ASA Interviews

[LSmall]

ASA interview feedback

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Laurain Small
[email protected]

 

[UHBlackhawk]

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

Again, that is today. Tomorrow.... who knows. Do NOT base your airline just on upgrade times. It changes quickly.

 

[shamrock]

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.

I've been here about that long and if I make the same for the last 6 months of '06 as I did in the first 6 I'll barely gross $40K for the year. That's averaging about 85-90 hours of pay per month and would include about $4K in per diem, which IMHO shouldn't count.

Edit: I just realized that someone on the 70 might make that kind of $$. I was speaking as a 50 seater pilot. That being said, my schedule is much better on the 50 than that of the guys from my class that are on the 70, so there is a trade off.

 

[Flyguy6]

I am not a professional pilot. But I want to be and I have many airline pilot friends. I have two friends that chose to stay FO's at ASA for 8 years before they just recently became captains. Thy esaid its due to quality of life. They didnt want to upgrade quick and go to the bottom of the senority and that makes sense to me.

So, from what I read here, its asumed that you want to upgrade as soon as possible. Whats wrong with being a senior FO? You get a great schedule and time off. And the pay is good. I dont have to make $200K or 100K. I am fgood with making $50-70K

 

[Daytonaflyer]

Flyguy6,
Your friends were some of the lucky ones; what if Skywest hadn't purchased ASA from Delta last year? You friends would have been furloughed and they wouldn't have any PIC time at all. They wouldn't have been able to get a good job at any airline anywhere. They would have a better chance at working for 7-11 than for a major airline.
What about the thousands of FO's at Independence Airlines that decided to stay there for years and lost their jobs when the airline shut down? If they want to fly for an airline, they will have to go to another regional and start from the very bottom making $20,000. They can't even apply at the major airlines because they don't have the PIC time.
Meanwhile the pilots at other regionals that got quick upgrades are sitting comfortable making $60,000+, and they're getting interviews at the major airlines and with good corporate jobs.
Please don't think that all those guys can go to the fractionals either. The fractionals only hire a certain amount of former airline guys. They want to keep a good mix of pilots in their company, so they hire from all sides of aviation.
What about the guys at Comair who got furloughed and had no income at all? Most of them were low on the seniority list, and probably lower experience guys too. Many of them had to try for flight instructing jobs making $12,000/year because they weren't qualified for anything else. The lucky ones got jobs with other regional airlines making $20,000/year and started at the bottom again.
It's hard enough to feed a family with a salary of $40,000/year, but it's much harder when you get furloughed and that money suddenly becomes $0/year...The list goes on.
The airline industry is so dynamic right now. It is inundated with greedy management and personnel problems; you have to plan for the future, and having captain time is one of the best ways to do that. Plus, if you've been making $60,000 for the last few years as captain, you were probably able to save up money for the hard times. If you've been making $40,000 as an FO, you may not have been able to.
That's just one reason why captain time is so important. Good luck putting two kids through college on $40,000 a year, especially in the future with tuition and the cost of living constantly rising.
Many regional airlines have told their employees for so long that it is important to support the company and stay as FO for the long haul. But when the times get tough, that same company will cut your pay and hire cheaper, less qualified employees at the drop of a hat. There are very few companies that will support their employees in tough times. Skywest is probably the only regional that does that regularly, they have never furloughed a pilot.
Also, while $50,000 as an regional FO is possible, $70,000 is virtually impossible. Staying a career FO is possible, but in the airline industry, it is a dangerous path that might end up biting you in the end.

