Berry Info
Diver Driver......
I am currently a Captain for Berry Aviation and I am thus far satisfied with the company. It has it's little problems like any other, but few things in life are worth complaining about and and these are no exception. Berry only recently transitioned to PFT again (they used to have PFT long before my time but the rumor is that they were getting low time low quality pilots and did away with it). When I was hired (over the phone while flying 135 in AK), they covered all of the costs but there was a training contract. Also, no pay durring training. The contract was rarely enforced. Because of this many new F.O.'s would hire on to get multi-turbine time and then leave for the regionals after only a few months. The fact that they will hire you with low multi-time (67 with an ATP in my case), openes a lot of doors in a short amount of time once that sic turbine is under your belt. With the cost of training skyrocketing due to F.O.'s leaving within months, Berry gave PFT a try....it's working and we now have several pilots who did so. In my opinion PFT is insulting as a pilot, but it makes good business sense. All of the PFT guys we have now are good guys and good pilots. The pay is now about 21,000/year for an FO. The base is 18000 but they bump it up to compensate you for the PFT. If you stick it out for two years you'll get your money back. If you want to get to a regional ASAP, I would not recommend it unless you can afford to loose the money. If your thinkinig of staying 135, your young, or higher time (quicker upgrade), you may want to give it a shot. We have bases as far west as Oakland and San Diego, and as far east as Louisville, KY. Turnover is cyclical as with the rest of the industry, when I was hired (with 1700 hours) I only had to wait four months for the upgrade. I was the exception though, not the rule, upgrades seem to come sometime after your first year. Flying includes but is not limited to Department of Deffense contracts, charter, cargo, casino, NCAA and so on. Overall it's a bigger company than you might first think, but they still have the small company culture. Metro Training is top notch in house with the sim at Flight Safety. DO 328 is contracted training. If you have a citation type, they are usually looking for another Co-Captain as that aircraft stays pretty busy. You just need the type, not time. If that's the case, you'll do double duty in the Metro and Citation. Since you've been driving divers, it would do you well to brush up on your instrument skills. The Metro sim is not an easy beast to tackle, and the airplane is not much better for your first while in the right seat. If you can fly though, you will get the hang of it and the Metro's not as bad as many would say it is. It does build character though. As for what to do after Berry, within the last year we've had people leave for South West, UPS, Capital Cargo, a few 91/135 jet jobs, and of course the Regionals. I hope this helps, if you have any questions please let me know.....pm might be your best shot.....I'm not here a lot. The bottom line is the same as I've said for other companies I've flown for.....it's what you choose to make of the experience, not what it makes of you. If it's inline with your goals, and you can afford it, then give it a go. I would never pay for training, but what I, or anyone else thinks about that should not influence your decision because your the one that has to live with it.
Best Regards,
Highnpressurized
