AWAC or Colgan

[BRA]

I interviewed at ACA and colgan 3 years ago. 2800+ turbine, 1600+ turbine PIC, 2 type ratings, a checkairman, 300 hours MD80, and zero furloughs later....... I am sure glad the company with the better work rules and jets wasn't the place I went to. Some luck was involved though too of course. What did everyone say back then: "go to ACA, go to ACA, UAL is in better shape then USair, ACA is a great company"

In summary, flip a coin.

 

[BeechCowboy48]

awac or Colgan?

Colgan is a hole, AWAC is not. Most Colgan Capts when I was there didn't leave for good gigs, they went to discount airlines and so on just to get out of their current nightmare. Some guys got on at CAL, but most don't. I know the day I get 1000 pic turbine I won't get hired by fedex the next week, and once I figured that out I went and got a job where I can sleep at night (or at least are given the time to sleep at night.) Whoever says "you get to be home every night" at colgan needs to put down Mikey's cool aid, and probably his sandwich too. Get ready for 20 hour duty days ferrying busted airplanes is Wx pax wouldn't get dispatched into, among other shady things at Colgan.

From the training, Mx, QOL, pay and every other aspect AWAC is better, you just will be an FO for 3-4 years. If you are ok with that, come to AWAC. If you are a go getter and willing to put up with the insanity, go to Colgan. Colgan's pilot group is great and the experiance can be worthwile for some people.

 

[BRA]

Colgan is a hole, AWAC is not. Most Colgan Capts when I was there didn't leave for good gigs, they went to discount airlines and so on just to get out of their current nightmare. Some guys got on at CAL, but most don't. I know the day I get 1000 pic turbine I won't get hired by fedex the next week, and once I figured that out I went and got a job where I can sleep at night (or at least are given the time to sleep at night.) Whoever says "you get to be home every night" at colgan needs to put down Mikey's cool aid, and probably his sandwich too. Get ready for 20 hour duty days ferrying busted airplanes is Wx pax wouldn't get dispatched into, among other shady things at Colgan.

From the training, Mx, QOL, pay and every other aspect AWAC is better, you just will be an FO for 3-4 years. If you are ok with that, come to AWAC. If you are a go getter and willing to put up with the insanity, go to Colgan. Colgan's pilot group is great and the experiance can be worthwile for some people.

Yeah new 717s and 737s at airtran is such a bad deal. Too bad American, UAL, and NWA haven't haven't hired any colgan people the last 3 years.

 

[46Pilot]

Thanks BRA, yeah, LCC's are a bad deal, huh? Air Tran, Frontier, SWA, even JB...I'd much rather go on to 1 of the legacy carriers...Who knows though in 3-5 yrs...

 

[wheelsup]

Thanks BRA, yeah, LCC's are a bad deal, huh? Air Tran, Frontier, SWA, even JB...I'd much rather go on to 1 of the legacy carriers...Who knows though in 3-5 yrs...

I talked to my old boss a few weeks ago - he has a brother that went to AirTran just to wait for Delta to call. Now he's in the top 25% at AirTran and loving life and wouldn't ever leave...

~wheelsup

 

[BSkin]

Colgan is a hole, AWAC is not. Most Colgan Capts when I was there didn't leave for good gigs, they went to discount airlines and so on just to get out of their current nightmare. Some guys got on at CAL, but most don't. I know the day I get 1000 pic turbine I won't get hired by fedex the next week, and once I figured that out I went and got a job where I can sleep at night (or at least are given the time to sleep at night.) Whoever says "you get to be home every night" at colgan needs to put down Mikey's cool aid, and probably his sandwich too. Get ready for 20 hour duty days ferrying busted airplanes is Wx pax wouldn't get dispatched into, among other shady things at Colgan.

From the training, Mx, QOL, pay and every other aspect AWAC is better, you just will be an FO for 3-4 years. If you are ok with that, come to AWAC. If you are a go getter and willing to put up with the insanity, go to Colgan. Colgan's pilot group is great and the experiance can be worthwile for some people.