 

[UHBlackhawk]

Flyguy6,
Your friends were some of the lucky ones; what if Skywest hadn't purchased ASA from Delta last year? You friends would have been furloughed and they wouldn't have any PIC time at all. They wouldn't have been able to get a good job at any airline anywhere. They would have a better chance at working for 7-11 than for a major airline.
What about the thousands of FO's at Independence Airlines that decided to stay there for years and lost their jobs when the airline shut down? If they want to fly for an airline, they will have to go to another regional and start from the very bottom making $20,000. They can't even apply at the major airlines because they don't have the PIC time.
Meanwhile the pilots at other regionals that got quick upgrades are sitting comfortable making $60,000+, and they're getting interviews at the major airlines and with good corporate jobs.
Please don't think that all those guys can go to the fractionals either. The fractionals only hire a certain amount of former airline guys. They want to keep a good mix of pilots in their company, so they hire from all sides of aviation.
What about the guys at Comair who got furloughed and had no income at all? Most of them were low on the seniority list, and probably lower experience guys too. Many of them had to try for flight instructing jobs making $12,000/year because they weren't qualified for anything else. The lucky ones got jobs with other regional airlines making $20,000/year and started at the bottom again.
It's hard enough to feed a family with a salary of $40,000/year, but it's much harder when you get furloughed and that money suddenly becomes $0/year...The list goes on.
The airline industry is so dynamic right now. It is inundated with greedy management and personnel problems; you have to plan for the future, and having captain time is one of the best ways to do that. Plus, if you've been making $60,000 for the last few years as captain, you were probably able to save up money for the hard times. If you've been making $40,000 as an FO, you may not have been able to.
That's just one reason why captain time is so important. Good luck putting two kids through college on $40,000 a year, especially in the future with tuition and the cost of living constantly rising.
Many regional airlines have told their employees for so long that it is important to support the company and stay as FO for the long haul. But when the times get tough, that same company will cut your pay and hire cheaper, less qualified employees at the drop of a hat. There are very few companies that will support their employees in tough times. Skywest is probably the only regional that does that regularly, they have never furloughed a pilot.
Also, while $50,000 as an regional FO is possible, $70,000 is virtually impossible. Staying a career FO is possible, but in the airline industry, it is a dangerous path that might end up biting you in the end.

Everything you list is a reason for picking a well run airline, not necessarily where you will get the fastest upgrade. You can be furloughed at DAL, AAL, UAL, NWA, CAL... again, I use the example of the pilots who left my regional to go to Midway and USAir. Why you would go to airlines that can not make money in a booming economy is beyond me, but they had their sites on bigger and better things. Make sure that rock is solid before you shift your weight. Or the pilots who went to Eagle, Cont Exp and ACA... they had the fastest upgrades when I was hired; Eagle even had the flow through... boy oh boy, a fast track to AAL. Oh well. Then what do you do when the merry go round stops at your regional... jump to another one? That looks VERY bad on a resume if you want to move to a major. Yeah, $40,000/year is not great money if you have kids. But it sure beats $20,000/year if the merry go round has stopped at your airline. And at least you are looking a good wage if you get stuck. Yes, some pilots move on from the regionals, but things happen. Sometimes it's bad luck (you look down at the FMS on short final as a captain and the FO side steps to the taxi way); some times you just get stuck.
If you are picking an airline, look at:
1. The balance sheet
2. The leadership
3. Location (commuting sucks if you have family) but this can change... like from DFW to SLC to ATL in the span of a few years
4. Airline personality (is it like yours?)
5. Pay and benefits
Others can probably think of other things. I would put upgrade time towards the bottom as it changes daily. Upgrade time was running 6-8 years at my airline when I was hired. I upgraded in 18 months. Go figure.

 

[Flyguy6]

I understand what you are saying and I dont neccessariyly disagree, but the presumption is you go to a regiaonal make captain and move to a Major. What about someonelike me who is 37 years old and wil probably be 40 before I get my first flying job. I wil never see a major. The most I can count on is making a career at a regional, so are people like us just disgarded? What should we do?

 

[Flyguy6]

Also, I am currently aPolice officer and I make $40K and live pretty good with that, no I may not be able to put my kids through college, but they can get a job like I did. I cpme from humble means, so I am not accustomed to making or living big so I guess it doesnt affect me