the guys that are over at Eagle. It is sad, but it is the chosen path of the entire regional industry. The choice is yours.

Oh, and please don't blame the Pinnacle Airlines crash on lack of age or experience. The captain was 31 years old, and had over 6700 hours TT and this was his second airline captain position. He was far from a 23 year old captain with only 1500 hours like the example in the previous post.

 

[UHBlackhawk]

Well that's a nice point of view, if everybody shared that view, the regionals might be a better segment of this industry but unfortunately it's not a realistic view. If you're going to go the path of regional airline pilot, you have to understand that you're not going to get paid very much for a very long time.
You can stand for what you "think" is the right way to go and sit right seat for 5 or 6 years, probably never breaking $50K/year, and be furloughed once or twice, and hate your job, listening to all your coworkers complain about the company everyday...or you can go to the many less desirable companies and get a quicker upgrade, higher experience level, more money, and a chance to move up in the industry.
It is sad that the regional airlines have come to this, but it IS reality. The regionals are always going to pay around $20K for first year pilots. They are always going to do what is best for the company and the management, not what's best for the pilots.
I have many friends on both ends of the regional airline ladder. The friends at Mesa are already eligible for upgrade in only two years. Most, in fact, are very happy there and are making about $50K as captain in year 2. The ones at Comair were furloughed in their first 6 months of employment, had to go back to flight instructing, and are probably gonna sit as FO for close to a decade. I won't even get into the guys that are over at Eagle. It is sad, but it is the chosen path of the entire regional industry. The choice is yours.

You're obviously new to this business, as this is nothing new. In the regionals, or the majors. I know guys who were hired by UAL in the early 70's and told they would be captains in 3 years. They upgraded to FO from FE about 15 years later. I grew up in a Pan Am town, and many a captain had stories of sitting for years in the right seat. Pay was not always that great either. My brother was hired at NWA in 95; 11 years later he is STILL an FO. Can you believe that??? Those jerks have not handed him an upgrade. What really gets him is that he makes as much there as I do as a regional captain. Let's see.... leave my job so I can sit reserve for half my remaining career and not make my salary back for some time, or stay where I am with a nice schedule, but I won't be the richest guy in the neighborhood? No brainer for me.
It is a very recent phenemenon to see 250 hour pilots hired at ANY airline... well, I take it back. Some of the majors were doing that in the 60's. Most pilots paid there dues- flight instructing, flying freight, military, etc. I know when I got hired at my regional every pilot in my class had at least 1500 TT and 250 ME- most of us had over 500 ME. The regionals found that pilots with this much ME were in short supply- so they either had to pay us more, or figure something else out. Thus was born the high school-flight school-regional route. Every kid now has a shot at a regional job that pays diddly.
Yeah, your friends at Mesa may be happy now, but how happy will they be if they don't move on? Will they be happy staying at Mesa the rest of their life? Good advice- every airline job may be your last stop, so choose wisely.
Yeah, there are lots of pilots pissing and moaning about their management. Of course, you have management such as TSA forming GoJet to under cut their already low salaries; Mesaba filing bankruptcy while Mier holdings loots the company and insists first year FOs make $10,000... of course, I never hear FedEx or UPS pilots piss and moan about management.
For those interested in flying careers, there are other routes than the regionals. There is a real shortage of CFIs right now... look at any job board and you will see numerous adds for CFIs. I know of pilots who were hired at FedEx and SWA without ever stepping foot at a regional airline or the military. They were CFIs and freight dogs flying DC-3s, Convairs and Lears. They made decent money and got some very good experience in the process.

 

[Daytonaflyer]

There ya go assuming...I've been in the industry for about 8.5 years, flying for 4+. I'm no veteran, but I'm definitely not new to the industry. I agree with some of what you're saying, but not all of it. And why are you assuming that the career captains at Mesa and certain other regionals are unhappy? The ones I've spoken with seem just as happy as most other regional captains.
Mesa is actually one of the higher paying regionals when it comes to career captain pay. Their career captains are paid better than Comair's, Eagle's, ExpressJet's, and Mesaba's, not to mention a lot of others. Plus they fly more than many other regionals, so they make even more money. Mesa is only low paying for their FO's and turboprop captains, but a turboprop captain has the opportunity to move up to the jet. They are not stuck in the prop for a career.
I understand why FO's complain about the pay at Mesa, but the captains seem quite happy, and when you can make captain in 2 years, that's a pretty good reason to go that route.
I agree with ya on the alternative route, that's what I'm doing. I started as a CFI, some traffic watch, then flew the canyon, now I'm in jet cargo. The pay is decent, the schedule sucks, but it's a faster way to get where I want to be in the industry, I hope.

 

[UHBlackhawk]

There ya go assuming...I've been in the industry for about 8.5 years, flying for 4+. I'm no veteran, but I'm definitely not new to the industry. I agree with some of what you're saying, but not all of it. And why are you assuming that the career captains at Mesa and certain other regionals are unhappy? The ones I've spoken with seem just as happy as most other regional captains.

Yeah, that was a slam and uncalled for. Even a person with one year in the industry has insites at times. Still, 8.5 years- flying for 4 is a blip in the scope of the aviation industry. You need to look at a 15-30 year cycle to see how it moves at times.
Glad your friends are happy at Mesa. That is the key... not the upgrade time, which may change tomorrow.

 

[rightseatjocky]

skywest upgrade in 18 months. Mesa hiring off the street captains, so it gojet.