You didn't know too many Capt's there then. Colgan ain't pleasant, but it IS a good stepping stone. Have fun at your lateral-move-job.

 

[Mr Wu]

Colgan is a hole, AWAC is not. Most Colgan Capts when I was there didn't leave for good gigs, they went to discount airlines and so on just to get out of their current nightmare. Some guys got on at CAL, but most don't. I know the day I get 1000 pic turbine I won't get hired by fedex the next week, and once I figured that out I went and got a job where I can sleep at night (or at least are given the time to sleep at night.) Whoever says "you get to be home every night" at colgan needs to put down Mikey's cool aid, and probably his sandwich too. Get ready for 20 hour duty days ferrying busted airplanes is Wx pax wouldn't get dispatched into, among other shady things at Colgan.

From the training, Mx, QOL, pay and every other aspect AWAC is better, you just will be an FO for 3-4 years. If you are ok with that, come to AWAC. If you are a go getter and willing to put up with the insanity, go to Colgan. Colgan's pilot group is great and the experiance can be worthwile for some people.

Are you kidding me? You weren't even at Colgan for 6 months and you're bitching like you are a 10 year veteran. Wx you can't even dispatch passengers in? Your 5 months were during the summer. Listen kid, when you turn 24 have your mom buy you the 121 FAR/AIM and have her look up what a MEL is and what it is for. Also have her look up ferry flight. Also have her look up how many pilots a B1900 needs to take off in 121 operation. If you had the balls to stand up to your captain if he wanted to take off when it was raining, then you wouldn't take off. Congrats on your AWAC job, glad you're happier over there. Jesus Christ, 5 months?

 

[ShyFlyGuy]

Are you kidding me? You weren't even at Colgan for 6 months and you're bitching like you are a 10 year veteran. Wx you can't even dispatch passengers in? Your 5 months were during the summer. Listen kid, when you turn 24 have your mom buy you the 121 FAR/AIM and have her look up what a MEL is and what it is for. Also have her look up ferry flight. Also have her look up how many pilots a B1900 needs to take off in 121 operation. If you had the balls to stand up to your captain if he wanted to take off when it was raining, then you wouldn't take off. Congrats on your AWAC job, glad you're happier over there. Jesus Christ, 5 months?

Exactly! You said it, so I don't have to. Thank you for saving my time.

Shy

 

[BeechCowboy48]

6 months is all it takes to realize that I was unhappy at the job. Glad all you guys loved it there so much and were able to move on. By discount airlines I didn't mean Air tran or JB, I meant Alegiant and Pace. Maybe more people moved on to good jobs than I thought, I really don't have any hard facts just person observations, and reading interview gouges for companies that maybe I would like to work for someday. 6 months of working at that place is all it took to figure that place out. I never said I worked there for a decade, I just worked there a long enough to wise up. Just throwing out my opinion, no need to get nasty.

If you work at Colgan 2 weeks you definitely know what ferry permits and MELs are because there are usually 5-7 mels on an airplane even when you pick it up from Mx, and you get to see a special flight permit every other week. Doesn't take long to figure out the pattern. As far as moving airplanes in crappy weather, thats just one example of a bad day that was a learning experiance about what I would personally do, as well as a lowlight for the old company. Is your self esteem that low that you need to heckle disgruntled quitters over the internet? I was just trying to share a few personal insights, sorry to pee in your cornflakes.

 

[NEDude]

Don't assume that just because you get 1000 hrs PIC means you can just "move on to bigger things". I can't speak for Colgan itself, but I worked at CommutAir for several years and I can tell you there are a bunch of guys who have been trying to "move on to bigger things" for years with no luck. Sure, some do, but the percentage is very small.

That being said, flying a turboprop around the northeast and great lakes regions are experiences every pilot should get. It'll make you appreciate that APU even more.

If your wish is a relatively quick upgrade and great instrument skills, go with Colgan. If work rules, pay and QOL are higher, then look at AWAC.